Posts from — July 2011

Right after Whistler Brenda and I headed to Vancouver for a few days. The main reason for the visit was so that I could Caddie for an amateur player in the Pro-Am events as part of the RBC Canadian Open at Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club.

Shaughnessy G&C is a private golf club on SW Marine Drive and is definitely an “old time members style” club. It kind of reminded me of something out of the Movie “Caddieshack”. The grounds, the setting and the facilities are amazing and then add all of the organization and glitz associated with a PGA Tour event and it was remarkable to be part of it.
The original time I was given was to show up at was 9:30 a.m. on Monday morning, however I was excited to get there early. So, after parking my car in the designated lot at UBC I hopped on the shuttle bus and got to the entrance around 8:15 a.m. After going through security I arrived at the Caddie sign in area and was number 23 on the list. So, I felt I had a good chance of getting a bag to carry as there were 42 registered amateur players for Mondays Childrens Hospital  Pro-Am. The shotgun start was at 11:30 a.m. and nothing much happened till about 10:30 a.m. and then they started taking Caddies in groups of 5. A lot of amateurs players brought along their friends as Caddies so it looked like it was going to be close to see if I even got a bag to carry. Finally the last person signed in at 11:10 a.m. and they only needed 22 Caddies and I was number 23, so no luck today.
Well, I was “bummed out” and hung around for a bit more to see if anything else came up, but no luck, So, I decided to make the most of it and experience a PGA Tour event and walk around on the grounds, since I had a Caddie Grounds pass. Early on I headed over to the 10th tee box and there was a spot to stand next to a cedar shrub where you were about 10 ft. from where all the Pro’s were hitting their drives. I chatted up the team of volunteer officials there and told them my tale of woe about being number 23 of 22 Caddies and how I had come from Kamloops and didn’t get a bag, etc. etc.
Anyway, after walking a couple fairways I see the John Daly foursome coming up 8, so I watched them for a while and then headed to the 9th fairway to watch the players drives. After that I headed straight for the place I had scoped out on the 10th tee box. A few minutes later John Daly arrived and all of a sudden one of the caddies said to the volunteer official “please contact the Caddiemaster we need another Caddie as one of ours pulled his hamstring”. I immediately raised my hand said I’m number 23 and once I showed my Caddie credential pass I was allowed inside the ropes. I quickly introduced myself and before I knew it we were off down the 10th fairway.
Man………. what an experience! I was caddying for one of the principal owners of Richmond BMW, Infinity and Min-Cooper Auto.
Pete was a great guy and a pretty good golfer, his playing partners were the other dealership owners and they were very friendly and easy to get along with. They had paid $7500 for a threesome with all the monies going to BC Childrens Charity. John Daly was very friendly, easy to talk to and still hits the golf ball a looooonnnnngggg way. His pants are his trade mark and are provided by Loud Mouth Golf and they are colorful. Going down the 15th fairway I asked him if he had brought his guitar along and he said he hadn’t since he only plays Martin Guitars and they’re about $4000 and the airplane travel and humidity changes really messes them up.
The course was playing extremely tough for all the players. Especially the rough, it was 6″ to 7″ deep and you could lose a ball 3 feet off the fairway if it wasn’t for the excellent volunteer spotters. At one point John mentioned that probably 7 to 8 of the Pro’s would drop out after the 1st round just because of the course rough conditions.

The back nine went by extremely quick and it seemed like all of a sudden I was walking up the 18th fairway and the day was over. What a day……… more on the Wednesday Pro-Am in the next post.

This past weekend we got together with our group of Reunion Friends in Whistler B.C. it was year number 33, we first got together in Kamloops in1979. Reunion weekend is a very special time to reconnect with long time friends (you’ll notice I avoided using the term “old friends”). Unfortunately our good friend Ed H. from Portland was unable to join us as he is battling some health and personal issues, we really missed him. We do not know of any other group that have a similar friends reunion once a year. 

We found a Condo on VRBO in an area of Whistler called Montebello. The Condo was excellent and it was well located to Whistler Lower Village. There was a nearby walking trail that led directly to the village which took less than 10 minutes to be in the center of the action. It was where the Winter Olympic Celebration Plaza was located and it was being used this weekend for outdoor concerts that were part of Crankworks Bike Downhill.

Most years the hosts of the reunion plan an outing or event. However this year nothing in particular was planned. It was kind of nice as everyone did their own thing or we got together at different times as a group to head into the village for shopping or lunch. 6 of us did take advantage of a dry moment to go for a bike ride on some of the trails of Whistler. The picture was taken in Alta Lake Park.

Unfortunately the weather was not the best and even though it rained only occasionally the clouds and fog were low enough that it was not worth taking the Peak to Peak Gondola or to go on one of the many Zip Lines.

As with all reunions we brought too much food which meant we ate and drank too much, stayed up well beyond our regular bedtime and laughed till our sides hurt. Special friends and special times………. we are blessed!