Wednesday, April 15, 1992 - North Shore News - 17

Me

Courtesy is key to longevity as pro

AFTER A life most men
dream about, Mel White is
holing out and going fish-
ing.

By Doug Sack
Contributing Writer

The 61-year-old president of
the B.C. Professional Golf
Association (BCPGA) has been
head professional at Seymour
Golf and Country Club in North
Vanouver since 1957. He is retir-
ing at the end of the 1$92 season.

White has spent almust 50 years
as a golf pioneer and pro in the
Lower Mainland.

“*) started caddying ‘when | was
13 at the old Shaughnessy Golf
Club which was at 33rd and
Granville (now Vandusen
Gardens) to get the money to at-
tend Vancouver College.’’ said
White.

**And when I was 17, Freddy
Wood, the pro, hired ine to work
in the back shop cleaning clubs.
Roy Heisler was the assistant
then.”

When White was 20, in 1953, he
got his B.C. Assistant's card and
went to work at Capilano Golf
Club for Jock McKinnon for three
years. After interning for a sum-
mer under Bill Kerr at
Beaconsfield Goid Club in Mon-
treal, he returned home to become
first assistant to Wood back at
Shaughnessy.

It was there he collared the
fondest memory of his long ca-
reer.

“*] caddied for Ben Hogan at
Shaugnessy when I was 19. He
and Sam Snead played a charity
exhibition against Freddy Wood
and Stan Leonard, who was the
pro at Marine Drive. That was
something watching these guys
play the game,’’ said White.

In May 1955, White was named
the first head pro at West Van-
couver’s Gleneagles Golf Club. He
was 24,

‘*There are two keys to longevi-
ty as a head professional,’ said
White 37 years later.

**You've got to treat everyone
the same, from the newest
member up to the president of the
board of directors. And I've
always believed in addressing
members and guests as Sir,
Madam or Ms, whichever they
prefer, as a form of golf-related
courtesy or just general civility.

White said the hectic pace of
life generally in the ‘90s has af-
fected the golf business (hastening
his decision to retire from it), and

changed life on the practice range.

“A Jot of range time now is
spent working on the mental side
of golf," he said.

“That fella sitting over there
could be the club champ if he
would iurn his mind off on the
first tee.”? said White.

“You've got to be
play golf or any sport."

The three worst instructions
White has heard on a golf course
are keep your left arm stiff. keep
your head down and hit the ball
with your left side.

“You can't hit anything stiff,
nobody has ever hit a golf ball
with their head yet, and all the
power comes from the right side
trunk,”’ he said.

“The most important thing in
any golf swing is to be relaxed
and balanced. The golf swing
starts from the feet which have
have good position and balar -
allow the body to make 2:
athletic movements.

“The easiest people to teach
golf to are ex-baseball and hockey
players because they understand
the dynamics of a relaxed yet
smooth and powerful swing,’ said
White.

The highlight of my career
would have to be playing in the
British Open at Royal St. George
in 1981,"" said White.

“It was always a dream of mine
to play in the British Open, and !
was the only Canadian entered
that year. I didn’: make the cut,
but it was a thrill to be part of
it.”

After caddying for Hogan,
playing in the British Open and
spending his entire adult life in the
golf business, White knows a
good golfer when he sees one.

‘Jack Nicklaus is the best
golfer I ever saw,”’ he said.

“He was just so good he
deserved to be named player of
the century. He does things with
his swing I wouldn't teach on the
range, but the mental concentra-
tion and power he brought to the
game were unique,’’ said White.

Other than catching up to his
hobbies of fishing, cooking, play-
ing racquetball and travelling,
White and wife Trish (17 handi-
cap) are thinking about playing
some retirement golf.

The couple have already toured
off-season in Scotland, Ireland,
Portugal, New Zealand, Thailand,
South Africa, California, Myrtle
Beach, Pinehurst and Scottsdale.
They are heading for the Caribbe-
an and Hilton Head.

They have six grandchildren
competing for caddy jobs.

calaxed to

NEWS photo
SEYMOUR GOLF and Country Club head pro Mei White has a sinking feeling that he will have time
to do other sports besides golf after he retires at the end of this year.

‘N’ CHEW

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