Two of the most recognizable financial and philanthropic giants on the North Shore (and on the planet, for that matter) – Richard F. Connolly and Peter Lynch – recently received the highest honor a caddie can receive: induction into the National Caddie Hall of Fame.
The two were inducted in November in Chicago at the Western Golf Foundation’s annual Green Coat Gala. They join a who’s who of hall of famers, many of whom have used their caddie experiences as a stepping stone to success in their adult lives.
Lynch and Connolly join the likes of such giants as Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Francis Ouimet, Eddie Lowery, Peter Uberroth, Charles Schwab and Gene Sarazen as well as Oscar Goings, beloved caddiemaster at Winchester CC.
Both men acknowledged that induction was a great honor and reflected on the important impact that caddying had on their lives.
“I never dreamt that I would be inducted into the Caddie Hall of Fame,” Connolly said at the gala. “I started as a caddie at Woburn CC when I was just eight years old, and it was the single most valuable experience I’ve had in my life. The fine people I caddied for taught me so many lessons in life, and, to this day, I believe caddying is the best way for a young person to learn.”
Lynch caddied at Brae Burn CC in Newton to help support his family. The Marblehead resident was unable to attend the ceremony. In a video message, Lynch said he got his first job at Fidelity Investments because he had caddied for Fidelity’s president, D. George Sullivan. He also highlighted the lessons he learned from being a caddie.
“I loved being a caddie and I love caddies today. It’s a great profession,” he said. “It’s fantastic to be honored. What this does for a young child, 14, 15, 16, 18 … imagine you (tell) somebody to keep to the left. Don’t go over. Don’t be short. Line up their putts. You don’t get this kind of role as a youngster. The respect is so important. But also you learn what adults admire.”
Connolly, the founder and president of The Connolly Group at Morgan Stanley, described Woburn CC as “real blue collar.” He said one reason he started caddying was because his mother had nine brothers.
“They all caddied, so I caddied,” he said. “Being a caddie was the best experience of my life.”
Connolly went on to play golf at The College of The Holy Cross, which he said was made possible because of a scholarship he received from the Ouimet Caddie Scholarship Fund. He later earned an MBA at Babson College. A past president of the Ouimet Fund, Connolly still serves as an active member on the board of directors and board of trustees.
The fund’s prestigious Richard A. Connolly Distinguished Service Award was established in 2000 in recognition of his service to the fund’s mission. The award is presented every year at the Ouimet Fund Annual Banquet, the largest golf-related banquet of its kind in the nation.
While Connolly’s commitment to the fund and caddies is truly the stuff of legends, he’s never forgotten his roots and is quick to attribute his success to the lessons he learned as a caddie, saying caddying was “the single most valuable experience of my life.” Through caddying, he developed role models and learned the importance of having a solid work ethic, honesty, respect, confidence and the value of relationships, citing his 40-year friendship with Arnold Palmer who he described as “the greatest sports figure in the history of our country.”
A resident of Concord, Connolly closed his remarks with the motto of the Ouimet Fund: “What golf has given you, give something back to golf.”
Lynch said it cost $1,000 to attend Boston College when he enrolled. He applied for and received a Ouimet scholarship in the amount of $300, which allowed him to meet his expenses.
He served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army and later obtained an MBA at the Wharton School of Business. He went on to manage the Magellan Fund at Fidelity, described by many as the best performing mutual fund in the world while under his management. He also served as president of The Lynch Foundation, a charitable organization he and his wife Carolyn founded in 1988, and served in various capacities at many other philanthropic organizations. The Lynch Foundation website states that the foundation “hopes to provide people with life-changing opportunities through supporting innovative non profit organizations.”
In 2010, Lynch was the recipient of the Ouimet Fund’s Richard F. Connolly Distinguished Service Award.
Lynch said he admires the great work the Ouimet Fund and the Evans Scholarship Fund does to support caddies and help young people go to college, which he described as “staggering” and that it was “an added bonus” to be inducted alongside “my great friend Dick Connolly.”
