Caddy day

The golf course is closed for maintenance on Mondays, as is typical at private clubs. This is the day that employees are allowed to be members for a day and play the course, as long as you finish before noon. While you may spot some of the bartenders, kitchen help or other employees out on the grass, Monday is the day that we caddies take over. I can hardly get over the irony of all of us who are working for tips and a meager paycheck every two weeks, yet for one day a week, we get to play a course with fewer than 400 members in the toniest part of town- for free! All credit to the course for allowing us to play, as this is not the case at all clubs.
Of course, all the normal vices are in full bloom on Mondays: smoking, gambling, trash talking and golf- all the bases are covered. As we all caddie for ourselves out there, the mood is convivial, relaxed yet focused on the task at hand: winning the skins game that everyone is required to join. In this forum, my lack of enthusiasm for gambling is trumped by the fact that I am a caddie, and caddies wager. Period.
I wish I could report that I rose to the challenge, shot a course record 61 and cleaned everyone out of their hard-earned tips. The reality is that second place to a guy who posted a 74 doesn't get you nothing but a lighter wallet.

Maybe I'll play alone from now on...