Local Golfers Loopy Over Looping
By Joe McDonald
RIGA Senior Writer
NEWPORT – Petey Alofsin has looped at Newport Country Club for the past seven summers, but this one will be a bit different.
When the 44th U.S. Senior Open Championship officially begins Thursday at the historic course, Alofsin, 22, of Middletown, will be one of several local caddies working the tournament. He’ll be joined by Cam Moniz, Jackson Gorman, Shane Mulhern, Wells Robinson and Paul Shannon. They’re all looking forward to an unbelievable experience. Many of them have already been working the practice rounds as the best senior golfers in the world ascend on Newport.
“It’s cool,” Alofsin said. “We’ve all been out here for a while, we all play golf together, we play in (RIGA) events together, so I’m not only happy for myself, but I’m happy for all of us who have a bag.”
Alofsin, a member at Wanumetonomy Golf & Country Club, believes he understands Newport CC better than his home course.
“I grew up in Newport and have played this golf course 1,000 times. At this point, I’m out here six, or seven days a week, so when I found out I got the nod to be on a bag this week I was all smiles. I’m just taking everything in, it’s unbelievable.”
Alofsin will be on the bag for Mike Mitchell, who plays out of Hideaway Golf Club in La Quinta, Calif., this week. Moniz will be working with Notay Begay, while Gorman will be with Alex Cejka, who won the Senior Open Championship in 2023 as part of the PGA Tour Champions circuit.
Mitchell grew up as part of the caddie program in Toledo, Ohio and said he’s thrilled for the local players who earned an opportunity to caddie in this championship. In fact, he and Alofsin have already worked five practice rounds together as they prepare for the U.S. Senior Open.
“It helps a lot,” Mitchell said of working with a local caddie. “You get confirmation on the greens, primarily the green complexes and it’s really about validation. Playing in a tournament like this you want positive input from your caddie and you want confirmation when in doubt. If you say something the caddie’s job is to agree with you even if you’re wrong (laughs), but he knows the greens a lot better than I do. I’m pretty good at reading greens, but I’ll ask him (questions). He’s comfortable and knows the place very well, so it’s really good. Him having the opportunity to see what really happens inside the ropes is a great experience for him. It’s going to be fun.”
A normal day at Newport CC is a bit different than how the course is set up for a major championship like the U.S. Senior Open. Just so everyone knows, the USGA flips the nines here at Newport, so the member’s No. 1 is the championship’s No. 10. Since he is so familiar with Newport CC, Alofsin doesn’t think it will be too different of a challenge for the competitors.The biggest difference for the local caddies is the fact that they can’t use range finders and need to rely only on their yardage books.
“There are some lines off the tee that’s a little bit different, but I know this golf course so well,” Alofsin said.
Gorman, 21, of Barrington, is a rising senior at Roanoke College in Virginia, studying business and finance. He also spends his summers caddying at Newport CC.
“I’m super fortunate to be here,” he said. “This is my summer job, so being able to be part of (Senior Open) is really awesome. I’m just taking it all in and looking forward to it. (Cejka) is obviously a fabulous golfer and knows what he’s doing out there, but (caddying) here for a number of years I have a little local knowledge of the greens, which I think he’ll find super helpful.”
Local knowledge always helps.