Goblue Member Username: Goblue
Post Number: 193 Registered: 03-2007
| Posted on Thursday, July 26, 2007 - 4:21 pm: | |
Is there anyone else out there who caddied at the Country Club of Detroit in the late '50's or early '60's who is interested in sharing experiences. |
Tetsua Member Username: Tetsua
Post Number: 1281 Registered: 01-2004
| Posted on Thursday, July 26, 2007 - 4:41 pm: | |
Didn't caddie for CCD, but I caddied for Plum Hollow in Southfield during the 90s. I've got plenty of experiences. |
Harpernottingham Member Username: Harpernottingham
Post Number: 224 Registered: 04-2006
| Posted on Thursday, July 26, 2007 - 4:51 pm: | |
I caddied there briefly in the early '80s. God, how I hate golf. |
Cambrian Member Username: Cambrian
Post Number: 1373 Registered: 08-2006
| Posted on Thursday, July 26, 2007 - 4:54 pm: | |
I caddied at Plum Hollow in '86. Great job for a young person. I averaged about $15 to $20 bux every 18 holes. |
Tetsua Member Username: Tetsua
Post Number: 1282 Registered: 01-2004
| Posted on Thursday, July 26, 2007 - 4:56 pm: | |
When I hit honor status at Plum Hollow I'd average about 35 bucks a loop. Pretty good job for a young person indeed if you could do 2 loops a day. |
Cambrian Member Username: Cambrian
Post Number: 1374 Registered: 08-2006
| Posted on Thursday, July 26, 2007 - 5:05 pm: | |
Was every other member's name Dick in the 90s? That brought us so much humour. |
Tponetom Member Username: Tponetom
Post Number: 74 Registered: 06-2007
| Posted on Thursday, July 26, 2007 - 7:05 pm: | |
I caddied at CC a few times when Joe Belfore was the club pro in the early forties. A beautiful and challenging course. Sadly my loops there were no more generous than Lochmoor. We got $ 1.10 for 18 and, not always, a two bit tip. My neighborhood pal, Al C. was a steady, at CC and he caddied for Sammy Snead on a special appearance by Sweet Sammy. Talk about poetry in motion. He tipped Al 5 bucks which was astounding at that time. |
Goblue Member Username: Goblue
Post Number: 195 Registered: 03-2007
| Posted on Thursday, July 26, 2007 - 7:16 pm: | |
I was at the CC 1955-56...I think we got $1.50 a round to start and maybe topped out at $2.25...tips were usually a buck or two...one time I had Wm. Clay Ford...he tipped me $20 and was a hell of a nice man. I remember another guy by the name of Weber...was head of J.L. Hudson's...tipped everybody a dime...his bag was lighter by three Maxfli balls by the time I turned it in. The best part of working there was being able to play the course on Mondays...great course. Wish I still had my CC jacket that they gave to everyone at the annual caddy banquet. Some good memories...and I learned a hell of a lot about people. A couple of us snuck into the Buick Open in 1957...by walking through a big drain pipe...got to walk alongside Slammin' Sammy on pro-am day...watched him drive two balls out of bounds in succession...he stayed cool...was jivin' with us walking down the fairway. |
Rrl Member Username: Rrl
Post Number: 868 Registered: 12-2003
| Posted on Thursday, July 26, 2007 - 7:17 pm: | |
So I says to the Lama, "yo, Lama, you know, how 'bout a little something for the effort?" The Lama says "There will be no money exchanged... but on your deathbed... you will receive total consciousness." So I've got that going for me...which is nice. |
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw
Post Number: 3366 Registered: 02-2005
| Posted on Thursday, July 26, 2007 - 8:26 pm: | |
Goblue, were you there for the 1954 US Amateur Open that Arnold Palmer won to put himself on the map and jumpstart his career? That is possibly the most important moment in the CCD's golf history, and was commemorated with a tournament with many big names in August 2004. I'm guessing you're originally from the Pointes/East side? |
Oakland9 Member Username: Oakland9
Post Number: 4 Registered: 03-2007
