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In the 1950’s, long before the crackdown by the USGA and the IRS, most golf clubs held one annual tournament with a “Calcutta” auction. At some clubs it was a member/guest; at others it was played as an all member foursome best ball; but at Podunk Country Club, where I learned the game as a caddie, it was always one 18 hole round and formatted as a Blind Draw – AB - Member/Member. Regardless of the format, any tournament with a “Calcutta” auction is different - it's all about gambling - at Podunk it was the biggest tournament of the year.
Auction night was always on the Wednesday evening prior to the big Member/Member which was played on a Sunday in August. The clubhouse’s main dining room would be setup with rows of chairs facing a podium and at about 8:00 PM a big board, listing the teams comprising the field, would be moved from the club’s bar to a spot next to the podium. One hour later the auction commenced with each team, drawn in random order, sold to the highest bidder.
Everyone was invited to auction night which was looked upon as a guy’s night out. Members would congregate and spend several hours handicapping then kibitzing about the teams. Some of the high rollers would keep their thoughts to themselves while others formed bidding syndicates. By 9:00 PM a frenzied crowd was ready to start the annual “Calcutta” auction.
Frequently the bidding got out of hand which made it difficult for the players to buy their own team. To keep everybody in the game “Calcutta” rules require that each team’s high bidder, if not a playing member of that team, offer 50% to the players. There were some years however; when teams went for such a ridiculously high price that the players wouldn’t exercise their right to "half the action".
These “Member/Member Calcutta’s” at Podunk were most popular during a period of time when I was among the caddie ranks; together with my peers we looked forward to this annual event, especially when the total pool got over inflated. Paid out at 50% to the tournament winners; 30% to the second place finishers; and 20% for third the teams in the money stood to make some big cash. The caddies who lucked out and landed one of the winning teams were in line for a substantial tip!
It was the 1959 event that I remember best; I was thirteen years old and number one caddie in the yard. The members new me and felt I, more than any of the other and less experienced caddies, might be able to provide an edge in the big tournament; this put my services in demand. I knew I could loop for whomever I wanted, but my decision had to be made before the teams were drawn.
Because I was more familiar with the games of the A players I decided not to consider any of the B’s. My selection came down to the perennial club champion and scratch player Jerry Mackey or Marquis Landrum a sneaky four handicapper. Although Marquis did not possess the sweet swing and pure game that Jerry had, he was a money man who played in a game with the big gamblers at the club. In addition, he was not one of the wealthier members so winning money at golf would be important to him. I went with Marquis.
Each year the teams were drawn on the day of the auction and then posted outside the pro shop. Every member and all of the caddies were anxious to see the pairings. As soon as I heard they were up I rushed to check the list and see who my man had drawn. I searched from top to bottom and quickly found Marquis’ name, but was shocked to see his partner’s slot marked - TBD. How could this be? The draw was never made with an uneven number of players; everybody had to have a partner!
As I turned to leave I heard the assistant pro call my name and before I could fully turn around I heard him say that Marquis had drawn as his partner Leo Runnels; but that morning and after the draw, Leo had suffered a heart attack. Although it appeared he’d fully recover it was certain that he wouldn’t be able to play the Member/Member on Sunday; the committee was looking for a replacement. What a bad break for Marquis and me. Leo Runnells, the current club president, was a solid fourteen and would have been a fantastic B player. Who knows who we might get as a replacement!
The next morning when I arrived at the club I was told that Marquis, still without a partner, had gone to the auction and purchased his own team. Amazingly he was bid up to $2,200.00; the only team to bring more money was the one captained by Jerry Mackey which went for an astounding $3,100.00. That was higher than any team had ever gone in a Podunk “Member/Member Calcutta Auction” which was reflected in the total record pool of $32,400.00. The winning team was in line to receive $16,200.00. In 1959 this was more money than most people made in a year!
Later that day the caddie master gave me Marquis and I carried doubles for he and his partner Sonny McKastle. Sonny was a ten who could sometimes play to a five or six but, on that day he shot a dismal 84. Marquis however, was as sharp as I’d ever seen him and shot a two under par 70. Playing Ten & Two – Three Ways - Double the Back he and Sonny took their opponents for over $100.00. It sure looked like Marquis knew what he was doing when he bought his whole Member/Member team without even knowing who his partner might be. The way he was playing he might be able to win the whole thing alone.
It had to be mid day on Saturday before Marquis’ replacement went up on the board. It was a guy by the name of Dave William; I thought I knew every member at Podunk but I just couldn’t place this fellow. Finally, after asking every caddie, I was told that my man’s partner was a new member who carried a 16 handicap; he also liked to hum and sing as he played.
Wow! Hum and sing as he played? Marquis was a serious golfer and a gambler. How would he handle this?
