Leo Lewis Tournament
A Success
On Monday, July 16, 2007 the caddies of the MMJGA piled in a bus and headed to The Wilds Golf Club in Prior Lake to caddie for the Leo Lewis Celebrity Golf Classic—a fundraiser for both the MMJGA and the Lewis Sports Foundation. Sixteen of our finest caddies participated in the celebrity event that included former college and professional athletes, local radio personalities and other local celebrities. It was a challenging day for our participants who cart caddied for several golfers at a time. In cart caddying, the caddie does not have to carry a bag but they are responsible for cleaning clubs, replacing divots and tending the flagstick for everyone in the group. It was a long round with most of the caddies out on the course for over five hours but in the end it was good payday with some caddies making over $100. The busy day was capped off with a banquet in their honor and an auction aiming to raise more money for the organizations.
Tyler: summer jobs on the greens build interest in golf and expand life skills
A light layer of frost had settled over the golf course Friday night. Plans had to change for Saturday morning caddie training. The Minnesota Minority Junior Golf Association (MMJGA) is an organization founded in 1987. It teaches children how to caddie as a summer job, builds an interest in golf and expands life skills.
Clayton Tyler, founder and chairman of the board of MMJGA, worked as a caddie growing up on the North Side. Tyler said that when he was a twelve-year-old, former University of Minnesota football quarterback Sandy Stephens would pick Tyler up to be his caddie every day during the summer.
"I made money and I learned about people," Tyler said. "What I try to do is take these kids and teach them a little bit about commitment."
Jack Stahlmann, program director
of MMJGA, is responsible for
teaching the children about golf.
Saturday, April 14 was the second
day the children were learning how
to caddie, but the first that was
spent outdoors. The first weekend
of April was too cold to do any
work outside, Stahlmann said, so
they went over some basic terminology.
There are ninety children in the program this year, which is up from sixty in the previous year. The students are ages twelve through seventeen years old. Four training sessions in April focus on the new members, since the members with experience do not need basic training.
Although the numbers are high, Stahlmann said that some of the children become inactive in the program. There are the physical challenges of caddying to overcome, as well as the social challenges of the game of golf.
"There's a pretty high turnover in caddie programs in general," Stahlmann said. "They're at such an age where they think they want to work. And then they get on the course and they realize it's work. It's a very difficult job."
A group of about twenty boys and girls met at 8:00 a.m. at Theodore Wirth Park to go over the caddying basics like how to pick up and carry a bag, how to organize the golf clubs and where to stand when a player is swinging.
In order to become a caddie at a private golf course, the children must pass a test.
"Personally, I hate the test," Stahlmann said. The test has trick questions and very difficult multiple choice questions where you can't necessarily eliminate a choice.
During the training, Stahlmann warned the students about possible questions on the test. He said that one question would ask, when is the only time a caddie should replace a divot made by a golfer? The answer is: "none of the above," because a caddie should always replace a divot.
At about 9:15 a.m., the frost had melted and the golfers were ready to play. Stahlmann arranged for eight golfers to come for the caddies to practice.
Theodore Wirth Park contains public golf courses. Up until last year, the MMJGA only prepared caddies for work at public courses. This year, according to Stahlmann, the children will be working at private golf courses.
In years past, the MMJGA would train on public courses and encourage caddies to go to private courses. Stahlmann said that caddies were reluctant because they would be well acquainted with the course and not want to start over at a private course. They weren't elevating their skills.
This is the first year that Stahlmann will be setting up caddies with private courses right away, and then monitoring them through their bosses.
"Our goal is quite ambitious, in that we need to train kids with sometimes zero golf experience and we have to get them up to standard of honor caddie right away," Stahlmann said. Honor caddie is the highest level of caddie.
Although the children will be required to pass a test to work at private courses, it makes them eligible for the full-tuition Evans Scholarship. According to the Web site for the Evans Scholarship Foundation, in order to qualify, certified caddies must have a superior caddie record for two years, earn above a B average, possess outstanding character and have financial need.
Children in the MMJGA who receive the scholarship would receive full tuition and housing at the University of Minnesota for up to four years. Tasha Phillips was the first MMJGA member to earn an Evans Scholarship in 2005.
According the Stahlmann, ten
Evans Scholarships went unused
last year. Even if caddies don't
qualify for the Evans Scholarship,
the MMJGA offers scholarships
within the organization as well.
Jackie Cherryhomes, executive director of MMJGA and wife of Clayton Tyler, said that the MMJGA will be meeting with people from the Evans Scholarship to discuss its recent qualification changes.
"We're hoping to later on this week firm up our relationship with them," Cherryhomes said. "I think easily we could get one kid a year an Evans Scholarship, which is fabulous."
As 10:00 a.m. came, the caddies headed back to the clubhouse - some golfers stayed on the course to play some more. The day of training was over and a lot had been learned.
Training will run throughout the summer, Stahlmann said. The training during the summer will be focused on elevating caddying skills, not just the basics.
The MMJGA uses a point system to encourage caddies to come and train. Caddies will get one, two or three points each time they caddie, depending on the level of caddie at which they perform. They will receive five points for attending the training. Although the details are not finalized, monetary bonuses will be given out at the end of the year to caddies with the most points.
The MMJGA has partnerships with the Professional Golf Association, The United States Golf Association, the University of Minnesota, the Minneapolis Urban League, Wal-Mart and others.
Article by Tim Franzen
Insight News - Monday, April 23, 2007
http://www.insightnews.com
