Jim Tanner
Caddy Classic, July 8, 2019 at Pawtucket Country Club.
My name is Paul Rego and along with being a past president
and the current greens and handicap chairman at Pawtucket, I have the distinct
honor of being a close friend of Jim Tanner.
I first met Jim in May of 1982 when I played in a charity event at Pawtucket. I was new to the area and got invited as a
last-minute fill in for the event. I
arrived about a half an hour early and went to lower lot at the club to drop my
clubs and then park my car. As I opened
the trunk and very nice man walked up and said, “Sir, please allow me to take
your clubs.” He then asked me my name
and with whom I was playing with that day.
I told him my name and then I asked his name and he said it was Jim
Tanner. We shook hands and he told me
where to go to sign in and to have lunch before the event started. After lunch I came down to the putting green
and started practice putting and for some strange reason that I don’t know
today, I felt compelled to stop and go back over to talk to Jim about the
club. Jim told me what great place it
was if you wanted to play golf and how much I would enjoy being a member there,
should I someday decide to join. Jim was
very proud that was he mentoring over twenty caddies that year. I told him that I wasn’t ready to join yet,
but when I was, I would definitely put Pawtucket at the top of my list. I felt even more strongly about that after I
had the opportunity to play the course that day.
Another few years went by and I played in several more
charity events before I finally joined in 1985 and every time that I went to
the club, Jim remembered my name and always went out of his way to say hello
and ask if there was anything that he could do for me. Little did he know how much I would take him
up on that offer over the next thirty-four years! When I first joined, walking with caddies was
in vogue and Jim always gave me a great caddy or asked me to take one of the
younger caddies to help break them in.
Jim just didn’t trust his new trainees with anyone and I was very happy
that he considered me suitable to have a newbie carry my bag or fore caddy to
break them in. Jim was truly a father
figure to the caddies in those days and I know that they all felt Jim had their
backs as long as they did their jobs the way that he trained them to do it.
Within a year of joining, I was serving on the Greens
Committee and this brought me even closer into everyday contact with Jim and
the golf staff. It also brought me close
to a very dear friend named Malcolm Najarian, who was a former caddy. Being close friends with Mal during his short
life also brought me into contact with Rod Mackenzie, Kevin Fortin and a large
contingency of former caddies who were becoming successful businessmen at that
time. Those friendships continue on to
this day and the stories about Jim from those guys never stop, and truthfully,
are music to my ears. When this
close-knit group of guys started the idea to have a tournament to honor Jim, it
was a natural in my mind and I have been involved with it in one form or
another for the past fourteen years.
The great idea that began back fourteen years ago to
initially help caddies, has since raised over $100,000, and now helps
additional qualified employees of country clubs to further their educations
through the John P. Burke Memorial Fund, of which I am proud to be a board
member. One of the highlights of my year
is to spend an evening with Jim at the Annual Burke Scholarship Awards
dinner. Jim is equally proud of every
individual who is honored with a scholarship at the event, but he especially
takes pride in the individual who receives the Jim Tanner Scholarship. Jim sometimes knows the recipient because
they may be an employee at Pawtucket, but in the event they are not employees,
Jim always makes a point of seeking out the family of the individual and spends
time with them, or invites them to sit at our table so we can all be together
for the JT award presentation. That’s
indicative of just how kind and caring Jim still is about “his caddies.”
Two former caddies of mine who Jim spoke to me a lot about as
they were going to high school and getting ready for graduation, were undecided
about their futures and whether or not college was going to be the answer for
them. Jim saw that they both had great
potential hiding inside and asked me to speak to them as much as possible about
how important getting their educations was going to be as time went on. As our caddy program wound down and they
worked more in the bag room and golf shop, we had time to play a lot of golf
together after their shifts were over.
The conversations ultimately led back to their futures, education and
giving themselves an opportunity to improve the way they would be getting
started in life. After many night games
until dark, and constant reinforcement between Jim and myself, both of these
fine young men went on to college and are thriving in their careers, one as a
PGA Professional at a top-rated RI country club and one as a Special Agent in
the United States Secret Service. I know
that once again, Jim was instrumental in making sure they got on the right path
in life, as he did with so many others before them.
Over the years as I advanced on the Pawtucket board and
became president and later treasurer, I was always able to seek good counsel
from Jim about nearly anything. Jim’s
knowledge of the club and its members are invaluable to anyone who was in my
position(s) and I took full advantage of his offer to help me when he was able
to offer his advice. And I still do
today as Greens Chairman. I probably
worn out my welcome a long time ago, but Jim is too kind to kick me out of his
“board room” or send me away without lending an ear and offering advice.
There may not be caddies at Pawtucket today, but we still
have Jim Tanner running our bag room and we treasure everything that he does
for all of the members and more importantly, what he stands for in life. An honest, caring and decent man, a true
gentleman, devoted family man and dedicated employee of the club and membership
that he loves so much.
Tags: 2019 by Rod MacKenzie