We drew 11:38, the next to last tee time, on Sunday. Only Jerry Mackey and Sonny McKastle with their B players were behind us. I got Marquis’ clubs out of the bag room at about 10:15 and headed for the range to wait for my player. As I watched all of the members warming up for the tournament it was obvious that this was like no other day at Podunk. Very little talk and no laughing; every player was dead serious about the event. I looked up and down the line to see if I could spot Dave William but didn’t see anybody I didn’t already know. At 10:45 Marquis arrived, took a couple of clubs out of his bag and did some stretching. He started hitting shots with his short irons and gradually worked up to the driver. It was 11:15 and time to head for the putting green – still no sighting of Dave William.
At precisely 11:30 the group ahead of us hit and we were called to the tee. Our playing partners, Charlie Westhouse and Chet Hubble, walked with Marquis but there was still no Dave William in sight. As I moved ahead to forecaddie I suddenly became aware of some human sound behind me; I looked back to see a fellow pulling a cart which was holding a big tour type bag – he was humming a tune. Although I didn’t get a good look at him, this had to be Dave William.
The first hole at Podunk is a blind tee shot and the caddies’ first job of the day is to signal his players when the fairway is clear. As soon as the 11:30 group hit their second shots I waved to the tee; Charlie and Chet, who had the honor, got ready to go. They both hit decent drives. Marquis must have told Dave to hit first because he was next to step up. He cold topped it about fifty yards in front of him. Marquis then hit a beauty right down the middle.
I quickly moved ahead toward Marquis’ ball, but stayed well to the side of the fairway as I looked back to watch a humming and singing Dave William hit his second. Another topped shot and then a third before his ball got close to the drives of the other players in our group. The early line on this guy was not looking good!
As he got closer to me I saw that he was dressed in khaki shorts that were shorter than I would have thought club rules allowed and he had on a long sleeve shirt that buttoned all the way down. His shoes were two tone and looked like they might have been a gift from Walter Hagen himself, but the dapper “Haig” would have never been seen in Dave’s knee length white socks. On top of his head was a tartan plaid tam and he smoked a pipe – this guy just didn’t look like a golfer.
Dave was still away and prepared to hit his fourth; I now had a first-hand view. Surprisingly his swing was quite smooth, but his pre shot routine was like nothing I’d seen. He hovered the club over the ball and waggled it back and forth with reckless abandon. He never stopped humming throughout the whole process which gave me the feeling that anything could happen. Dave hit another top.
Charlie and Chet played their second shots and it was finally Marquis’ turn to go. He had 150 to the pin and we pulled a seven iron; he made a perfect strike and the ball stopped stone cold to the flag. Given the better ball format Dave was now out of the hole but he continued to hum, sing and talk (apparently with himself) as he hit top after top all the way to the green. Amazingly he waggled his putter just like a full shot, but after two putts he picked up his ball.
Although Marquis made birdie and we were one under par, it was an auspicious beginning to what ultimately had to be a team effort. As we walked to the second tee Marquis told me that Dave didn’t want any part of the team action and seemed not to understand the nature of the event. He (Marquis) was very upset.
The same pattern played out on hole after hole. Charlie and Chet conversing on their team strategy and playing some steady golf; Marquis and I pulling the right clubs and my man making good swings; and then there was Dave, in his own world, humming, singing and talking to himself while continuing to hit top after top and miss putt after putt.
We turned at four under completely on the back of a flawless front nine 32 by Marquis. I don’t recall if Dave actually completed one hole; he scored a newspaper 56 – how could this guy carry a sixteen? A leader board was placed between the ninth green and the tenth tee and I saw that we were only one off the lead. If Marquis had any kind of a partner we’d be on top of this thing.
Marquis knew his chances for the big cash prize depended completely on himself and with the exception of me he said not a word. In my years as a caddie I’d not seen a golfer so focused; he had placed himself in a vacuum where Dave didn’t exist. Marquis' game got stronger and stronger as we played through the difficult back.
He made birdies on eleven, thirteen and fourteen; then hit the par five fifteenth in two and made the putt for an eagle! Marquis was playing out of his mind – nine under par with three holes to play; he was on his way to a new club record! Even better for us was the fantastic news that the scoreboard behind fifteen provided. The early leaders had faltered and we, with no help from Dave, now had a three shot lead on all the teams who had played through fifteen. Only Jerry Mackey and his partner, who I heard through the grapevine, were three under through nine, could still be in the hunt.
On the sixteenth, a tough 195 yard par three, Marquis hit a beautiful three iron to the middle of the green. I handed him his putter and hung back to check with the caddies in the group behind us; I had to know how Jerry Mackey’s team stood. Good news: the team was five under with no chance at eagle on fifteen. We had a three shot lead on the field and four on Mackey's team!
Marquis hit a cozy first putt at sixteen; he just wanted to guarantee a three. As I returned the pin to the cup I saw Jerry Mackey miss his birdie on fifteen – we were still up by three on the field and four on Mackey.
