WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.679 --> 00:00:05.480 For members only. Golf Smarter number three hundred and eighty five, 2 00:00:05.559 --> 00:00:08.199 published on May twenty one, twenty thirteen. 3 00:00:08.439 --> 00:00:13.480 Welcome to Golf Smarter Mulligans, your second chance to gain 4 00:00:13.519 --> 00:00:17.120 insight and advice from the best instructors featured on the 5 00:00:17.120 --> 00:00:23.120 Golf Smarter podcast. Great Golf Instruction Never Gets Old. Our 6 00:00:23.239 --> 00:00:28.039 interview library features hundreds of hours of game improvement conversations 7 00:00:28.160 --> 00:00:31.719 like this that are no longer available in any podcast app. 8 00:00:31.920 --> 00:00:35.399 The subtitle of the book is Growing Up Girls and 9 00:00:35.479 --> 00:00:38.520 Looping on the Old Course? Why Girls and what do 10 00:00:38.560 --> 00:00:38.840 you get? 11 00:00:39.039 --> 00:00:42.840 Okay, second season I get back, there's a rival business 12 00:00:42.880 --> 00:00:45.079 that has started up in St Andrews that is in 13 00:00:45.079 --> 00:00:47.000 its infancy when I get there in the second year. 14 00:00:47.280 --> 00:00:51.520 It's called model caddying. What it is is two university 15 00:00:51.560 --> 00:00:55.600 girls have started a caddy business in which they're about 16 00:00:55.679 --> 00:01:00.000 twenty five university girls, all of them with modeling experience, 17 00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:02.640 who are going to be caddying in Scotland. None of 18 00:01:02.679 --> 00:01:05.359 them are golfers. They are all from Saint Andrews, but 19 00:01:05.560 --> 00:01:07.640 they I guess none of them even had been on 20 00:01:07.640 --> 00:01:10.120 a golf course before they were like the twenty five exceptions. 21 00:01:10.239 --> 00:01:12.920 If they knew golf. None of them had ever ever 22 00:01:13.079 --> 00:01:16.000 caddied before, so at this point they needed someone to 23 00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:20.120 train them, and I got introduced to them my first 24 00:01:20.200 --> 00:01:23.159 night back in St. Andrews. I'm talking to these three 25 00:01:23.239 --> 00:01:27.239 girls who are about twenty five thousand leagues above me, 26 00:01:27.439 --> 00:01:28.959 like I would never be able to talk to these 27 00:01:28.959 --> 00:01:31.640 girls otherwise, And it comes up that I'm a caddie, 28 00:01:31.680 --> 00:01:34.879 and this girl Julie, who's setting the whole thing up, goes, 29 00:01:34.959 --> 00:01:37.280 oh my god, that's so cool that you're a caddy. 30 00:01:37.519 --> 00:01:39.239 And never in my life have I been told the 31 00:01:39.239 --> 00:01:40.000 caddying is cool. 32 00:01:45.239 --> 00:01:49.239 An American caddy in Saint Andrews with author Oliver Horovitz. 33 00:01:49.319 --> 00:01:54.200 This is Golf Smarter. Welcome to Golf Smarter for remembers only. 34 00:01:54.280 --> 00:01:56.560 Oliver, Hello, thanks for having me. 35 00:01:56.840 --> 00:02:00.959 I'm happy to have you on here. You you wrote 36 00:02:00.959 --> 00:02:04.799 a book that I found to be so fun entertaining, 37 00:02:05.319 --> 00:02:07.840 and I'm just excited to have you on the show. 38 00:02:10.039 --> 00:02:13.240 When do I begin tell me the basis of an 39 00:02:13.280 --> 00:02:15.479 American caddie in St. Andrews. 40 00:02:16.400 --> 00:02:19.680 An American Caddy in St. Andrews is about my seventh 41 00:02:19.719 --> 00:02:23.479 summers that I've spent caddying on the Old Course in 42 00:02:23.560 --> 00:02:25.439 St Andrews, Scotland. 43 00:02:26.199 --> 00:02:30.000 And that has got to be an exclusive opportunity. How 44 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:31.639 did you nail that? 45 00:02:31.639 --> 00:02:34.960 It's a good question. So I was. I went to 46 00:02:35.039 --> 00:02:37.680 high school at Stuyvesant High School in New York City. 47 00:02:38.840 --> 00:02:42.919 Stuyvesant is just so you know, it's one of these 48 00:02:43.039 --> 00:02:45.599 specialized schools. So it's one of the dorkiest high schools 49 00:02:45.639 --> 00:02:50.080 you'll ever find in the entire country. Everyone knew everyone 50 00:02:50.080 --> 00:02:51.960 else's GPA to the decimal place. 