How Northside Almost Ended My High School's Perfect Record in Golf

I didn't get to hit a golf ball until I was fourteen years old when I became a caddy at Corning Country Club. Corning Country Club is where, now, the LPGA Corning Classic tournament is played. There were virtually no golf carts in the 1950s and most of the members of the country club could afford the two dollars that it took to hire a caddy for a round of golf. We loved when there was a tournament because we could even carry double bags and make four or five dollars for a round of golf if there was a shortage off caddys. The country club had a policy of allowing the caddies to play golf until noon on Mondays. Wanting to play on "caddy day" but not having any golf clubs to play with, I developed a plan to get some clubs. The idea really hit me the day I was chosen to caddy for Mr. E.J. Smith. He was an executive with Ingersol-Rand which was headquartered in Painted Post, a of suburb of Corning, despite the fact that the city had only something between fifteen thousand and twenty thousand people in it. I went to Corning Free Academy (high school) on the south side of the Chemung River which runs through Corning. Northside High School was on the north side of the river.

I worked hard that day. I grabbed the rake and raked every time someone, even if it wasn't Mr. Smith, got into a sand trap. I made sure that he noticed that I cleaned the clubs that he used with the towel that I brought along when he gave the club back to me, even if it was his putter. When the round was over and he was getting his pocket change out of the bag, I asked him, "My name is Joe Btfsplk, would you ask for me when you play on the weekends?" He said he would. I felt that he'd probably forget but it was worth a try. The next day, which was a Sunday, the "caddie master" called me and told me that E.J. Smith wanted me to caddy for him. My plan was working.

He asked for me on the next two or three weekends and I made sure that I was there and did all the extras that are not normally expected of a caddy like asking him if I could clean and polish his golf shoes. Allowing someone to use your golf clubs is almost like allowing someone to wear your underwear to most golfers. The members left their golf clubs in a rack in the caddy shack. I decided it was time to ask. I said, "I will take real good care of your golf clubs and clean and shine them if you will let me use them on "caddy day?" He said that would be fine as long as I took care of them and my golf career started. I used his golf clubs for the next two or three years and faithfully took care of them when I was finished playing. My plan had worked.

For the next three years or so, If I could find enough lost balls around the course, I got to play golf on "caddy day". Coach Duncan, my high school's golf coach, chose the five kids who would play an upcoming match by having us play a try-out round before the match. The top five scores got to play the match. All of the kids who had well to do parents that belonged to the country club went to my high school so there was little chance that any school in Steuben county, or even any school in the next county, Chemung County, could win a match against us. There was Charles "Chuck," the club professional's son, Robert "Bob," Stannard "Stan," and Timothy "Tim" whose families belonged to the country club. They always won the first four spots on the team. Then there were five or six of us, mostly caddies, who vied for the fifth position. The only time I was able to top all of the other aspirants for the fifth position, we were scheduled to play our hated rival, Northside High School.

My high school had a perfect record of winning every match in golf from the time the first golf team was formed many years earlier. All of the kids who had well to do parents and who belonged to the country club went to my high school. We would have no problem vanquishing our hated foe. We tee'd off in twosomes in the order of our places on the team. Being fifth on the team me and my opponent tee'd off last. It was a close match but I defeated him. As we were approaching the two coaches and other players, I couldn't help but notice that Coach Duncan and other four members of my high school team were hanging their heads and the coach and other members of Northside's team looked like they had beaten the world.

My opponent and I joined the others, but with the way all of them looked I was sure that my team had lost. When my opponent and I reported that I had won, the other guys from my team jumped up, began shaking my hand, patting me on the back, and congratulating me. The score was two to two when we came in and everyone, the two coaches, and all the players were sure that I had lost my match. Chuck and Bob had won their matches easily while Stan and Tim had lost their matches. My team changed from hang down to happy and cheerful while the coach and the team from Northside were hanging their heads. I went over to them because I felt sorry for having ruined their day, at least, sorry until I found out what their coach had revealed before my opponent and I arrived after our match. He had almost pulled off the greatest upset in the two countys' high school golf history. He knew that there was no way any of his team could compete with Chuck and Bob. He had taken his number four and five players and made them number one and two. He then had taken his number one, two, and three players and played them as number three, four and five. Since their number one and two men had won, everyone was assuming that their number three man would defeat me. Northside's coach's plan had almost worked but Corning Free Academy continued it's perfect record in golf.