Sonny Skinner got his card for the 1997 PGA Tour at qualifying school in late 1996.
I called him within a day or two of finding this out to ask if he needed a caddie. He said he already had one. In February I took a chance and flew to Pebble Beach hoping to get a job. No luck. The same the next week in San Diego. My friend Harpo was going to caddie in Hawaii the next week and gave me his car with the promise that I would pick him up at the Tucson airport for the next tournament. During the week before Tucson I worked at a LPGA Tournament in Glendale, CA. for Penny Hammel.
No work again in Tuscon and after that week I drove with a friend from the Senior Tour across country. I got out in New Orleans and flew back to MA.
In June I got a call from Sonny asking me to come out and caddie for him. We met in Georgia for a small unofficial invitational event and the next week I headed to the regular PGA Tour in NY. I caddied for Sonny in the next 6 events and he made the cut in 5.
At this point, the uncertain money situation that all caddies experience, plus the rigors of travel were getting to me. While on the road caddieing I was also doing some online promotion work for Cyberian Outpost, an internet seller of computer hardware and software. When they offered me a full time marketing job in Kent, CT I decided that at age 51 a salary and benefits was a better deal than caddieing and the Canon Greater Hartford Open was my last caddieing event.
I have many fond memories of tournaments but I also remember the fantastic scenery I saw as I traveled the USA.