51 00:02:52.120 --> 00:02:53.319 Yeah, that's an East Coast thing. 52 00:02:53.680 --> 00:02:59.280 Our robotics team was nationally ranked, and. 53 00:02:59.240 --> 00:03:00.680 You were you were golf nerd. 54 00:03:01.159 --> 00:03:02.639 Yeah, and in the midst of this, I founded the 55 00:03:02.680 --> 00:03:06.280 golf team, so you founded it. I was like the fawnds, 56 00:03:06.319 --> 00:03:07.280 as you can imagine. 57 00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:09.879 And then and they're like going, oh exciting, we get 58 00:03:09.919 --> 00:03:12.879 to play video golf and you're like, no, with an actual. 59 00:03:12.639 --> 00:03:16.080 Ball part of the deal. In Manhattan, if you we 60 00:03:16.080 --> 00:03:18.159 were the only public school in Manhattan that had a 61 00:03:18.159 --> 00:03:22.080 golf team. So what that meant was we were either 62 00:03:22.120 --> 00:03:26.000 hitting balls at Chelsea Pears or we were taking the 63 00:03:26.039 --> 00:03:28.719 subway up to the Bronx to play golf at Van 64 00:03:28.759 --> 00:03:29.400 Cortland Park. 65 00:03:29.520 --> 00:03:33.159 Wow. Yeah, fun and how big? How big of a 66 00:03:33.199 --> 00:03:34.120 team did you create. 67 00:03:34.840 --> 00:03:37.479 We had a lot of spillover from the football team 68 00:03:37.719 --> 00:03:41.360 and the basketball team. We had about four kids who 69 00:03:41.360 --> 00:03:44.680 could play golf. Actually, our high school matches had a 70 00:03:44.759 --> 00:03:48.840 rule in which it wasn't the lowest score one on 71 00:03:48.879 --> 00:03:52.680 the hole, it was after seven shots, the person who 72 00:03:52.800 --> 00:03:57.000 was closest to the cup won the hole. I like, 73 00:03:58.199 --> 00:03:59.240 so anyway, I was. 74 00:03:59.240 --> 00:04:02.120 On everybody gets a trophy at the end. 75 00:04:04.039 --> 00:04:05.680 There were a lot of participation ribbons. 76 00:04:05.759 --> 00:04:07.599 Yeah, exactly, and who brought the oranges? 77 00:04:08.199 --> 00:04:14.840 Exactly? So I so I went stabsant and in my 78 00:04:15.000 --> 00:04:17.680 senior year, I was on the wait list to get 79 00:04:17.720 --> 00:04:18.399 into Harvard. 80 00:04:18.519 --> 00:04:20.439 I was congratulations. 81 00:04:20.680 --> 00:04:22.439 Yeah, I mean at the at the time, it was 82 00:04:22.519 --> 00:04:26.040 really really stressful because kids were getting off the waitlist 83 00:04:26.120 --> 00:04:29.079 and being told they had gotten in. Uh, kids were 84 00:04:29.439 --> 00:04:34.439 getting rejected off of it. I heard literally nothing until 85 00:04:35.160 --> 00:04:36.920 until June, and I was in the middle of my 86 00:04:36.959 --> 00:04:40.160 graduation ceremony and I was actually up on stage playing 87 00:04:40.199 --> 00:04:42.639 trumpet because our you know, our school band was playing. 88 00:04:42.959 --> 00:04:45.240 It wasn't as if you were not a super achiever 89 00:04:45.360 --> 00:04:47.800 you also had to be playing on this Yeah. 90 00:04:48.120 --> 00:04:49.839 I was playing third trumpet, which is kind of like 91 00:04:49.920 --> 00:04:52.519 playing division seven hockey or something. 92 00:04:52.439 --> 00:04:53.720 Right, and you only had two trumpet players. 93 00:04:53.800 --> 00:04:58.600 Yeah, so I was. I was on stage playing trumpet 94 00:04:58.639 --> 00:05:01.319 literally the middle of the graduation ceremony, and my phone 95 00:05:01.399 --> 00:05:04.959 rang in the middle of the ceremony and I looked 96 00:05:04.959 --> 00:05:08.360 at it, and it was Sally Champagne, the Harvard admissions 97 00:05:08.360 --> 00:05:11.800 officer for the New York region. Uh, Sally Champagne kind 98 00:05:11.800 --> 00:05:13.360 of sounds like a stripper name, but she was actually 99 00:05:13.360 --> 00:05:14.120 a missions officer. 