Golf: A Real Life Saver

Golf saved my life…twice.

My first few experiences on the golf course were around 12 years old. My dad would take me out and I’d get to watch him play from the car as he and an uncle or a friend went out there and hit sticks.

“We don’t like bogey’s,” is about all I remember from those conversations.

I cared mostly about driving the cart. I still have a blast driving down the fairway after I’ve striped one up the center.

A few years later I picked up the sport more seriously, but it wasn’t until I moved from Utah to California that I really started to get after it.

My folks moved from Utah to Cali when I was just getting into my college years because I started college a year and a half earlier than most kids. I dropped out of high school the third term of my junior year and enrolled in Salt Lake Community College. Then I dropped out of college to wonder in the wilderness and become a river guide. Instead of doing that I ended up sleeping on a friend’s couch for a couple of weeks after a bad trip…it happens to the best of us.

I’ll spare the gory parts of the trip from Utah to Cali about a year after they moved away. What can I say? I wasn’t quite ready to leave the nest, I guess. While back under the wing of my parents I started golfing again…this time with some real enthusiasm.

At The Oakhurst Country Club where my family enjoyed a membership thanks to the fruits of my dad’s labor, me and my brothers would golf. They had school though, so I golfed a lot more. Before I’d head to Warehouse Music to sell records, I’d stop at the golf course in the morning. 4–5 days a week I’d be out there, rain or shine.

Through the sport of golf you aim to improve your game everyday. Your only competitor is yourself. As long as you got better today than you were yesterday you’re winning. I love that about golf. Golf is much like life itself in so many ways. It’s cliche for a reason.

Over 23 years ago I was on a golf course when I decided I’d muster up the courage to walk into the Marine Corps Recruiting office in the East Bay of San Francisco. It was on the golf course I told one of my close friends that I’d be on my way to the yellow footprints. Throughout my enlistment I had the opportunity to play golf with a fellow Marine whom I remain close with to this day.

I left active duty and got called out by the commandant of the Marine Corps for ‘dropping out,’ so I guess I remained on brand, but I broke that streak by returning to college at Georgia State University and getting my degree in English with a concentration in Rhetoric and Composition (go Panthers!).

After college I did a year in Austin, then a couple years back in SLC where I golfed maybe a couple dozen times before the hallowed halls of Ogilvy called me to New York (so I left my clubs in Utah…because…space). My hiring manager later told me that I was the best hire she made in her entire career. I was on the up and up. If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere. Over the course of 10 years, I met the girl of my dreams, started a family, bought a house, got a new job with a healthy bump in pay, found my way into an in-house agency at a big telecom company and thought I was riding into the sunset.

In March of 2023 I got laid off from that big telecom company. I’m a high performer so it didn’t make sense to me. I thought I could bounce back, and I did for a minute when I picked up an anchor client for my new agency. But it was more of the bounce that happens after a big fall, because that anchor client had their own financial troubles and we went our separate ways.

After some dark days in my home office while my wife kept most of our bills afloat I reevaluated my options for contributing to those bills. While evaluating those options I discovered that veterans golf free at New York State Park golf courses. I’ve enjoyed every one of my 20 plus rounds of golf there this season for zero dollars.

Free golf is THE best way to say, ‘thank you for your service,’ to any veteran, especially to those that love the sport like I do. (Other states, please take note.) While enjoying the gratitude of New York State at our Rockland Lake Championship Golf Course I decided I’d give a shot at becoming a caddy. I found a caddie master, learned the trade, and the next thing you know, I’ve got a means to go to work in the morning and come home with a pocket full of cash and a paycheck coming for the effort.

The rounds as a single player, the rounds with buddies, the practice at the simulator in Nyack (thanks to The Challenger Bay), and a couple of tournaments I played in this year all were great, but getting paid to read putts is awesome. I kept telling my golfers that I have the best corner office in town.

After a few loops I realized golf has now saved my life…twice.

So, while in between my continuing search for anchor clients, interviews for those steady corporate gigs, and spending time with my kids at the sim this off-season, I’m going to be writing about the world of golf from the perspective of a Mad Caddy. A Marine Corps veteran and advertising executive who became a caddy and found himself all over again. I hope people find entertainment in it…if nothing else, perhaps my kids might learn a thing or two about perseverance.

So, thanks for tuning in to caddyching. Tell a friend why don’t ya? It might improve their golf game…because I’m a damn fine caddy if I do say so myself!!!