| Posted on Thursday, July 26, 2007 - 10:50 pm: | |
I caddied at Oakland Hills G.C. in '64 (my first job) and the Detroit Golf Club in '65 & '66. Great memories mostly. Made $4 usually; maybe ten with a double. Liked most of the members; some were jerks. Good way to develop people skills for a 15 yr old. One of the most searing memories of my youth was witnessing a knock-down, bloody fistfight between the prick of a caddiemaster at Detroit Golf Club in '66 and another caddie. It blew my mind that no one came to put a halt to it. |
Goblue Member Username: Goblue
Post Number: 198 Registered: 03-2007
| Posted on Thursday, July 26, 2007 - 11:01 pm: | |
Mackinaw: I missed the 1954 Open by one year...much to my current dismay...it likely was the event that prompted me to become a caddy at the CC. You're right...originally from 7 Mile and Gratiot area...specifically Fordham & Celestine...Columbus Elem. & Denby...used to take the bus down Seven Mile to Mack and hitchhike the rest of the way to the CC. Oakland: Can't imagine a fight occurring in the caddy shack at CC...the caddy master was a man named Caesar...we were kids...I learned early on that tips were better if I wore chinos and golf spikes as opposed to the jeans and tennis shoes that my colleagues wore. It was a gentlemanly scene. |
Oakland9 Member Username: Oakland9
Post Number: 5 Registered: 03-2007
| Posted on Thursday, July 26, 2007 - 11:26 pm: | |
Goblue: I was at Detroit Golf Club on the west side not CCofD. The east side is a foreign land to me. |
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw
Post Number: 3367 Registered: 02-2005
| Posted on Thursday, July 26, 2007 - 11:45 pm: | |
We don't like to talk about the west side...although the DGC is great. Goblue, that's great. CCD is still an amazing club and course, but I only know people who go there. |
Oakland9 Member Username: Oakland9
Post Number: 6 Registered: 03-2007
| Posted on Thursday, July 26, 2007 - 11:50 pm: | |
Goblue: I was at Detroit Golf Club on the west side not CCofD. The east side is a foreign land to me to this day. |
Harpernottingham Member Username: Harpernottingham
Post Number: 225 Registered: 04-2006
| Posted on Friday, July 27, 2007 - 3:02 am: | |
Hey, GoBlue, shot in the dark here (and sorry for the tangent here) but my mom grew up at Mayfield and Celestine and went to Denby High. She's been dead several years now, but I wonder if you might've known her. Mary Jane Jones, born in 1945. |
Goblue Member Username: Goblue
Post Number: 201 Registered: 03-2007
| Posted on Friday, July 27, 2007 - 12:44 pm: | |
Harpernottingham: Your mom was four years younger than I am...so she likely started Denby the year I graduated...January 1959...I don't recall the name...watch for posts from Eastside61...he was in the class of '61 and grew up near Mapleridge and Brock...there's a chance he knew her. Sorry to hear that she died so young. I can't place Mayfield...I recognize the name but can't put it on my mental map...must be somewhere south of 6 Mile? There's another thread looking for other Denby TARS...Eastside61 and I bounce a lot of posts on that one...we'd welcome you to join us...I'll watch for you there...someone is bound to know her...just in case a poster wants to limit this one to caddying. |
Elviswithteeth Member Username: Elviswithteeth
Post Number: 35 Registered: 03-2007
| Posted on Sunday, July 29, 2007 - 4:24 am: | |
I caddied at CCD for 7 summers. My first year was the Ceasar's last summer... I'm guessing around 1975. Dennis Waganitch.... or something like that took over after him. Lula was the pro and Jim his son work in the back with handling and cleaning clubs.... |
Swingline Member Username: Swingline
Post Number: 874 Registered: 11-2003
| Posted on Monday, July 30, 2007 - 11:10 am: | |
