Watch: Caddie Geno Bonnalie explains how he once broke both arms at the same time… while on the golf course
By T.J. Auclair · March 27, 2019
The last time we saw Geno Bonnalie — caddie for Joel Dahmen — was during the Caddie Competition at TPC Sawgrass on the par-3, 17th hole on the Wednesday of Players Championship week.
If you remember, Geno’s turn on 17 was well-documented by the PGA Tour because it had quite a twist to it… a scorching hot twist.
Long story short, Geno lost a bet to Dahmen a week earlier and to pay up he had to take the one-chip challenge — BEFORE — attempting his tee shot on one of the game’s most daunting holes.
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For those unfamiliar, the one-chip challenge entails eating a “Carolina Reaper” chili chip, which was developed along with something called “Pepper X,” the world’s hottest pepper. The chip itself registers at more than twice as hot as a ghost pepper.
That’s damn hot. Just ask Geno. Here’s the video recap of how it all went down…
(Editor’s note: How Geno didn’t get more credit for hitting the green under the circumstances is beyond us. That’s a shot of the year candidate as far as we’re concerned.)
Before even putting the chip it in his mouth, Geno declared the challenge, “the worst mistake I’ve ever made in my life.”
Dahmen didn’t have much sympathy.
Throughout the video, we’re entertained by Geno’s excruciating pain. It was one of those things that’s hilarious… unless it happens to you.
Geno has some fantastic lines throughout in between dry heaves. One that really caught our attention is when he said, “I broke both my arms at the same time when I was 13. I would rather do that again.”
MORE: The Caddie Network’s 2019 PGA Tour caddie survey
I was chatting with Geno this week and talked about how entertained I was — at his expense — by the one-chip video. I said, “the part that really, really got me was the broken arms bit. I’m sorry that happened to you, but it really put into context just how painful eating that chip must have been.”
Geno responded, “You know, when I broke both my arms at the same time, that actually happened on a golf course.”
Say what?!
I immediately told Geno, “That’s a story the world has to hear!”
So, he was kind enough to send in the video you’ll see below explaining how it all went down.
Ever the entertainer, Geno also included some artwork to give us all a feel for the situation. Keep this picture in your mind as he tells the story:
Here it is, the story of how caddie Geno Bonnalie broke BOTH arms at the same time while on a golf course:
