Located just outside the City of Chicago, Fairview Country Club functioned as an adult playground for some of the City’s most wealthy and influential politicians, business owners and investment bankers. Fairview became their escape from the everyday, the one place where they didn’t have to worry about putting on airs. For caddies, Fairview became a sort of rite of passage, a place where you entered as a naïve child and left as a man, armed with the bizarre and wonderful knowledge that will shape your life for years to come.
MEMOIRS OF A CADDIE: LIFE AND TIMES OF A MISGUIDED YOUTH explores the 8-year stint that I served as a country club caddie in near-suburban Chicago, focusing on such critical events such as:
• The Caddie Masters: “Unwilling to leave the country club grounds, Rob had taken to sleeping in his car; his two poodles huddled up against in an attempt to keep warm at night. Every morning, he would wake up and wash himself in the bathroom sink before heading down to his desk to begin his “work” day, pretending as if he had never been informed that his employment at Fairview had been terminated. It was his final act of rebellion against the people that he despised.”
• The Belt Game: “The Belt Game brought something out of its contestants that few other life events, short of war, could ever have. For five to ten minutes, those young men were battling for their lives, rapidly adapting to this newfound “Kill or Be Killed” world.”
• The Summer Heat: “As they moved around the altar, I could capture glimpses of their eyes, wild and ancient, completely lost in the moment, dedicated to giving all energy towards their ceremonial dance.”