Dave seemingly found more trouble than usual on the seventeenth. Five consecutive tops followed by two shanks; he picked up before he reached the green. Marquis made a routine par and we on to the last hole.
The eighteenth at Podunk is a short, but tight par four. Most players hit a long iron or fairway wood to position their ball for about a 100 yard shot to an elevated green. Dave William stepped to the tee and hit a perfect three wood right down the center of the fairway. Where did that come from? Marquis went through his routine – for some unknown reason Dave decided it was time to blow his nose just as Marquis reached the top of his back swing. Disaster! Marquis tried to hold up but just couldn’t; he hit a duck hook deep into the woods on the left. Apparently Dave didn’t even realize what he’d done; he returned his handkerchief to his pocket and resumed is humming.
I rushed ahead of the players with my eyes glued to the spot where Marquis’ duck hooked drive had entered the woods. There was no way we were going to lose a ball. The trees to left of eighteen were real jungle with all sorts of under growth, but I was determined. I dropped my man’s bag and headed in. I immediately found Marquis’ ball and in a spot where he could get a club on it, but he just didn’t have much of an opening. With a three shot lead I thought the move was to go back to the tee, it was scary to think we might have to depend on Dave! Marquis saw the shot differently and decided to play it.
Five swings later he was still in the woods; Marquis picked up his ball and put it in his pocket. It was now up to Dave William to save us.
I came out of the woods and was surprised to see Dave already in his pre shot routine. I thought for sure that Charlie and Chet would be first to play.
I crossed my fingers and closed my eyes as he hummed, sang and waggled just as he had throughout the round; this time however, the results were not a top or a shank. Dave hit a beautiful wedge that looked to be no more than fifteen feet from the cup. Five putts or less and we’d be the winners – this was a done deal.
Charlie and Chet moved up to their balls and started to talk like something was wrong. Charlie turned toward us and said: “Dave, I think you’ve hit my ball”. I thought Marquis was about to pass out.
After a brief discussion it was determined that Dave had in fact hit Charlie's ball - a two stroke penalty on Dave. Charlie then dropped another ball and played his second. It was again Dave’s turn but, with the penalty, he was now playing his fourth. Humming and singing he hit a second consecutive beautiful wedge. This time it stopped just eight feet from the flag. Marquis and I were elated.
As I walked up the slope toward the final green I had a view of the scoreboard. Just as I'd thought: two teams posted at six under. All Dave needed to do was get down in three more strokes.
How does that saying go? “It’s not over until the fat lady sings.” Well this is a classic.
Charlie and Chet putted out which set the stage for Dave. Humming, singing and even with that reckless waggle he hit a perfect putt. To this day I can't understand how it didn't fall in, but the ball rolled on the proverbial cellophane bridge and hung on the lip. Suddenly, and to the complete surprise of everybody around that green, Dave’s mild mannered singing and humming turned to a scary rage; he even began shouting profanities. In uncontrolled anger he took one giant step and then made a violent swing with his putter. He smacked his ball, which lay less than an inch from the hole, deep into the woods to the left of the green. We couldn’t find it.
As Dave placed another ball on that spot less than an inch from the cup, taking the penalty for a lost ball, he had returned to the humming - singing - eccentric guy that we had been forced endure throughout the round – this time he tapped it in. His drive; a two stroke penalty for hitting the wrong ball; his approach (which was actually his fourth); the eight foot putt that just missed; the blast to the woods hit in his rage; the penalty for a lost ball; the tap in - it all added up to a quadruple bogey eight. We dropped from nine to five under.
I replaced the flag and walked to the edge of the green where Marquis stood next to the spot where I'd left his bag. He never said a word. He reached into a zippered pocket and removed his car keys and wallet. He then handed me ten bucks and walked straight to the parking lot.
I remained behind the eighteenth to watch Jerry Mackey birdie and make it a three way tie at the top. The purse would be split with a third going to each of the teams finishing at six under. We were out of the money.
I never saw Dave William again. The word from club officials was that his company transferred him to Alabama; but the story among the caddies, as well as a lot of the members, was quite different. The rumor, and what most thought to be true, was that Marquis, who had some intimidating friends, had arranged a late night visit on Dave. During this visit he (Dave) was made an offer which he just couldn’t refuse; the offer included moving out of town.
No one was ever able to confirm which of these accounts was accurate, but in 1960 Marquis was not invited to return as a member at Podunk.
That year was the biggest pool in the history of the Podunk Country Club “Member/Member Calcutta”. The USGA frowns on heavy gambling and together with the IRS started to pressure clubs to stop holding any tournaments with a “Calcutta” auction. For a few more years the event continued to be played, but the pool never again reached the level that it did in 1959.
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This story is fiction. It is however, a recollection I have of an actual Member/Member Calcutta event in which I was a young caddie. Although the events of that day were not exactly as described above, the characters are loosely based on golfers who, so many years ago, were members at Podunk Country Club.
Peter Harrity
pharrity@candiawoods.com |
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