100 00:05:14.199 --> 00:05:18.759 Yeah, I was. I wasn't gonna buy it. Actually, isn't 101 00:05:18.800 --> 00:05:23.399 this a porno that you're talking about? Exactly? Sally Champagne? Yeah, 102 00:05:23.800 --> 00:05:24.040 like ham. 103 00:05:25.480 --> 00:05:28.399 So basically everyone around me knew that I'd been waiting 104 00:05:28.439 --> 00:05:30.240 on this call, and like everyone was like, oh my god, 105 00:05:30.519 --> 00:05:34.000 she's calling. This is happening. I ran off stage and 106 00:05:34.040 --> 00:05:36.759 I went into this kind of side corridor alley, and 107 00:05:36.839 --> 00:05:37.480 I took the call. 108 00:05:37.680 --> 00:05:40.000 Wait a minute, you ran off stage during this during 109 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:41.120 the yep, you guys. 110 00:05:40.959 --> 00:05:43.959 Were playing so not smooth. I like put down my trumpet, 111 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:45.680 like clanked he out of my seat, and I like 112 00:05:45.800 --> 00:05:49.199 shuffled out of the out of the auditorium. It must 113 00:05:49.279 --> 00:05:50.240 have looked really bad. 114 00:05:51.240 --> 00:05:54.319 Yeah, and the band leader probably. 115 00:05:53.959 --> 00:05:57.720 Was pretty upset doctor Wheeler. I was not a big 116 00:05:58.000 --> 00:06:00.160 He was not a big fan of mine that day. 117 00:06:01.720 --> 00:06:04.040 Okay, so miss Champagne give you a. 118 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:07.800 Call, and I take Miss Champagne's call, and she says 119 00:06:07.839 --> 00:06:13.120 to me, Oliver, I've got great news. You're in. And 120 00:06:13.160 --> 00:06:16.800 then I said, oh my god. And then she said 121 00:06:17.079 --> 00:06:20.639 you're in for next year. And then I was like, 122 00:06:21.040 --> 00:06:25.319 what do you beyond? I was like, why did you 123 00:06:25.680 --> 00:06:29.399 why did you deliver the news in that way? But 124 00:06:29.680 --> 00:06:32.759 what had happened was Stuyvesant, my high school, the college 125 00:06:32.759 --> 00:06:37.560 office lost my final semester grades. They misplaced them, and 126 00:06:37.600 --> 00:06:41.680 they didn't send them for two weeks after they were 127 00:06:41.720 --> 00:06:43.759 supposed to send them. And by the time they were 128 00:06:43.800 --> 00:06:46.160 you know, I'd killed myself that spring because I knew 129 00:06:46.160 --> 00:06:47.519 I had to get good grades if I was getnet 130 00:06:47.560 --> 00:06:50.879 off this wait list. And Harvard didn't get the grades 131 00:06:50.879 --> 00:06:53.600 in time filled up their class of two thousand and 132 00:06:53.639 --> 00:06:56.600 seven and then said to me, you're the first kid 133 00:06:56.600 --> 00:06:59.560 accepted for the class of two thousand and eight, and 134 00:07:00.199 --> 00:07:02.160 I thus was given I guess you'd call it a 135 00:07:02.160 --> 00:07:04.959 deferred admission. So I had to take a gap year, 136 00:07:05.079 --> 00:07:08.079 which is kind of a euphemism for killing three hundred 137 00:07:08.079 --> 00:07:09.800 and sixty five consecutive days. 138 00:07:10.240 --> 00:07:13.959 Yeah, and not somebody who's motivated to get this to 139 00:07:14.079 --> 00:07:17.600 Harvard is prepared to do well. 140 00:07:17.639 --> 00:07:19.399 You're totally right. I mean at the time I was, 141 00:07:19.480 --> 00:07:21.279 I was kind of bummed out because all of my 142 00:07:21.720 --> 00:07:23.720 a lot of kids from Stuyvesant were going there. I 143 00:07:23.720 --> 00:07:25.639 had about twenty friends I knew who were going to 144 00:07:25.680 --> 00:07:26.560 be there the year after. 145 00:07:26.879 --> 00:07:29.120 Yeah, so at the time I was, and those kids 146 00:07:29.120 --> 00:07:31.160 were so smart that if you waited one year, by 147 00:07:31.160 --> 00:07:32.879 the time you got there, they'd already graduated. 