Aaron Flener, caddie for Wyndham Championship winner J.T. Poston, has become a social media legend over the last several months.
We learned early in the year that Flener was the mastermind behind the brilliant Twitter account for Keith Mitchell’s caddie, Crunchy Pete Persolja… which he eventually handed off to Crunchy Pete, but provided beauties such as this…
While I appreciate the gesture of the @pgatour giving me a health insurance stipend I assure you that won’t be necessary. I have never had so much as a hang nail. I cleanse my body by drinking from natural springs and hanging upside down from tree limbs.
— Crunchy Pete (@CrunchManPete) October 19, 2018
Back in April at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans where players are allowed to have first-tee walk-up music, Flener said, “forget the music, give me the mic,” and belted out the Garth Brooks hit, “Callin’ Baton Rouge.”
Nobody:
Me: OKAY FINE I’LL DO IT. pic.twitter.com/EqR7vUoGCV
— Aaron Flener (@AaronFlener) April 28, 2019
A few weeks later when Poston got into the PGA Championship at the very last minute, Flener shared a “MTV Cribs” style video of the room the pair was sharing since rooms near Bethpage Black were scarce. It was an instant classic.
Golf fans: Tour players & caddies must get 5 ⭐️ treatment everywhere they go. @AaronFlener & @JT_ThePostman: Welcome to our #PGAChamp crib⬇️ pic.twitter.com/tJqkPOHpIP
— Caddie Network (@CaddieNetwork) May 16, 2019
Sure, he’s talented behind the mic and hilarious on camera, but we also recently saw the charitable side of Flener. After the death of University of Kentucky football star Jared Lorenzen in July at the age of 38, Flener pledged to donate $22 per birdie that Poston made in the next two events to a fund to support Lorenzen’s children. Poston matched and others got involved too and, ultimately, they raised just shy of $7,000 for the effort. Amazing.
Last week I texted @harryhiggs1991 & told him his total for the Jared Lorenzen Memorial Fund & thanked him. He said “I want to keep going, let’s do one more week.” What did he do this week? Made 26 birdies & WON!! His final score to par? 22 under 😉. Our team raised $6,766!! pic.twitter.com/uhZsxyaW4U
— Aaron Flener (@AaronFlener) July 28, 2019
For all the reasons listed above — and plenty more — Flener (aka “Big Cat”) is someone who is virtually impossible not to pull for and, in turn, Flener’s personality makes Poston impossible not to pull for. So, it was no surprise that when the victory was clinched on Sunday (and even before it was clinched), plenty of folks were celebrating Flener and Poston on social media. Here’s a small sampling:
Let’s gooo @JT_ThePostman and @AaronFlener ! Life changing perks of winning, invite to Augusta, 2 year exemption, 500 fed ex cup points, my room for this week paid for most importantly!
— stoner (@davecstone) August 4, 2019
I don’t know if I have ever been so excited and happy for a guy to win on the @PGATOUR! What a day for @JT_ThePostman and my good friend @AaronFlener, you’re an absolute legend. Please celebrate appropriately!
— Colt Knost (@ColtKnost) August 4, 2019
I’m not biased.
I’m not nervous.
I’m just casually having a @MichelobULTRA and watching sports on the television and @AaronFlener and @JT_ThePostman just happen to be walking around a golf course with cameras around them TIED FOR THE LEAD! #totallyfine #ipromise pic.twitter.com/E87vAwfILl— Keith Mitchell (@K_m_Mitchell) August 4, 2019
“Hey Siri play Callin’ Baton Rouge” congrats!
— Smylie Kaufman (@SmylieKaufman10) August 5, 2019
@JT_ThePostman and @AaronFlener just won! pic.twitter.com/wzgcSQiI93
— Joel Dahmen (@Joel_Dahmen) August 5, 2019
I’m so happy for my good buddy @AaronFlener, but I’m gonna need that $400 for the house this week pretty soon…interest is accumulating
LFG!! pic.twitter.com/skY2SgPFUA
— Geno Bonnalie (@GenoBonnalie) August 4, 2019
Poston’s got the trophy, @AaronFlener’s got the flag. And I know whose victory party I’d rather attend. pic.twitter.com/3LHvMYMCT6
— Will Gray (@WillGrayGolfbet) August 4, 2019
Hey @JT_ThePostman , I think we saved just enough room for that @WyndhamChamp trophy! Thx for the ride and way to get the job done boys @AaronFlener pic.twitter.com/IicoIUbpOT
— Josh Teater (@jteater12) August 4, 2019
If the @JT_ThePostman can finish this thing off @WyndhamChamp @AaronFlener is going to turn the whole town of Greensboro into a karaoke bar!
