06/12/2025
The U.S. Open in Golf this year is being played at the Oakmont Country Club just outside Pittsburgh, PA.
In the early seventies, the U.S. Open was also played there. I was there.
I caddied at the Ebensburg Country Club every summer from the age of 12 through 14. Every Saturday morning in the summer, approximately 20 golfers needed caddies. We were paired with a golfer by the golf pro.
They picked teams of four players each on the first tee. Then they would play the teams against each other. Golf carts were available in front of the pro shop for their use if they wanted; however, they chose to use caddies instead.
I believe they used us young caddies because it taught us to provide a valuable service to the community. They had been caddies when they were young, and they were passing this experience on to the next generation.
I got so good at caddying that some of the golfers would ask for me.
We caddied on Ladies Day Tuesday and during the Wednesday night twilight league.
At age 15, the club phased out caddies, and the players started using golf carts.
One Sunday morning during this time, a car pulled up in front of our house at our horse farm.
There were three golfers whom I had caddied for the previous three years.
I walked out onto the porch and asked,
"What are you guys doing here?"
One of the golfers said,
"Come on, we are going to the U.S. Open golf tournament. Go tell your dad that you are going with us."
So, I jumped in the car, and we drove over an hour to get there. I saw Jack Nicklaus, Arnie Palmer, and Lee Trevino. That was the Sunday that Johnny Miller shot 63 and broke a U.S. Open record.
Years later, I tried to figure out why those three 40-plus-year-old golfers would want a 15-year-old "punk" caddy to go along with them to that tournament.
I figured that they were paying tribute and thanking me for my service to them for the previous three years.
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