148 00:07:33.000 --> 00:07:34.560 They were going to be president or by the time 149 00:07:34.600 --> 00:07:37.680 I got there. So I so I was like, what 150 00:07:37.959 --> 00:07:39.279 am I going to do for this year? You know, 151 00:07:39.360 --> 00:07:41.319 if I if I take a year off and really 152 00:07:41.519 --> 00:07:43.600 just do nothing for a year, I'm going to get 153 00:07:43.600 --> 00:07:47.600 to Harvard, I'm gonna I'm gonna flunk out. And I 154 00:07:47.680 --> 00:07:51.120 and I had this, I had this idea. So I 155 00:07:51.160 --> 00:07:54.600 had already applied to University of Saint Andrews back earlier 156 00:07:54.600 --> 00:07:57.000 in the year as a as a safety, as like 157 00:07:57.040 --> 00:07:59.720 a lark in a way. And I knew about san 158 00:07:59.759 --> 00:08:03.360 Anerew's because my mom is actually English and we've got 159 00:08:03.360 --> 00:08:05.879 a great uncle who lived in Saint Andrews who'd been 160 00:08:05.879 --> 00:08:09.399 living there for fifty years named Ken Hayward, and I 161 00:08:09.439 --> 00:08:12.160 always knew him as this funny old English guy who 162 00:08:12.199 --> 00:08:15.199 wore a tweed coat and tweed tie every single day, 163 00:08:15.560 --> 00:08:19.560 even when he was in his garden. And you know, 164 00:08:19.639 --> 00:08:21.879 we'd come over there for you know, a visit once 165 00:08:21.959 --> 00:08:25.639 or twice a year to quote unquote see uncle Ken, 166 00:08:25.680 --> 00:08:27.120 but really just to go play golf. 167 00:08:27.800 --> 00:08:29.120 When did you start playing golf? 168 00:08:29.360 --> 00:08:30.360 I started when I was nine. 169 00:08:30.519 --> 00:08:32.600 Ah, okay, yeah, I. 170 00:08:32.799 --> 00:08:35.840 Remember I saw the Masters on TV. I flipped through 171 00:08:35.919 --> 00:08:38.679 and ooh, what's this beautiful green space and who's this? 172 00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:44.200 Who's this Australian dude named Greg Norman playing? And he 173 00:08:44.279 --> 00:08:46.240 became my favorite player. And I turned to my dad 174 00:08:46.320 --> 00:08:48.720 that day and I said, yeah, we should try this thing. 175 00:08:50.320 --> 00:08:52.600 So my dad who was I think dad was fifty 176 00:08:52.639 --> 00:08:54.799 five at the time, and so I was nine, he 177 00:08:54.919 --> 00:08:58.799 was fifty five, and we started playing golf that basically 178 00:08:58.840 --> 00:09:02.679 that summer. So anyway, so I've been playing at this point, 179 00:09:02.720 --> 00:09:06.320 I've been playing for nine years. I had was playing 180 00:09:06.320 --> 00:09:08.000 off a one point eight. I was playing a lot 181 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:11.279 of golf, very good. I was, you know, sort of 182 00:09:11.320 --> 00:09:13.039 at the point where I was like, you know, this 183 00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:14.679 is a good opportunity for me for a year to 184 00:09:14.720 --> 00:09:17.039 see how good I can get and see if there 185 00:09:17.080 --> 00:09:18.720 was any way to actually give this a shot of 186 00:09:19.000 --> 00:09:22.320 playing professionally. I mean, when I was fourteen fifteen, Fred, 187 00:09:22.799 --> 00:09:24.519 that was my dream in life was to be a 188 00:09:24.519 --> 00:09:25.919 golf thro Well, let's. 189 00:09:25.720 --> 00:09:29.200 See, you've already proven that you're a overachiever by a 190 00:09:29.240 --> 00:09:34.360 one point eight stuyves in a you know, an elite 191 00:09:34.440 --> 00:09:39.279 high school getting accepted to Harvard. Yeah, so I'm sure 192 00:09:39.279 --> 00:09:42.320 that you were very comfortable with setting very high goals 193 00:09:42.320 --> 00:09:45.480 for yourself and probably pressuring yourself way too much for sure. 194 00:09:45.480 --> 00:09:47.120 I mean I should say you one thing about Stivesan. 195 00:09:47.159 --> 00:09:48.879 You have to take a test to get in, and 196 00:09:49.559 --> 00:09:52.000 twenty four thousand kids take a test and eight hundred 197 00:09:52.039 --> 00:09:56.960 get in just one exam. I made it by one point. Wow, 198 00:09:57.279 --> 00:09:59.200 and each question is worth like seven points. So I 199 00:09:59.240 --> 00:10:02.559 don't even understand how that was possible. So I was 200 00:10:02.600 --> 00:10:05.240 literally number seven ninety nine or eight hundred accepted. So 201 00:10:05.279 --> 00:10:07.639 I was very used to squeaking into things like on 202 00:10:07.679 --> 