I know a young boy who will be 12 years old next summer. He's interested in caddying. I was wondering, how much can a rookie caddie earn in a day? What is the minimum age for a caddie at the CCD? Detroit Golf Club might be closer for him. Do all the clubs use the same minimum age? If anybody knows any of this, please respond. Thanks. |
Goblue Member Username: Goblue
Post Number: 213 Registered: 03-2007
| Posted on Monday, July 30, 2007 - 11:15 am: | |
Swingline: It used to be that a kid had to have a work permit...you had to be 14 to get it...I think the schools issued them...that was a jillion years ago though...same with the money...I got about 2 bucks a round in 1955...I'd suggest giving the pro shop a call at DGC...they should be able to tell you. |
Miketeevee Member Username: Miketeevee
Post Number: 17 Registered: 07-2005
| Posted on Monday, July 30, 2007 - 5:09 pm: | |
I was a caddy there in the mid 80s. I still remember sitting in the caddy shack the day of Live Aid.. watching it on the crummy little TV before going out for 18 holes. I have to say.. it really wasn't the best job for a scrawny 14 year old with allergies! I once got a 50 cent tip for 27 holes! I looked at the guy who gave me the tip and he actually said.. "When I was young that was a lot of money!" I told him that he needed the money more than I did! That was my last day at the CCD. |
Goblue Member Username: Goblue
Post Number: 216 Registered: 03-2007
| Posted on Monday, July 30, 2007 - 6:12 pm: | |
I was out with a jerk one day when a storm came up...lightning started crashing all around...the member wanted to keep playing...I told him that I'd carry his bag back to the pro shop or he could carry them the rest of round for himself but there was no way in hell that I was going to stay out there...he threaten to have me fired...Ceasar backed me up. I caddied for two years...the money was okay but the best part was being able to play the course on Monday afternoons after the ladies were through. After that I got a job in the darkroom at Fox Studio on Gratiot...better pay but no golf. |
Gene Member Username: Gene
Post Number: 36 Registered: 10-2006
| Posted on Monday, July 30, 2007 - 7:22 pm: | |
Swingline: Try the Lochmoor Club in the Woods. Tim Harris is the contact person. My son started in the 6th grade and has done it for the past few summers. Great job for a kid. Averages 50 to 60 dollars a loop. |
321brian Member Username: 321brian
Post Number: 400 Registered: 02-2006
| Posted on Monday, July 30, 2007 - 7:57 pm: | |
I didn't think Tim was at Lochmoor anymore. I thought Chris was the new caddy guy/starter. DGC caddies aren't the best. I've been in groups where they have been swinging out clubs on the next tee while we were putting out. CCD is first class all the way!! If DGC is close I assume Red Run is too? They have a pretty nice course and caddy program. |
Goblue Member Username: Goblue
Post Number: 220 Registered: 03-2007
| Posted on Monday, July 30, 2007 - 11:30 pm: | |
Holy Smoke!!...$50-$60 a round for a 12 year old!!...I think I might move back to Detroit and apply for one of those jobs!! Seriously, that's really great...also great to hear about a kid willing to get out there and work...you gotta be proud of your boy. Actually, I wasn't certain that the clubs still had caddies...glad that they do...instead of the damned carts. Had a membership at Pinehurst in the late '70's-early '80's...had caddies on #2 but not all courses. |
Elviswithteeth Member Username: Elviswithteeth
Post Number: 37 Registered: 03-2007
| Posted on Tuesday, July 31, 2007 - 12:49 am: | |
$50-60 bucks a round. A normal day was about $15-20 double 18 holes. Is Dennis Wags... still at CCD? |
Ray Member Username: Ray
Post Number: 957 Registered: 06-2004
| Posted on Tuesday, July 31, 2007 - 1:04 am: | |
I caddied orchard lake in 1976 ($4.00 per round) and Edgewood 1977-1982 (finally up to about $16 per round). Hard work, and with waiting for a loop and a ride home, it worked out to below minimum wage. My favorite caddie tale is finding a dead body in the woods ajdacent to Edgewood during the summer of 1978. Only in Michigan! |
