Claudio Kawecki has always enjoyed a passion for the game of golf. A former standout at Montclair Kimberley Academy, Kawecki, now a resident of Hoboken, was also a former club champion at the Upper Montclair Country Club, the same course where both the LPGA and the Senior PGA held prime events, not to mention the old NFL Players’ Classic.
“I’ve been playing golf for a long time,” said Kawecki, a resident of Hoboken now for a little over a year. “I’ve enjoyed golf since I was a little boy. I used to be a caddie at the NFL Classic. Golf has always been a part of my life.”
Earlier this year, Kawecki learned about a contest that was right down his fairway.
It was a contest, called Caddie For Love, sponsored by RSM McGladrey and McGladrey & Pullen LLP, one of the nation’s leading providers of assurance, tax and consulting services. The contest would allow the winner to be the caddie for PGA Tour superstar and United States Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III for one day at the 2011 McGladrey Classic, a PGA Tour event played at the Sea Island Golf Club in Saint Simons Island in Georgia.
“I’m very familiar with Davis Love III and I’m so into golf that it was a no-brainer for me to enter,” Kawecki said. “I actually met him and his wife, Robin, in Georgia once and he couldn’t have been a nicer guy.”
Kawecki saw a commercial on the Golf Channel promoting the contest, so he decided to enter.
“I figured I would give it a shot,” Kawecki said.
The contest called for Kawecki to write a 100-word essay about what it would be like to caddy for Love.
“I mentioned that I had previously met him and that I was a club champion,” Kawecki said. “I also wrote that I know what golfers are thinking about. I also wrote how Davis is such a great person for golf and that he’s a good role model, not just for golf, but for everyone. I guess they took to that.”
But that was just the initial portion of the contest. After more than 22,000 entered, the field was narrowed down and Kawecki made the cut.
“I didn’t expect anything,” Kawecki said. “So many days had passed since I sent in the essay that I really didn’t think much of it.”
Kawecki then had to make a video as part of being a finalist, a video that had to be partially humorous and a part serious.
“I did that, but I didn’t know if it was good enough,” Kawecki said. “I thought they might go with someone else.”
A few weeks ago, Kawecki received a phone call from out of the blue. On the other end of the line was Davis Love III himself.
“Davis called and told me that I had won the contest,” Kawecki said. “It was really a whirlwind of a day. I couldn’t believe it. I was so elated.”
Kawecki won the right to be Love’s caddie for the Pro-Am portion of the McGladrey Classic, as well as being invited to Love’s home for a private reception. He received round-trip airfare and two nights of accommodations at the Sea Island Resort.
Kawecki took his role of being Love’s caddy very seriously.
“I knew it was a Pro-Am, so it wasn’t as intense, but I told him that I was there to help him,” Kawecki said. “I asked him if he needed the laser [pointer] or the [yardage] book. I wasn’t going to give advice unless he asked me. He did ask me about one putt. I learned a long time ago that you only speak when you’re being spoken to. He told me to just be ready if he asked me anything, so I was ready. I was glad to have the experience.”
Love apparently wanted to be playful with Kawecki.
“He said that he wanted to put a brick in his golf bag to make it heavier for me to carry,” Kawecki said. “He really was great to be with.”
Davis Love III is one of professional golf’s all-time greats. He ranks sixth in career earnings and has won 20 times on the PGA Tour in his 25-year pro career, including the 1997 PGA Championship. Next year, he will lead the United States as the captain of the Ryder Cup, perhaps the greatest honor ever bestowed on a golfer.
Kawecki, who is a financial professional, had another plan in mind when he won the contest.
“I was so happy to go back to Sea Island,” Kawecki said. “It was going to be my fourth trip there.”
Kawecki brought his girlfriend, Marissa Fierz, with him to Georgia, but there was another sidelight to the trip.
“The whole plan was to propose to my girlfriend down there,” Kawecki said.
Love got wind of Kawecki’s plan and decided to announce it to the 300 or so that were in attendance at the reception at his home.
“I didn’t even know he knew about it,” Kawecki said. “Everyone there treated us like we were the king and queen. Everyone loved the story and it was neat to have that as a memory. It really felt like a honeymoon.”
Needless to say, Kawecki had a grand time caddying for one of golf’s all-time greats.
“It was very nice,” Kawecki said. “It was almost like it was meant to be, winning the contest, getting engaged, the whole thing. It was an amazing experience. Everyone there knew our names, knew our story. It was tremendous.”
And when Claudio and Marissa sit down to put their wedding invitation list together, you can be rest assured that one invitation will be sent to Davis and Robin Love.
“I don’t know what his schedule will be like,” said Kawecki, who has yet to set a wedding date with his fiancé. “But we’d sure love to have them there.”
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.
You can also read Jim’s blog at www.jimhaguesports.blogspot.com