John must have felt the same way because after a quick discussion with the other caddies my three new ‘friends’ found themselves having to play by the rules of golf. No mulligans, no gimmes, no kicking the ball to a better position. It is surprising what can happen if your caddy announces each infraction.
In a perverse way, it was fun. I tied the course record, which happened to be mine and that was after I penalized me for accidentally moving the ball once.
Afterward, I asked John if he wanted to fly up to Pebble Beach tomorrow and play that course. He thought it was a good idea because I would probably play in the Bing Crosby tournament someday. The club Pro was kind enough to call and reserve a tee time. I would get to tee off by myself.
John came for breakfast at Jackson House. We ate a hearty meal for the day. From there it was the back way to the Forest Service Station. This was the first time John had seen this setup and he was impressed.
After loading my clubs and hold all with a change of clothes, in the back of the plane, we headed north. It was a nice trip up the coast. I followed the coastline, just far enough offshore to avoid the wind changes as the air changed from water to land.
Did you know that Pebble Beach is one of the nastiest golf courses in the world? They have one water hazard; it’s called the Pacific Ocean. That course killed me. Those long open fairways looked like I could carry them. Well, the wind off the tee carried me, okay, right into the Ocean. Not once, not twice, but five times. From my fine golf yesterday I went to the depths of golfer’s hell. That meant if I had been in a tournament I wouldn’t have made the cut. John assured me that a 78 for my first time on this course was respectable but I didn’t buy it.
At least I didn’t throw or break any clubs. I did make a personal vow to defeat this course. John and I flew back and forth the next three days to play. On Friday I had a 65 and began to feel like I could play this course.
If nothing else it took my mind off my month-long road trip. What had started out to be a slow relaxing sight-seeing trip turned into a grind promoting my movie? The trip was fun in its own way but left me tired to the point of exhaustion. When you wake up tired you know you have overdone it.
On the way home Friday I stopped at the small flight center to file my flight plan back down south. I had done these three days in a row. This time a different guy was at the desk. He looked at me and John and then asked to see my driver’s license. I didn’t give it a thought and showed it to him.
“That’s what I thought; you are too young to carry a passenger. Do you even have a pilot’s license?”
I had all my paperwork in my Jeppesen case so I showed it to him. He was not satisfied.
“This paperwork says you are a pilot in the Royal Air Force and as such are to be treated as a full pilot. How do I know if this is real? I have never seen anything like this before?”
“Why don’t you call the FAA and ask them.”
“I will smart ass.”
He made the call to what I thought must be the LA FAA flight center. He started out by giving my information. Next, he was saying, uh-huh a lot. This continued for a while.
After he hung up he had one more question.
“Did you really land a 707 by yourself?”
“Yes, I did.”
“I apologize for questioning your credentials but I have never seen anything like them before.”
“I understand, now understand this, if you ever call me a smart ass again I will knock your block off.”
Childish I know but some days you got to let it out.
After that the trip was uneventful. I kept looking for overturned sailboats. Who knows? There may be another female star needing rescuing? It was not to be.
Saturday I spent at the beach. The surf wasn’t up but it was still fun lying in the sun and girl watching. I loved the new style bikinis, they were getting smaller all the time.
I strolled over to Katin’s to see what was up. The biggest news was that Corky had won a tournament in South Africa. I hadn’t talked to him in some months, so I didn’t know how corporate sponsorship was working out. It turned out it was great. Redheaded Nancy Katin told me that just having the Jackson name was opening doors for him. I only mention her hair because she must have just dyed it. Man, was it bright!
Before this, he had been sleeping on couches or in rental cars. My sponsorship included hotel rooms. It was a case of them that has, gets. He had invitations at every stop to stay at some very nice homes. He was way under budget for rooms.
Of course, there was a price to pay. Everyone wanted to know his relationship with me in a business sense and if he could help them contact me. I didn’t realize that my businesses, especially cargo containers and ocean freight forwarding were so well known.
Sunday was horseback riding and then the beach in the afternoon. At