Gtat44 Member Username: Gtat44
Post Number: 152 Registered: 02-2007
| Posted on Tuesday, July 31, 2007 - 11:52 am: | |
I caddied at the Club in the early 80's! I remember Dennis would come into to the middle of the caddie area and say...." Come oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo on YOU!" when picking a caddie. There were some caddies one day that went on an excursion and came back with Kirk Gibsons' MSU football helmet they claimed they got it out of his garage. I think Darrell Evans live close by also. |
Zephyrprocess Member Username: Zephyrprocess
Post Number: 435 Registered: 08-2006
| Posted on Wednesday, August 01, 2007 - 1:05 pm: | |
Evans lived on Provencal |
Elviswithteeth Member Username: Elviswithteeth
Post Number: 39 Registered: 03-2007
| Posted on Thursday, August 02, 2007 - 12:04 am: | |
Ah...that famous Dennis....Ahhhhhhh....you....W alk in looking at the floor and Ahhhhhh you n You! Ok, oh was tee time keeper on the 1st? And the boog? We used to throw the virgins in there! |
Goblue Member Username: Goblue
Post Number: 227 Registered: 03-2007
| Posted on Thursday, August 02, 2007 - 1:25 pm: | |
At least your Dennis talked...our Caesar in the '50's would just walk in the room...look around and point...the rookies got the dime tips...the longer you were there the better the tips...I learned too that if I dressed in chinos and wore golf shoes that I got the better tips. I remember that one of the guys got fired for daring to ask one of the member's daughters for a date. There was a real caste system and the caddies were the untouchables. At the half way house we had to sit in the dirt behind the house and hope that the waiters would get around to bringing us a cold pop before the members were ready to head for the tenth hole. Fifty some years later I've never forgotten how Wm. Clay Ford not only tipped me $20 but treated me with respect. A really fine gentleman. |
Elviswithteeth Member Username: Elviswithteeth
Post Number: 42 Registered: 03-2007
| Posted on Thursday, August 02, 2007 - 2:11 pm: | |
Well, I had only Caesar's last summer. Very quiet but firm. Dennis was just hilarious compared to him! Was Red caddying in the 50s? He was there my first couple years. I learned Euchre on the picnic tables as well out back. I caddied for Wm Clay Ford once and he tipped me $20.00 as well. He and his bag were in the cart and I had to chase him in his cart. |
Wsu98 Member Username: Wsu98
Post Number: 11 Registered: 03-2007
| Posted on Thursday, August 02, 2007 - 3:45 pm: | |
I was a groundskeeper at CCD, from around 93-97, the best summer job I ever had. We always laughed at the caddies, those poor guys took a lot of abuse. If a caddy left a club on a green and we found it we would always return it to the member, just to see the caddy get bitched at. William Clay Ford always rode hsi cart right up to the green, that would piss off the head greenskeeper. |
Goblue Member Username: Goblue
Post Number: 228 Registered: 03-2007
| Posted on Thursday, August 02, 2007 - 4:00 pm: | |
It sounds like WCF got a tad more arrogant as the years went on. There were no carts in the years I was there...we carried...sometimes doubles...it sure as hell kept us in shape. I don't recall anyone named "Red" when I was there. My wife and her family from Indiana are big Euchre fans...I had never heard of it before we connected. |
Elviswithteeth Member Username: Elviswithteeth
Post Number: 43 Registered: 03-2007
| Posted on Thursday, August 02, 2007 - 4:02 pm: | |
Yeah, I think I may have left a club or two somewhere. We did get our fair abuse but all in all was treated pretty good. They must have for I did seven summers there. William Clay Ford...could do anything he wanted! He surely though was a true gentleman even to us caddies. |