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"Six
Pack" Jack Lightfoot caddie Senior Tour for Kurt Cox.
Interview
by Laura A. Drumm.
Jack
Lightfoot is fondly known on the Tours as "Six Pack" Jack.
He has been caddying since he was a boy at the age of 13.
Jack's father was in the Golf business and Jack had the opportunity
to work with the brother of Julius Boros, Ernie Boros with
whom he won his first tournament, The Insurance City Open.
Jack caddied through school and joined the service at 19,
after which he served his country for 20 years and 4 days.
He was honorably discharged in 1977 from Fort Bragg, North
Carolina.
Remembering
his days as a caddie Jack decided to go back to his first
career and caddied at Pinehurst for the next two years. In
1979, Jack was back on the tour caddying for Art Silverstrom
and Mike Zack and has been at it ever since. Jack is well
known across all the tours and now is a permanent member on
the Senior tour, where he caddies for Kurt Cox, Bobby Nichols
and others.
Jack's
most exciting experience as a caddie came in 1991 when he
was working for Bruce Fleisher on the PGA Tour. It was Jack's
and Bruce's first Win at the New England Classic. When Bruce
rolled in a 50-foot birdie putt to beat Ian Baker-Finch, they
jumped for joy. Jacks says that "the best part of the day
was when it was over!" Lightfoot says he will never forget
the feeling.
Talking
to Jack we get a sense of history to be out on tour. For the
past 20 years Jack has had the opportunity to work with many
fine professionals, but the person he admires the most is
Fuzzy Zoeller. Jack and Fuzzy go back a long way. They have
worked in-groups and spoken over the years, and Fuzzy has
always had a great attitude towards caddies. Jack says he
respects them and is always a total gentleman. He has learned
a lot from Zoeller.
What
caddie does Jack admire most? That's easy, Mike Carrick, Tom
Kite's caddie for over 15 years. Jack says Mike has done a
lot on the PGA Tour to help Caddies. When asked whom Jack
would like to work for again, he said Laura Baugh. Jack used
to play to a 8 handicap before his hip started going bad.
Jack's hip has been both a source of pain and humor. Jack
said his hip was acting up and the doctors had put off his
impending operation. He was at a tournament in the Northeast,
and fell asleep in the cart. Kurt Cox came over gave him a
shake and they went on to the next hole, and he could feel
the blood rushing to his face. We are proud to announce that
Jack had his hip operation this past Winter, and Jack and
his new hip will be out there on the Senior tour when the
season starts in Florida, working for Kurt Cox.
Jack's
most memorable experience to date is his win with Bruce Feisher
in 1991, the players he likes to work with today are Kurt
Cox and Bobby Nichols. What Jack likes the most is working
with a player on the Range and on the Green. A player has
to practice to make it in this game if you don't practice
you probably won't make it. The competition is tough on all
tours.
What type
of player does jack like to work for? Jack says that he can
adapt to any personality, he has worked with them all! Jack
likes the Idea of having an Association for the Caddies. He
has participated in many programs the Association has put
on in the past years and likes what he sees. Jack says the
Association is growing, it has consistency, and cares about
all caddies. He thinks it is great the association is looking
to put out its own product line, the new logo is classy and
Jack will be proud to wear it.
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