(CBS DETROIT) – Finding your position on a golf course can be the difference between a birdie and a bogey.
But rolling with the right caddy can also do wonders. WGA Detroit Golf Club principal Elizabeth Cunningham has always caught her eye in at least one caddy, recent Mercy High School graduate Veronica Fisher.
“She’s a smart, thoughtful, caring person who always goes out of her way to help other caddies,” Cunningham said.
To Fisher, she says she can’t appreciate what it feels like to be a caddie at the Detroit Golf Club.
“Honestly, I’d like to run a few miles for free, and I get paid to do it. You really can’t complain,” says Fisher.
Coming from a family full of former caddies, Fisher said it was her turn when she turned 13.
“When I first started caddying, I was 13, and they made us get up at six in the morning. I was very small and barely bigger than the bag. But once you’re in it, like now, I know a lot about the sport. I’m definitely not good at it, but I know what clubs people should be using in certain places,” says Fisher.
From giving them the right measurements, carrying clubs or helping golfers conquer the course, Fisher says she’s met quite a few familiar faces.
“I was caddy here for the Pro-Am, and then Barry Sanders was here. Super, super, nice guy. And this year Jerome Bettis was actually here. He’s actually a member here,” says Fisher.
If you ask Cunningham, she describes Fisher as a person of high character, a strong caddy record and excellent academics, but also someone who demonstrates a desperate financial need to attend college.
“I come from a big family, my parents are not great, we are not doing very well financially. They cannot afford to send seven children to university.”
Because of her work on and off the golf course, Fisher checked all the boxes and scored big after being awarded one of 25 Michigan caddies with an Evans Scholarship.
“It’s the largest caddie fair in the country,” says Cunningham.
The scholarship covers the full cost of tuition and housing at a four-year university of Fisher’s choice.
“I was kind of speechless. I was in shock. I was like ‘Oh my god.’ Then I liked to run downstairs and I thought, ‘Mommy, daddy, I get it.’ I was like waving it,” says Fisher.
And while she enjoys carrying bags and giving advice on the golf course, her plans there are as big as her drive to get golfers from the tee to the green.
“I’m going to the University of Minnesota. I’m studying to be an aerospace engineer,” says Fisher.
Fisher says that while she attends college in another state, she’s determined to return to caddying at the Detroit Golf Club during the summers.
Ibrahim Samra
