07.11.2009 | Lucas Bjerregaard

Go Denmark!

A post from my caddie Taylor McClain

Let’s Go Denmark! I have been assigned to Team Denmark here at The Spirit. For the next four days I will loop for Lucas Bjerregaard. Lucas is 18 years old and will graduate high school next year. Denmark allows their top junior athletes a one year extension to finish high school so they may work on their respective sports and represent the national team.
After The Spirit is complete, he will head back to Denmark for a few weeks before coming back to the States to play in an AJGA event at Doral. Then it is back home to play in Europe and finish school. He has committed to play at Florida State in the Fall of 2011. He went on a recruiting trip in September and got to watch the FSU-Miami game, his first experience with American football.
Lucas was surprisingly adept at explaining what happened in the thrilling finish to the game. He said that he had never seen so many people in one place having so much fun. When the Seminole fans would break out into the Tomahawk Chop and start the chant, he thought it was awesome. Not quite as awesome as the Florida State co-eds.
When I asked him about the girls at FSU, Lucas’ eyes starting glowing and he said with a Chesire Cat grin, “the girls in Florida wear very much less clothes than the girls in Denmark.” I’m sure frostbite has something to do with that, Big Guy, but it is good to know that no matter where you are or what language you speak, 18 year old boys are all thinking the same thing.

Yesterday, we played a practice round with the other members of the Danish team, Therese Koelback, Line Vedel Hansen, and Andreas Hartoe. Andreas is 21 and the Danish Amateur and the Welsh Men’s champion. Line is 21 and the Danish Women’s Team champion. Therese is also 21 and she is the Danish Women’s Match Play champion and currently plays for the UNLV Women’s golf team. I wish everyone could have seen them go through their practice round. At most, 10% of the preparation was for tee shots and approach shots. The rest of the time was spent on the greens hitting putts and chip shots from all over.

After the round, we cleaned up and headed back to what can best be explained as The Spirit’s international village. I liken it to what the Olympic Village must be like if the Olympics were held at summer camp. Players and coaches from all over the world eat together and play together. There is table tennis, basketball, foosball, and, of course Facebooking. Perhaps the most entertaining thing thus far was watching my Danish teammates try to eat ribs with a fork and knife last night. I had to explain to them that is perfectly OK in Texas to get your fingers a little dirty when attacking a rack of ribs. Even still, they delicately cut little strips of meat off the bone and savored the delicacy one tiny taste at a time.

The Danish players are amazing kids. They are polite, gracious, and respectful. I asked other caddies and received the same response about their players. Today, we tee off with the Argentineans. I’m really excited to get out there and watch these guys play. Lucas and Andreas are really excited because scuttlebutt around camp is that Argentina has the best looking girl here.

You can follow us and all of the other teams on a live webcast at www.amgolf.com/webcast. This is a professional broadcast with commentators, interviews, live action and highlights. It is a great way to put a little spice into your workday! Go over there and check it out. Peace out, Homies!