00:10:10.000 the skin of my teeth, so Harvard the waitless thing 203 00:10:10.039 --> 00:10:15.039 didn't surprise me much. So I was like, you know what, 204 00:10:15.519 --> 00:10:18.919 Saint Andrews has this freshman year broad program and you 205 00:10:18.960 --> 00:10:21.679 can sort of go there and do your first year 206 00:10:21.799 --> 00:10:25.000 and then leave and you don't get credit. And the 207 00:10:25.000 --> 00:10:27.200 deal with Harvard was you can do anything you want 208 00:10:27.240 --> 00:10:29.840 for a year, but you cannot enroll in a four 209 00:10:29.919 --> 00:10:33.320 year program. And so I guess the loophole was because 210 00:10:33.320 --> 00:10:35.440 I could just do freshman year at Saint Andrews. The 211 00:10:35.440 --> 00:10:38.919 deal was I couldn't transfer any credit from my gap 212 00:10:39.039 --> 00:10:41.399 year back to Harvard. I'd have to start as a freshman. 213 00:10:41.919 --> 00:10:44.440 And I sort of like complained about that for a second, 214 00:10:44.480 --> 00:10:46.799 and Sally Champagne was like, well, you know, if you 215 00:10:46.840 --> 00:10:49.519 wanted to, you could reapply right now as a transfer, 216 00:10:49.519 --> 00:10:51.080 but you'd have to give up your spot now. And 217 00:10:51.120 --> 00:10:52.120 I was like, no, no, no, no, no. 218 00:10:51.960 --> 00:10:59.960 No no no, no, no, no no, because in your mind 219 00:11:00.159 --> 00:11:03.000 you're going I have to repeat thirteenth grade. 220 00:11:03.440 --> 00:11:03.879 Totally. 221 00:11:04.039 --> 00:11:07.200 Yeah, I flunked. Oh I'm a miserable failure. 222 00:11:07.440 --> 00:11:10.279 I mean, I'm in I'm at this point, seventeen years old, 223 00:11:10.679 --> 00:11:14.159 and I've been, you know, just killing myself academically for 224 00:11:14.200 --> 00:11:18.120 four years in this really huge pressure cooker. And I 225 00:11:18.200 --> 00:11:20.720 was just completely about you know, getting there and getting started. 226 00:11:20.759 --> 00:11:23.639 But this this gap year seemed cool from the get 227 00:11:23.639 --> 00:11:28.600 go as well. I did a little research to St Andrews. 228 00:11:28.600 --> 00:11:31.559 I discovered a couple things pretty quickly like that night. 229 00:11:32.039 --> 00:11:35.200 First of all, Prince William was a junior at St 230 00:11:35.240 --> 00:11:37.840 Andrews when I was going to be going there. I 231 00:11:37.919 --> 00:11:42.240 knew that because he was there, female applications had risen 232 00:11:42.679 --> 00:11:46.919 significantly to St Andrews my year, freend, I think it 233 00:11:47.000 --> 00:11:50.600 was sixty five thirty five girl to guy ratio, sign 234 00:11:50.679 --> 00:11:55.879 them up correct. I also knew importantly that the drinking 235 00:11:55.919 --> 00:11:58.639 age in Saint Andrews and in the UK was eighteen, 236 00:11:59.000 --> 00:12:01.879 and by eighteen, I mean a very loosely enforced eighteen. 237 00:12:03.360 --> 00:12:05.799 There are often kids you see in the bars that 238 00:12:05.840 --> 00:12:11.799 are like maximum fifteen. And Saint Andrew's is, you know, 239 00:12:11.840 --> 00:12:16.440 it's this very quirky little town with only three streets 240 00:12:16.960 --> 00:12:20.440 and thirty one pubs. In this little town, it's got 241 00:12:20.480 --> 00:12:22.799 more pubs, more pubs per capita than anywhere else in 242 00:12:22.840 --> 00:12:24.159 the entire United Kingdom. 243 00:12:24.399 --> 00:12:24.720 Wow. 244 00:12:25.360 --> 00:12:29.799 So the thing that sealed the deal was the golf. 245 00:12:30.200 --> 00:12:33.440 And here's why. When you're a student at University of 246 00:12:33.480 --> 00:12:37.960 St Andrew's, you get to play unlimited on the old 247 00:12:38.000 --> 00:12:40.519 course and the other at the time, five other courses 248 00:12:40.679 --> 00:12:44.000 for the entire year for one hundred and three pounds. 249 00:12:45.000 --> 00:12:46.480 Now that's two hundred dollars. 