After 26 years of caddying at The Honors Course, there are very few situations that Cortney Brazier has not encountered on the golf course.
But all of that changed at this week’s U.S. Women’s Amateur.
The veteran caddie was assigned to loop for Anna Iwanaga, a 17-year-old rising star from Amagasaki, Japan, one of five Japanese players in the field. With a distinct language barrier between Brazier’s southern drawl and Iwanaga’s limited English, the duo has relied upon technology to help bridge the gap.
After gaining approval from tournament officials, Brazier has used a translation app on his phone to give Iwanaga clear and concise instructions in the heat of competition. The remedy has obviously proven to be a success as Iwanaga was co-medalist in stroke play at 6-under-par to earn the top seed in match play.
Iwanaga then proceeded to win her opening match in the Round of 64, defeating Addison Klonowski by a 2 and 1 decision.
“She speaks a little English, but she understands numbers perfectly,” Brazier said. “So, I'm plugging into my phone ‘175 right of pin a little uphill’ and it translates for her. Plus, I’m pulling out the yardage book a ton and pointing exactly telling her with my hand ‘barely right.’ She understands ‘right,’ she understands ‘left’ and she understands ‘fast’.”
Brazier has picked up some Japanese terms for “good” and “perfect”, but there was a misunderstanding when it came to the word “sticky”.
“I was trying to tell her that the zoysia grass was sticky,” Brazier said. “She and her coaches thought I was saying ‘beautiful’ when I was telling them it's sticky so you can't bump and run it on that zoysia.”
Brazier has been impressed with his time with Iwanaga and her coaches that accompanied her to the tournament.
“They are as sweet as they could be and it hasn’t been an issue at all,” Brazier said. “The whole Japanese culture is as nice and as humble and as respectful as you could possibly imagine. She has probably bowed and said thank you to me like 100 times.”
The experience has been one that has been rewarding for Brazier as he navigates through the challenges of The Honors Course as well as providing succinct instructions.
“We’re humans and we adapt pretty easily,” Brazier said. “A lot of stuff is nonverbal with hand motions. In the practice round I'm pointing at something and shaking my head telling her, ‘You don't want to be in there.’”
Iwanaga surprised Brazier on one occasion when he was trying to describe a double-breaking putt.
“She looked at me and said, ‘Snake?’ And I said, ‘Yes, it’s a snake,’ and would show her the line of where to putt almost like playing charades,” Brazier said.
Brazier uses the yardage book to also point out trouble areas and places to avoid with markings. He is quick to pull out his phone for a quick translation when he feels like the message is unclear.
“She hit one in the high stuff and luckily there was a spotter there who pointed us right to it,” Brazier said. “It was a brutal lie, and I felt like she should take an unplayable ball, so I pulled out the translator. I asked her, ‘Do you think you can get it out, or should we take an unplayable?’ And she said ‘Unplayable,’ so I was relieved the translator knew what I was asking.”
One cultural difference Brazier learned the hard way came after celebrating after one of Iwanaga’s birdies.
“I was fist bumping her after a birdie and she looks at me like, ‘Why did this dude just hit me?’ So, I quit doing that. They are much more reserved when it comes to showing emotion,” Brazier said.
With thunderstorms forcing a two-hour delay to Wednesday’s second stroke play round, Iwanaga rolled in a lengthy birdie putt on 18 in the waning moments of daylight to earn a share of medalist honors.
“We were running up 18 to get done before dark,” Brazier said. “That putt was probably 25 to 30 feet and she read it perfectly. She has been fun to caddie for and she’s a great player with a bright future.”