The 23rd annual Shaughnessy Ex-Caddies Tournament and gathering was held at Peace Portal Golf Course August 29th, 2000. Due to rain their tee-times were held up for a few hours. It was a wonderful opportunity to talk with these truly original B.C. golfers. Ted Ingram at age 92 is the oldest caddie still living and golfing in Vancouver. Many of these x-caddies are in their 80's, the average being 87! This year brought out approximately a dozen players, 4 of which are not from the original caddies.

Ask them their handicap, they'll say their arms and legs, chuckle chuckle. Surprisingly their game hovers in the sub-100 round, not bad I'd say. The next time you are frustrated about the slow play ahead of you, think twice, he may be an Alumni of the oldest organized group of caddies in North America.

Left to Right - Ted Ingram (92), Lo Linkter, Ernie Brown, Les Paterson

The first year for the working caddie was 1930. The average pay for 18 holes was .75$, or in their slang, 3 drops or .25 a drop. The caddies were under the umbrella of the Caddie Master, Chuck "Big Mac" MacDonald. On a typical Saturday there may be 100 kids lined up on benches waiting for their turn. The goal was to become a favorite of one of players so that you would be asked for by name. Make a peep or get out of line with "Big Mac" and you were sent home for a day or two. A tough lesson then, and it worked, money was scarce as the great Depression struck just one year prior. It was tough times for any and everyone. These kids worked to bring money home for the family, not always for their own entertainment. Times are definitely changed, ask a kid to do that today and he would most likely give you a weird look.

Ernie Brown, shares a humorous story. The first hole the caddies would stand down on the right hand side of the fairway to spot and mark balls. On this given day, Henry Mitchell was caddying for one of the members. Henry said "lets have some fun today, were all going to get 6 bits anyway". He proceeded to kick his ball into a ball divot after a beautiful tee shot down the fairway.

This went on for every hole and when the 7th hole was completed they could walk up to the 8th fairway and stand by the fairway bunker to once again mark their golfer's ball. The players would walk done to the 8th tee box which was then parallel with West 37th street.

Henry's golfer hit the ball and it landed just short of the bunker. He again gave it a kick into the bunker. The player asked Henry where his ball was. Henry looked at him right in the eye and with the straightest face said "Sir, you sure are having bad luck today".

The other caddies were aghast at what Henry had done as they would have all been fired on the spot.

It is certainly not our intent to taint the image of the Caddies, but to provide a glimpse into lives of kids that depended on golf in critical financial times. After sitting with a dozen of the most history filled minds in golf for B.C. and Canada these are the stories that make golf what it is. Honor, Pride, Respect, and Love for the game that will live longer than any high-tech synthetic ball.