My first job ever was working for Sam and his brother Ron at Martinsville Country Club. Musta been the summer of 71. We'd (2 friends and I) heard through one of my friend's dad who played there a lot that they were hiring. We thought caddying or something.
Anyway, he hired all 3 of us. First day they told us they were building a new 9 holes. Put us on the tee box of a fairway that had just been cleared of trees, and gave us a screwdriver. Said, "Now crawl down the fairway and dig out all the sticks you find." We did that for about 4 weeks straight. Then we sifted sand for another 4. Brutal work out in the hot sun, but we were making .75 an hour (and getting our checks monthly!) and being fed lunch (2 hot dogs and a coke...every day) for almost 4 months...My old man thought I was crazy because my first check was $86 bucks, and I had him take me to that big sports store in Bloomington and bought a pair of red stripped Adidas Super Stars for $50 bucks...
Sam was a nice guy. Would give us pointers after we got done working, and would let us play for free. By mid simmer I had actually collected enough clubs that guys either threw or gave me to have a small set. Ah, childhood...