Caddie Profile: Trap Door

Some caddies had ingenious ways of earning extra money. One such caddie was Willie Johnson, known as ‘Trap-Door’, who made a fair amount from ‘lost’ golf balls. Willie pretended that one leg was shorter than the other and had a special boot made which had a hollow sole, large enough to fit the diameter of a golf ball. During a search in the whins or anywhere else, he would work the ball into his hollow boot and declare it lost. The cavity in his boot could hold up to half a dozen golf balls!
 (At $128 per dozen this seems a little more than petty thievery)

(Source - "A Wee Nip At The 19th Hole" by Richard Mackenzie, 1997, Bantam Books, 1540 Broadway, NY, NY 10036)

 

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