— Colt Knost (@ColtKnost) August 4, 2019
Congratulations @AaronFlener !!!!! 🏆🏆🏆
— Todd Montoya™ (@ToddCaddie) August 4, 2019
It took 45 YEARS‼️for a player to win a PGA event without making a bogey.@JT_ThePostman did it to win the @WyndhamChamp.
We like to think it had something to do with that Tennessean on the bag. @LipscombBisons alumnus and former @TNGlfFoundation intern @AaronFlener!
🤜🤛🏆 pic.twitter.com/qzvkx5ooE2
— Tennessee Golf Association (@TNgolf) August 4, 2019
Great win by @JT_ThePostman and @AaronFlener. Congrats fellas.
— DeLetty (@GrahamDeLaet) August 4, 2019
JT Poston wins the PGA Tour Wyndham Championship with former KSR writer @AaronFlener on the bag!!!!
Aaron wore his Jared Lorenzen Memorial Hat for the win!!! pic.twitter.com/4HdxM4yhiV
— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) August 4, 2019
FIRST CAREER WIN FOR @JT_ThePostman and @AaronFlener LESSGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO pic.twitter.com/69aOnNhJsH
— Drew Franklin (@DrewFranklinKSR) August 4, 2019
You think this player/caddie pair made for popular winners, or what?
Also, we loved Aaron’s pre-round prep on Sunday:
Consulted with some course management strategists this morning so I’ve got the game plan ready to go @JT_ThePostman. Annabelle said “Look Uncle A I’m an ice cream cone!!” 😂 pic.twitter.com/4FBgT3yWL8
— Aaron Flener (@AaronFlener) August 4, 2019
What a week… and it all started last Sunday when Flener’s face was emblazoned on a t-shirt:
https://twitter.com/Tour_Junkies/status/1156287805921931264
Well done, fellas.
Other caddie things we loved this week…
The aforementioned Crunchy Pete played in a Barefoot Invitational, which seemed fitting:
2nd Annual Barefoot Invitational at White Oak Golf Course in Southeast TN with the great Tom and Bob Show!!! Zoysia tee to green and au natural, crunch style🏌🏻🦶⛳️ pic.twitter.com/I6YVjix3EG
— Crunchy Pete (@CrunchManPete) July 30, 2019
Kenny Harms, caddie for Kevin Na, had a week off from the PGA Tour, but not a week off from golf. Harms himself was able to log a couple of rounds. First, Oakmont:
Then, Longue Vue Club. Not bad at all, Kenny:
This week also brought us a fantastic second installment from veteran caddie Steve Hulka about his epic 1976 caddying for Australian David Graham, an eventual World Golf Hall of Famer.
The 1976 season was long before Shotlink was around, but it probably didn’t seem that way for Graham, as Hulka kept EXTENSIVE notes during every single round. He shared some of those notes with TCN:
There was quite the hoopla on the other side of the pond this week where several LPGA players weren’t all that happy with Lexi Thompson after a passport fiasco caused the late arrival of a few dozen players’ golf bags at the AIG British Open.
Thompson’s caddie, Benji Thompson, went above and behind the call of duty to track down Lexi’s passport. He shared the entire crazy experience with TCN, which you can read here:
TCN EXCLUSIVE: “I knew I wasn’t going to get much sleep and my only thought as a caddie was, ‘my player needs me and I’m going to do whatever it takes to get the job done.'” — Caddie Benji Thompson (@189Benji) on tracking down @Lexi's passport. https://t.co/OGJECzuMQu
— Caddie Network (@CaddieNetwork) July 31, 2019
Also this week, caddie Paul Tesori (Webb Simpson) and wife Michelle’s “Tesori Family Foundation” hosted its All-Star Kids Clinic in Greensboro on Tuesday. You can see a bit of what it was like here:
story from this morning's @TesoriFamilyFdt All-Star Kids Clinic. @WFMY #wfmysports @WyndhamChamp @PaulTesori @mrstesori pic.twitter.com/pdMKEkUT9s
— Brian Hall (@bhallwfmy) July 30, 2019
Just awesome stuff from the Tesoris all the time.
Oh… and Paul can play, too (he spent a season on the PGA Tour as a player in the 1990s). Check out what he shared earlier in the week:
This is not coming from a place of humility and I’m sorry for that but a good buddy of mine just me this clip from 1989 when I was 17 and still good at golf!! pic.twitter.com/jWRiufE8UY
— Paul Tesori (@PaulTesori) July 30, 2019
Lastly, we acknowledge caddie Aaron Alpern working the hustle hard for the Korn Ferry Tour’s Ellie Mae Classic, wondering aloud on Twitter if his lunch passes from, oh, 2011, were redeemable this past week:
Are these still valid? @elliemaeclassic pic.twitter.com/qcARaSPxRR
— Aaron Alpern (@buffalolooper) July 30, 2019
With the offerings on those vouchers, we can kinda understand why they went unused.