250 00:12:47.120 --> 00:12:47.759 Wow. 251 00:12:48.240 --> 00:12:51.159 Yeah, I have I have a lot of golfers that 252 00:12:51.200 --> 00:12:53.240 I caddy for who are seventy to eighty years old, 253 00:12:53.279 --> 00:12:55.159 who ask that it's too late for them to apply 254 00:12:55.279 --> 00:12:56.320 as grad students. 255 00:12:56.399 --> 00:12:57.559 Okay, then I don't have to ask. 256 00:12:58.679 --> 00:13:01.279 It's done. I'll come over and write your recommendation. 257 00:13:01.879 --> 00:13:03.519 Thank you. 258 00:13:07.279 --> 00:13:10.200 So I knew it was going to be a good year, 259 00:13:10.200 --> 00:13:13.679 and I knew that this was something that was was 260 00:13:13.720 --> 00:13:16.919 going to be fun. So I called them up. They 261 00:13:16.960 --> 00:13:18.960 said I could do it. I called Harvard. They said, yep, 262 00:13:19.000 --> 00:13:22.080 you can apply and you can go. You can enroll, 263 00:13:22.200 --> 00:13:25.240 and I shipped out and I started that September. 264 00:13:26.519 --> 00:13:26.960 Awesome. 265 00:13:27.480 --> 00:13:30.559 Yeah. Now, as soon as I got to St. Andrews, 266 00:13:32.399 --> 00:13:35.320 there was a couple other surprises. I guess in retrospect 267 00:13:35.320 --> 00:13:38.519 it shouldn't be a surprise, but every single person it 268 00:13:38.559 --> 00:13:42.039 seemed like at St. Andrews in the university played golf, 269 00:13:43.320 --> 00:13:47.600 including very very cute girls. Oh everyone played golf. Now, 270 00:13:47.679 --> 00:13:51.639 it's almost as if it was a parallel inverted universe 271 00:13:51.720 --> 00:13:54.120 because the golf team at St. Andrews was the coolest 272 00:13:54.159 --> 00:13:58.799 team in the entire school. It was like the football 273 00:13:58.840 --> 00:13:59.840 team anywhere else. 274 00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:02.759 Wow, you are not in America anymore, my friend. 275 00:14:03.320 --> 00:14:07.600 The other the other kids were all English, like Northern English, Scottish, 276 00:14:07.600 --> 00:14:10.279 total party animals. They were basically out of the movie 277 00:14:10.279 --> 00:14:13.879 Animal House. Wow, there was no It's a very differently 278 00:14:13.960 --> 00:14:17.840 run team than in American schools. There's no adult supervision, 279 00:14:18.159 --> 00:14:21.000 there's no coach. We met once a week in a 280 00:14:21.039 --> 00:14:24.759 pub called the Gin House. And when I was there, 281 00:14:24.879 --> 00:14:27.000 there were twenty five kids in the golf team. Fred 282 00:14:27.279 --> 00:14:28.919 with a two handicap or better. 283 00:14:29.240 --> 00:14:34.240 Oh yeah, crazy serious competition. 284 00:14:34.600 --> 00:14:38.559 And we're talking like a two handicap like in Scotland. 285 00:14:38.679 --> 00:14:39.919 Okay, yeah right. 286 00:14:40.759 --> 00:14:42.519 I once had a match against a kid who was 287 00:14:43.639 --> 00:14:44.919 I knew he was a one. It was like a 288 00:14:45.039 --> 00:14:47.200 visiting match and I knew he was a one handicap 289 00:14:47.200 --> 00:14:48.879 and I had to play him. And then on the 290 00:14:48.879 --> 00:14:50.600 first he was like, where are you one? At by 291 00:14:50.600 --> 00:14:55.240 the way and he's like, oh at Carnouski. Yeah, I 292 00:14:55.240 --> 00:14:57.519 think I lost about I think I was eight and seven. 293 00:14:57.559 --> 00:15:02.559 I got beaten. Yeah, if that so these kids were amazing, 294 00:15:02.720 --> 00:15:06.320 and golf was kind of like in a weird way, 295 00:15:06.360 --> 00:15:08.840 it was the currency with which you got respect in 296 00:15:08.879 --> 00:15:13.279 the school is completely weird, and so for the first 297 00:15:13.279 --> 00:15:15.759 time in my entire life, my playing golf was like 298 00:15:15.879 --> 00:15:20.879 a cool thing, and I thought, this is yeah, I've 299 00:15:20.879 --> 00:15:21.960 found the right place for me. 300 00:15:22.120 --> 00:15:24.039 This is good, this is going to be good. And 301 00:15:24.399 --> 00:15:26.279 then you're starting to go, I'm only here for a 302 00:15:26.360 --> 00:15:27.720 year exactly. 