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Laura Diaz has new caddie for the Marathon Classic: It's her son

Aside from carrying his mom's golf bag and having other responsibilities, Cooper's biggest role is serving as the driving force behind his mom's success.

SYLVANIA, Ohio — LPGA golfer Laura Diaz has walked all 18-holes of Highland Meadows Golf Course in Sylvania, Ohio, for the Marathon Classic for 20 years. This year, however, her walk is slightly different, now that her 13-year old son Cooper walks beside her as her caddie. 

Cooper has only been on the job over the last year but still has plenty of miles on the dash. Just three weeks ago, he carried the bag at the Meijer Classic in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Meanwhile, he serves a much bigger role than carrying his mom's golf bag, he is the driving force behind his mom's success.

“The biggest contribution is my personality out there. I just love having him with me,” she said when explaining what it was like having her son on the course. “It keeps me happy. It makes my heart happy.”

Being the son of a golfer, and a family that is storied in the sport of golf, Cooper has grown up watching his mom play. He has taken feedback himself and even picked up on some similarities with his mother.

“I grew up coming out here every week watching her play,” Cooper said. “She always tells me about a memory where she was practicing with my grandfather and I was sitting next to her hitting balls. I was four and I did the exact same practice motion as she did. She thought that was cool.”

For the little experience that he has, Cooper is still much more than the one that pulls the clubs out of the bag. Diaz relies on her son to assist with yardage calculations and green-reading. 

“I think the biggest thing is golf course management. We do a lot of green-reading together,” she said when describing his duties. “He is not really wanted to give much feedback on club. But this year, we are definitely talking more about it.”

Yes, they are “talking more about it” but he is not ready to override mom’s opinion.

“I usually just go with whatever decision she makes. I just kinda roll with it,” he said sternly. “I support her in all of her decisions. I give her the yardages and she picks the clubs. I help her read the putts.”

Cooper is quite the athlete himself as he plays both basketball and golf competitively. In fact, mom is starting to notice that he is becoming better than her. At least in some capacity.

“He does play golf. He is already hitting it 30 (yards) past me,” she said with excitement. “Which is a little bit of a heart breaker, but at the same time it’s so awesome.” 

 Although he is still learning plenty about the golf game, Diaz feels that are many other lessons to be had out on the course for both sports.

“The ability for him to see how all the other players react to missed shots. I think that is the biggest thing that I want him to see and the temperament,” she said. “In golf, that is the thing that can go up and down in other sports. He is a great basketball player. You do not have the time to think about getting mad in basketball. Golf is a much slower paced. I am hoping he learns those things.”

Most of all, having Cooper as her caddie is obviously much more than a working relationship; it is mother-son bonding. 

“It is so special. No complaints, just a lot of food consumption,” she said jokingly.

Cooper said he feels just the same.

“It’s a really good experience. Not many other kids get to have this experience,” he said. “It is pretty cool to be able to say I come out here and caddied.”

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