How Cathedral Prep graduate Jeff Hamley aided PGA Tour member to career-best result

Jeff Hamley knew what to expect last Thursday as he approached the temporary 20,000-seat venue that comprises golf’s most ungolflike hole.

It was the first of four times during last weekend’s WM Phoenix Open that the 2004 Cathedral Prep graduate, who caddies for second-year PGA Tour member Andrew Novak, found himself in the eye of the sport’s rowdiest setting.

TPC Scottsdale’s par-3, 162-yard 16th hole has become the tournament’s go-to locale, at least for nontraditional golf fans. Their raucous antics not only are tolerated but encouraged, except for the handful of seconds during a player’s address and swing.

“The caddie talk was to be ready for a lot of fans saying … whatever they wanted to say,” Hamley said. “But I think Andy was able to block that all out. There were so many fans, it was actually more like white noise to us.”

Novak, 28, was spared serious catcalls from the crowd. He recorded a birdie on the hole for his first round and pars for the remaining three.

Each helped Novak, who’s had Hamley as his regular caddie since 2019, to his best finish in 64 Tour starts. The Raleigh, North Carolina, native, who was one stroke off the lead going into last Sunday’s final round, finished in four-way tie (13-under 271) for eighth place.

Hamley spoke with the Erie Times-News last Monday about his tournament experiences. While he said he was prepared for the fraternity-party antics of the tournament’s 16th hole, he took pauses for the other 17.

The WM Phoenix Open, now scheduled the same weekend as Super Bowl Sunday, drew more than 710,000 fans in 2018. Although tournament officials stopped announcing estimated fan counts since then, that they were forced to turn away those with tickets during last weekend’s third round indicates its sustained popularity.

“You would have thought Tiger Woods was playing Jack Nicklaus with the (number of) fans they had,” Hamley said, “and they’re all nuts. The (course’s) 10th, 11th, 12th, 15th and 17th holes are all like the 16th. The 16th might have been the calmest of them all. There were fans in the stands, but at least there they couldn’t get right on top of you.”

Top 5: Times-News survey reveals toughest holes at Erie County golf courses

Not a normal 72

One of Hamley’s early appearances as Novak’s looper was the 2019 LECOM Health Challenge at Peek’n Peak Resort’s Upper Course. That tournament was the last of four straight years the Korn Ferry Tour, the PGA’s feeder tour, scheduled a stop at the Findley Lake, New York, course.

Korn Ferry’s ensuing 2019-20 season was when Novak played his way to a top-25 finish in the tour’s standings. He received a PGA Tour card based on that result.

COVID-19 issues delayed Novak’s status as a PGA Tour regular until the fall of 2022. Before last weekend, his best finish was the weekend before the 2023 Masters, when he placed ninth (9-under 279) at the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio.

Novak, like the other 72 players who survived last weekend’s 36-hole cut at Scottsdale, experienced challenges beyond the fans’ antics. The tournament experienced unusual weather, which caused three suspensions in play because of darkness.

Going day by day, Hamley said Novak’s “rounds” consisted of nine holes on Thursday, 27 holes on Friday, seven on Saturday and 29 on Sunday.

“But it was nothing we couldn’t handle,” Hamley said. “Look, when you work outside you deal with the elements. The (delays) weren’t a foreign concept to us.

“When they say, ‘Be ready to play,’ you play.”

Novak was ready. He was tied for first (12-under) when play was suspended Friday and was a stroke off the lead (14-under) going into the final round that was nationally televised on NBC.

Novak’s closing round of 1-over 72 was the highest of his four. He received a $248,600 check for splitting eighth with 2013 Masters winner Adam Scott, Kurt Kitayama and Cameron Young.

“To see Andrew’s name near the top of the leaderboard basically since (Thursday’s first round) was a culmination of what we’ve been working towards all season,” Hamley said. “He handled himself very well when he was atop the leaderboard.

“Unfortunately, we just needed a couple more putts to fall (last Sunday). Sometimes, that’s how golf goes.”

Canadian Nick Taylor, a co-leader going into Sunday’s final round, won the tournament after a two-hole playoff against tour veteran Charley Hoffman. They were tied at 21-under after regulation.

A daddy-to-be caddie

Novak wasn’t entered in the Genesis Invitational, this weekend’s PGA Tour stop at Riviera Country Club outside Los Angeles. Going forward, though, he’s scheduled to appear in seven tournaments before The Masters.

Hamley, though, doesn’t plan on toting Novak’s clubs or offering advice for the majority of that span.

The PIAA Class 3A co-gold medalist with Prep’s 2001 boys soccer team has a valid reason.

Melanie Hamley is due to give birth to the couple’s first child on March 18. That’s the day after the final round of The Players Championship at Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

Multiple contingency plans have been arranged for the temporary caddie Novak will need for the five weeks Jeff Hamley plans to be idle at his Harrisburg home.

He and his wife will have named their son long before then.

“We’re still finalizing the list,” Hamley said, “but we do have two leaders in the clubhouse.”

Waste Management Phoenix Open reaction: PGA Tour fans slammed as 'totally out of control'

Contact Mike Copper mcopper@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNcopper.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Cathedral Prep graduate Jeff Hamley caddied during rowdy Phoenix Open