303 00:15:28.039 --> 00:15:30.440 And the year rolled through and they are all these 304 00:15:30.480 --> 00:15:33.360 amazing traditions at St Andrews. There's something called the May 305 00:15:33.440 --> 00:15:35.720 Dip because by the way, the university is six hundred 306 00:15:35.799 --> 00:15:40.559 years old. It turns six hundred this year. Wow, And 307 00:15:40.600 --> 00:15:43.159 they're all these old, old, old traditions, and one of 308 00:15:43.159 --> 00:15:46.600 them is the May Dip. It takes place on May first, 309 00:15:47.120 --> 00:15:50.159 in which the entire school, all seven thousand students, stay 310 00:15:50.200 --> 00:15:53.759 up all night, go into parties and then they at 311 00:15:53.840 --> 00:15:58.559 five in the morning charge into the North Sea completely naked. 312 00:16:00.240 --> 00:16:02.519 And you're talking about those cute golfing girls too. 313 00:16:02.960 --> 00:16:05.320 Yes, it's not like the people you don't want to see. 314 00:16:05.360 --> 00:16:06.960 It's a lot of the people that you really are 315 00:16:07.000 --> 00:16:08.559 praying to God every day that you're going. 316 00:16:08.480 --> 00:16:12.399 To see now, is this something that it's just for 317 00:16:12.440 --> 00:16:15.200 students or do alumni fight to come back? 318 00:16:17.519 --> 00:16:20.360 They do not come back for that. I've definitely seen 319 00:16:20.399 --> 00:16:23.399 some older people taking pictures on the beach, which is 320 00:16:23.440 --> 00:16:26.080 not totally kosher. But what are you gonna do? Yeah, right, 321 00:16:26.440 --> 00:16:28.159 I'll probably do the same thing when I'm seventy. 322 00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:32.240 You don't have to. You've got the memories, You've got 323 00:16:32.320 --> 00:16:34.759 the whole album of photographs in your head. 324 00:16:35.120 --> 00:16:39.240 Totally. So imagine this like every day there's something new 325 00:16:39.320 --> 00:16:42.080 like this going on, and you're amongst kids from all 326 00:16:42.120 --> 00:16:45.559 over the world. And I was seventeen. I had never been, 327 00:16:45.720 --> 00:16:48.559 you know, broad by myself before, and I'm suddenly in 328 00:16:48.600 --> 00:16:51.600 a class in which it'll be ten people in this 329 00:16:51.759 --> 00:16:59.399 international relations class. There'll be a kid from Germany, France, Sweden, England, Spain, 330 00:17:00.279 --> 00:17:02.279 maybe Canada, and I'll be like the only American in 331 00:17:02.320 --> 00:17:08.960 the class. It was wonderful and I just had the 332 00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:11.440 best year of my life. I had my first serious girlfriend, 333 00:17:11.920 --> 00:17:15.839 I did my first serious drinking. I missed five days 334 00:17:15.880 --> 00:17:19.279 of golf the entire year, and then. 335 00:17:19.119 --> 00:17:21.920 That's probably because of the girlfriend, right exactly exactly. 336 00:17:22.559 --> 00:17:25.960 And then the end of the year came around and 337 00:17:26.079 --> 00:17:28.559 I thought, you know, I'm just I'm not ready to 338 00:17:28.599 --> 00:17:32.119 leave Paradise yet. And so I thought about what I 339 00:17:32.160 --> 00:17:36.039 could do for the summer, and at the golf team 340 00:17:36.359 --> 00:17:38.240 at one of the meetings, the kids were telling me 341 00:17:38.400 --> 00:17:40.839 that a lot of golf team guys stayed over in 342 00:17:40.920 --> 00:17:45.000 the summer and they caddied on the Old Course, and 343 00:17:45.200 --> 00:17:47.240 they said if you, if you do it, you can 344 00:17:47.279 --> 00:17:49.839 make fifty pounds around. I remember the exchange r it 345 00:17:49.960 --> 00:17:52.039 was so bad back in four that I think was 346 00:17:52.359 --> 00:17:54.000 it was two to one. So you make a hundred 347 00:17:54.000 --> 00:17:57.279 bucks around if on a good day you get two 348 00:17:57.359 --> 00:18:00.279 rounds a day. And they told me all of the 349 00:18:00.559 --> 00:18:03.480 hilarious stories about you know, the gruff old Scottish caddies. 