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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."