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Par for the courts
By LOGAN D. MABE, Times Staff Writer
So we finish 18 and he's gonna stiff me, and I say: 'Hey Lama, hey how about a little something, you know, for the effort?!' And he says: 'There'll be no money, but when you die, on your deathbed you will receive total consciousness.' So I got that going for me, which is nice. -- Carl Spackler (Bill Murray), bumbling groundskeeper and erstwhile caddie to the Dalai Lama, in the movie Caddyshack. LUTZ -- In happier times, this would be a banner week for professional caddie Ralph Hackett. The Verizon Classic senior golf tournament is being held just down the road from Hackett's Lutz home. And Lee Trevino, one of the game's greatest players, was scheduled to tee it up there this morning. For five years, Hackett and Trevino were constant companions on the senior golf tour, traveling the globe, winning tournaments and oversized cardboard checks, and generally having a good time. Hackett carried Trevino's golf bag and served as the Hall of Famer's on-the-course confidant. "He was sort of like a second dad," said Hackett, who caddied on the tour for 14 years. "For 99.9 percent of the time I was with Lee, I looked up to him." Their professional relationship ended abruptly in 2001 when, in the middle of a big payday tournament in Michigan, Hackett said Trevino abruptly changed their handshake compensation agreement. Trevino made a $1-million hole-in-one and finished the event with $1.1-million in prize money ($500,000 of the hole-in-one prize was a charitable donation to a children's hospital in Memphis.) "Any week I caddied, I got $1,000 and 5 percent of earnings and 10 percent on wins," Hackett said. "As soon as that ball went in the hole, I thought I had made at least $50,000." But the evening after the hole-in-one Hackett said Trevino told him he was changing their agreement. With Trevino walking away a winner of $610,000, Hackett figured he was due 10 percent, or $61,000, in addition to his $1,000 base pay. Instead, Trevino paid him $30,000, half the normal rate. Whenever Trevino had won before, the golfer had always paid Hackett 10 percent of the purse. At one tournament, he said, Trevino included 10 percent of the value of a Cadillac he'd won in addition to prize money. Hackett filed suit against Trevino last week seeking the remaining $32,000 plus attorney's fees and costs. "He changed it in the middle of that event, and I felt it was wrong," Hackett said. "It was a large sum of money. In all, I worked 135 events for Lee and in 134 of them I was paid on our one and only verbal agreement." Trevino, through his agent, declined to comment. David Enenbach, president of Assured Management Co. and Trevino's representative, said they had not yet seen the lawsuit. Professional caddies are independent contractors who work at the whim of the golfers. Caddies usually pay all of their own traveling expenses, receive no medical or retirement benefits and don't make any money the weeks their golfers take off. In addition to base pay, they win bonuses only when their golfers do well at a tournament. Many a week, a caddie can be looking at 5 percent of not very much money. For instance, in Trevino's only tournament so far this year, he tied for 22nd and earned $19,500. At last week's ACE Group Classic in Naples, golf legend Jack Nicklaus finished tied for 58th and made $2,960. Under the standard caddie pay agreement, that would equate to $148 for his caddie. "In my opinion, the Senior Tour, especially, never really tried to make the caddie's situation any better," said Hackett, 42. "For 14 years, our restroom was a blue Port-a-let. A good week was when they'd truck in those little portable bathrooms." To economize, many caddies team up to cut expenses. "I slept on the floor of motel rooms with three other caddies," Hackett said. "I slept in a van to save money. You do a lot of sacrificing to make ends meet." With little to no job security, caddies can be fired at any time. Welsh golfer Ian Woosnam dispatched his caddie after an incident several years ago at the British Open in which Woosnam had too many clubs in his bag, and was penalized a stroke that might have cost him a chance to win. When Tiger Woods fired his caddie, "Fluff" Cowan, in 1999 fans speculated it was because Cowan had assumed too high a profile. In just his first year with Trevino, Hackett thought he was going to be on the receiving end of a pink slip. At a tournament in Las Vegas, Hackett saw a friend in the gallery who asked how it was going. "I think I just got fired,' Hackett said. When Trevino second-guessed himself over club selection, Hackett didn't recommend a different one. But he survived that tournament with Trevino, and the two went on for another four years together. Trevino credited Hackett for some top finishes after Hackett found a collectible putter for the boss. "The guy wanted $50 for the putter, but (Hackett) gave him a ball I'd autographed and got $20 off," Trevino told CNN-SI's Golf Plus in 1997. Hackett has called working for Trevino his "dream job" in a profession he has always loved. Hackett grew up in a small town in Vermont, and after graduating from the University of Vermont landed a job driving a truck for United Parcel Service. "A good friend of mine also drove for them there and moved to Florida to become a PGA professional," Hackett recalled. "After two years with UPS I decided that wasn't what I wanted to do, so I went down to spend the winter with him." In 1988, Hackett arrived in Tampa, where he met Senior Tour player Gay Brewer. "I told him I had a college degree and knew nothing about golf," Hackett said. "He said, 'What kind of car do you have?' I had just purchased a 1987 Nissan Sentra and he said, 'You can caddie for me.' And in six months I was at the Masters. "I worked for Gay for quite awhile. Gay was awesome. I moved onto another golfer and I regret that because Gay is just a great person. Gay said, 'Keep your mouth shut, keep up, and don't say anything unless I talk to you."' And with that, Hackett learned the three rules every caddie needs to know to succeed. "I'm very proud of all the years I worked out there," said Hackett, who figures his days on the senior tour are over now. "There is a tight fraternity among the golfers, and I realized that when I decided to take my stand . . . I called out to the tournament here, the Verizon, and I guess I should have expected it, but I got an unbelievably cold shoulder." But Hackett said he welcomes the next phase of his life, having traded carrying around a massive golf bag for hefting his four-month-old son, Cameron. Hackett is a stay-at-home dad now, after using most of his career earnings to buy a home in Lutz. "I'm not sure I'd want to go back out on tour," Hackett said. "I completely respect mothers who stay at home and raise kids. People think it's easy, but it's not." While Hackett hones his daddy duties, his wife Carrie works as a secretary at the University of South Florida golf course. Hackett said he is not confident that he will win his case against Trevino, but he bears him no ill will. "It's extremely bittersweet," Hackett said. "Lee is fun to be around. I never asked for this to happen, but I'm standing up for the little guy. I'm calling Lee on it." -- Logan D. Mabe can be reached at 269-5304 or at mabe@sptimes.com.
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