Caddying at the club

Several weeks ago I read with interest the Bulletin article about the reunion of former Tryon High School golf team members. Reading the article brought back memories of my caddying days at Tryon Country Club. . Even though I live in a golfing community (my house faces the seventh hole fairway), I have never played the game. However, I enjoyed my summer days as a young boy lugging heavy bags down the fairways TCC.

Around six o'clock each morning, I would get on my bike and peddle up highway 176, turning left onto Country Club Road to start the steep trek up to the club house. The trip took about fifteen minutes. The club house and pro shop was a rustic, log building with a concrete porch surrounded by a rock wall. Arriving at the course, I would sign up outside on a bulletin board to secure my place in line for caddying.
Caddies were selected in order of their arrival unless a golfer requested his or her "favorite". After signing up, I would wait with the other caddies for the golfers to trickle in, and for club pro Lou Hoskyns to call out the next caddy. Today, many of the caddies that I worked beside have become excellent golfers themselves. The "Burns" boys, G.L., Johnny, and Harold caddied at TTC and have become club pros, I believe, in Spartanburg and Chesnee. My memory may be faded, but I also seem to remember Rick Sigfried and Jerry Ravan as a part of the caddy cadre.

Other people who frequented the club included distant cousins of mine, Cecil Turner (who later became club pro for many years); Mitchell Turner; his sister, Geneva Turner; and Margaret Hannon, one of Tryon's greatest women golfers. Out on the course one could always find Heman (sic) Burns, the legendary TTC groundskeeper for many years.

When I first started caddying, I was a little nervous when my name was called because I was somewhat "green" when it came to "greens". Most of the golfers were very nice to their caddies. However, some would get teed off (pun intended) if their caddy made a mistake. Good caddies knew how to hold the flag without casting a shadow across the path of the ball. They knew how to focus on a ball in flight to pinpoint its landing spot. They also were familiar with the various clubs and the distances for which they were designed.

Back then caddies received seventy-five cents for nine holes and twice that for eighteen holes. Some golfers tipped their caddy with a soft drink after the round. Other caddy favorites rewarded the caddy's work with a handsome monetary tip. My two favorite golfers were Dr. Mize and Mr. Ed Sayre, Sr. They would allow me to double bag for the two of them. On Saturday, they would often play thirty-six holes, and I would get at least twenty dollars total from the two men. Back then, twenty dollars was a fortune for a caddy.

Today, most caddies have been replaced by the golf cart - at least at the amateur level. I am certain that a golf cart is more convenient and less tiring for the golfer; however, I think that something is lost when the caddy is missing, especially at the Tryon Country Club. Perhaps it is the unhurried walk though some of the most beautiful scenery in the world.

Perhaps it is the camaraderie between human beings. Most likely it's both. s.hefner@comcast.net

Footnote: Thanks to Tommy Burrell for information on this column. Tommy is a great golfer and still lives on the mountain top above the country club.