Historic Brownsville Open: Blackwelders have strong family, golf relationships

After spending nearly half his life as a caddy and a father, Worth Blackwelder probably knows a thing or two about both crafts.

"I’ve been around a lot of fathers that caddied for their daughters," he said with the look of man who has spent what seems to be most of his life on the golf course. "And I’ve seen a lot of the downside of that."

A person can only imagine what he means.

Fighting, screaming, strained relationships, heated arguments, thousands of renditions of the silent treatment — there can be a lot of uncalculated frustration in an already-incredibly frustrating game.

But for Mallory and Worth, that is not the case.

"We kind of try to set aside the whole father-daughter thing when we’re on the course and just try and work together as any player and caddy would," Mallory said. "He knows my game, in and out, completely."

Worth Blackwelder has been caddying for more than three decades. He’s been the right hand man for the likes of Chi Chi Rodriguez, Beth Daniel, Natalie Gulbis and Cristie Kerr. He’s been a club pro. He, himself, even turned pro.

So, clearly, he knows golf and knows how to be a caddy.

"It’s my job to keep her calm, poised and under control at all times out there on the golf course," Worth said. "And so you can’t be a father and a daughter and do that. You’ve got to (have a) professional caddy/professional golfer relationship."

While Mallory admits the two get on each other’s nerves "occasionally," that should be expected. She comes from a family of golfers, with her mother, retired LPGA pro Myra Van Hoose, and brother also very into the sport.

To add to family tree of golf playing, Mallory transferred from the University of Florida to her home state and the University of Kentucky.

The golf coach there was, of course, her mother, who now goes by Myra Blackwelder.

With golf being such an integral part of the Blackwelder household, it should come as no surprise that Worth was planning for his daughter to also make the leap to pro golf.

"I knew that if Mallory … turned professional, there would be a time that I would step away from whoever I was caddying for and at least help my daughter that first year," he said. "So I’ve known for four years that this was in the works."

As Mallory prepares for this weekend’s Historic Brownsville Open, she’ll do so with that familiar face and voice by her side.

A father-daughter pairing is not an unusual combination in golf, but it is unusual that the two are casually able to transition their relationship on the golf course and off of it.

"I’ve been exposed to golf my whole life," Mallory said. "When I decided to play year, it just kind of made sense for (my dad) to caddy for me."

It was a natural progression for their relationship, one that will continue on for this year and possibly well into the future.

"Oh, I’m enjoying it greatly," Worth said. "There’s nothing better than to watch your daughter improve, and play well and compete."

Todd Orodenker writes for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 982-6663 or via e-mail at torodenker@brownsvilleherald.com.