350 00:18:04.039 --> 00:18:06.400 So I thought to myself, Yeah, this sounds like a 351 00:18:06.519 --> 00:18:11.000 great summer job. This is perfect. So I push back 352 00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:14.319 my flights. I found a place to live over the summer, 353 00:18:14.759 --> 00:18:18.279 and I went down to the shack and I enrolled 354 00:18:18.359 --> 00:18:24.759 in the official Old Course trainee Caddy program. Now, when 355 00:18:24.799 --> 00:18:27.759 you're a trainee caddy, the way to get into the 356 00:18:27.839 --> 00:18:30.440 program it's it seems like it would be easier to 357 00:18:30.519 --> 00:18:33.880 get like a PhD. It takes so long. You have 358 00:18:34.079 --> 00:18:37.519 to first of all, do a week in house in 359 00:18:37.599 --> 00:18:42.240 which they give you all of these ridiculous like hours 360 00:18:42.279 --> 00:18:46.759 and hours of instruction covering everything. After this week, you 361 00:18:46.839 --> 00:18:48.720 then have to be a shadow caddy, in which you 362 00:18:48.799 --> 00:18:52.720 have to follow professional, older veteran caddies around the course 363 00:18:53.279 --> 00:18:56.440 and quote unquote I guess pick up tricks of the 364 00:18:56.480 --> 00:19:00.240 trade from them. Then you become a trainee caddy, in 365 00:19:00.319 --> 00:19:03.079 which you have to do thirty assessed rounds which you 366 00:19:03.119 --> 00:19:06.720 get paid a lot less money. You have a humiliatingly 367 00:19:06.920 --> 00:19:14.680 huge badge on your caddy bib which says trainee caddy. Yeah, 368 00:19:14.799 --> 00:19:18.119 it's like saying, hey, pay me less money. And the 369 00:19:18.200 --> 00:19:19.200 worst thing this is it. 370 00:19:19.279 --> 00:19:21.440 Also says, hey, if I make a mistake, I'm sorry, 371 00:19:21.480 --> 00:19:23.200 but I'm new with this exactly. 372 00:19:23.359 --> 00:19:25.599 And then it's you have to stand by the window 373 00:19:25.759 --> 00:19:28.559 as Rick McKenzie, who I'll tell you about later are 374 00:19:29.480 --> 00:19:34.160 stalinesque caddy master, as he told our golfer right in 375 00:19:34.240 --> 00:19:36.680 front of us. Now, just so you know, Oliver is 376 00:19:36.720 --> 00:19:39.720 a trainee caddy, as if like, if I screw up, 377 00:19:39.759 --> 00:19:43.440 it's not his fault. So you work, you work through 378 00:19:43.480 --> 00:19:44.960 the round because you know you want to get you 379 00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:46.319 want to get as much money as you can, so 380 00:19:46.400 --> 00:19:48.920 you work it really hard. Throughout the round, you kind 381 00:19:48.920 --> 00:19:51.799 of try to overcome your training status for your golfer. 382 00:19:52.160 --> 00:19:53.680 And then at the end of the round, what do 383 00:19:53.720 --> 00:19:56.000 you have to do? Fred? You have to give your 384 00:19:56.079 --> 00:19:59.480 golfer a report card for them to fill out right 385 00:19:59.519 --> 00:20:05.160 before you get paid. Uh yeah, it's really really bad. 386 00:20:05.359 --> 00:20:09.200 God an employee evaluation every four hours, yep, yep. 387 00:20:10.559 --> 00:20:12.359 And then you have to hand that over to Rick. Now, 388 00:20:12.480 --> 00:20:15.519 once you do thirty of these assessed rounds, then you 389 00:20:15.640 --> 00:20:18.279 take a test and it's a written exam. And on 390 00:20:18.400 --> 00:20:21.720 this written exam you have to name a lot of 391 00:20:21.799 --> 00:20:23.839 the names of the one hundred and twelve bunkers on 392 00:20:23.960 --> 00:20:26.920 the course. You have to sketch breaks in a lot 393 00:20:27.000 --> 00:20:30.039 of the greens. They have like a little diagram you 394 00:20:30.119 --> 00:20:33.039 have to fill in. Gon do all this. If you 395 00:20:33.119 --> 00:20:36.039 pass a test, if you get good feedback on your rounds, 396 00:20:36.119 --> 00:20:38.319 if the shadow catting went fine, if all of this 397 00:20:39.160 --> 00:20:42.720 was successful, then Rick might take you on maybe. 398 00:20:49.160 --> 00:20:51.799 And this is not easy for a kid who's probably 399 00:20:51.920 --> 00:20:55.319 really good at tests, and you're like, this is more 400 00:20:55.400 --> 00:20:57.720 pressure than you had before. 401 00:20:57.759 --> 00:21:01.920