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Harold
Humes Tour Caddie.
By
Laura Drumm
The
first time We met Harold was last year at the Kemper Open
in Potomac MD. We were impressed by his enthusiasm for the
game and his drive to assist children in the Washington
DC area learn the game of golf. Harold had given up his
season on tour to teach golf to children. It was an impressive
story and one that has given Harold a lot of satisfaction
and notoriety on The Tour.
We caught
up to Harold again last week at the American Express Invitational,
a Senior event that was held in Sarasota, Florida. There
we had some time for the following interview. Harold is
33 years old and has been traveling the Nike, PGA and Senior
Tours for the past 10 years.
Harold,
a scratch golfer, played in college and tried to qualify
for the PGA Tour when he was 21. The following year, Harold
had a bad back injury and had to change the way he participated
in the sport of golf. He wanted to stay in the game, and
took up caddying to be close to his favorite activity, golfing.
Harold's
most memorable experience as a caddie happened not on tour
but working as a club Caddie at the Houston Country Club,
in Houston TX. There he had the opportunity to carry for
President and Mrs. Bush. The President was out with Mrs.
Bush for a round of golf, and a playing lesson with the
pro at the course. Mrs. Bush was with them and playing her
game, and was quiet and laid back, compared to the President,
who was getting more and more frustrated with his game and
the Lesson. Harold then told us that the President ended
up turning to the Pro and saying -"I'm not going to listen
to you anymore, I'm going with Harold!" The President, Mrs.
Bush and Harold then completed the round of golf. Needless
to say, Harold was out of a job at the Houston CC and on
his way to the Tour.Harold commented that "The experience
far outweighed the penalty, which was my lack of a job.
It was an honor to carry a bag for the President of the
United States."
Who
is Harold's favorite player? He says that's easy, Jim Thorpe.
Harold has known Jim since he was a child. Harold says Jim
looks out for him out on the tour and helps him when times
get a little tough. Harold says "He treats me like a son
and I respect him like my Dad." Harold also comments that
he's lucky to also have a friend in VJ Singh. Singh is like
an older brother to Hume, and Harold works with him on the
range and on the green. They even occasionally go out and
hit a few on the course. What caddie does Harold respect
the most? That is easy, says Harold. Eugene White used to
caddie for Hal Sutton. He took Willie Wood off the Nike
Tour and worked with him on the PGA Tour and went on to
win a the Deposit Guarantee Golf Classic. Another favorite
caddy of Harold's is Adolphos "Golfball" Hull. Hull caddied
for Raymond Floyd, Calvin Pete and other greats. He worked
with the greats and won with all of them.
Harold's
first bag on tour was at 13 for Doug Black out of Atlanta
GA at the Kemper Open. Harold's best experience was working
for Jim Thorpe and being able to meet and talk to Jack Nicholas
and Arnold Palmer and other great players of the game. His
funniest experience was when he was caddying for Jim Thorpe
at the Bank of Boston tournament, and Frank Connor hit his
ball into the trap. Harold says Frank picked up his ball
and threw it to him to clean it off and he bobbled it. He
thought his ball went into the bag so he emptied the whole
bag out and there wasn't any ball. Harold was rushing to
find Frank's ball and put his hand in his bib and felt something
round. It was Frank's ball! He wiped it off and handed it
to Frank and they finished the round.
As far
as Harold's favorite type of golfer, he likes a challenge.
He likes to work with tough players famous for having hard
dispositions. The challenge of winning them over and working
with them to have them play their best is a tremendous reward
for Harold.
Harold
likes the association. He has seen it work from the ground
up and likes the support the association gives the caddies.
He believes that once more people find out about the PCA,
the more successful it will become and the better the benefits
will be for caddies. He says "It's great that the association
is working and supporting caddies. I will wear the line
of clothing and use the products whenever I can."
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