When the film “Caddyshack” came out in1980, lots of people laughed at the over-the-top antics of Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight and Bill Murray. The movie is considered a comedy classic.
Oak Forest native Dave Pinc enjoyed a few extra laughs, because he and a group of pals were young caddies at the Midlothian Country Club at the time the film opened in theaters.
“We thought they stole our story,” Pinc said. “We said, this is us.”
The group from the Midlothian Country Club caddyshack — Pinc, Mark Carroll, Bill Halloran, Keith Kuechler, Kevin Pelegrine and Don Weishar — first came together in the mid-1970s. And even though they have gone their separate ways all across the country, they still get together at least once a year for golf and to share laughs and memories. Sometimes a member may have to miss a year here and there but for the most part, the group is complete.
This year will be even more special.
Roughly 50 years after banding together as caddies, they are back where they started as they secured reservations at Midlothian and will play on July 31.
Carroll, the only one of the golfing gang who still lives in Oak Forest, said it will be a treat to play there again. As a perk, the young caddies were allowed to play on the storied course on Mondays.
“Those Monday rounds gave us a stronger bond,” Kuechler said.
Those were many Mondays ago.
“I don’t know how many of us played out there since we were kids,” Carroll said. “I played there once, 30 years ago. It’s been a long time since I’ve played there.”
Most of them were 13 when they started caddying.
Six caddies went on to play golf at Oak Forest High School and Halloran, Pinc and Kuechler were key members of the teams that qualified for the Illinois High School Association state meet in 1978 and 1979. .
The only other Bengals team to qualify was the 1998 squad, so that was a special era.
Over the years, they scattered.
Carroll is the president and consulting meteorologist of CALM Weather LLC. Pinc is an area manager of Performance Food Service in Panama City, Florida. Halloran is a retired AT&T cable splicing technician who resides in Elk Grove Village. Kuechler is a retired State Farm claims manager who is living near Atlanta. Miller works operations for Konecranes, Inc. and resides in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. Pelegrine is the director of operations of Ampelco, Inc. and lives in Lemont.
Weishar, who was a Chick Evans scholar, is a regional business director at Intercept Pharmaceuticals and resides in LaPorte, Indiana. Weishar also is the father of the late Andrew Weishar, a Brother Rice alum who died of cancer in 2012 at age 21 and had a foundation named in his honor to help families of those who have cancer.
As a major fundraiser for the Weish4Ever, there will be an Andrew Weishar Invitational golf event Aug. 1 at Cog Hill Golf and Country Club in Lemont, and the former Midlothian caddies plan to support and play in it day after their gathering.
“This is a component of us getting together,” Kuechler said. “We won the silent auction through the Weishar Foundation to play at Midlothian Country Club and we get to play in the Weishar tournament. We’re having fun and it’s all for a good cause.”
The Weishar golf event is sold out but people can donate at Weish4ever.com.
In 1984, Pinc moved to Kentucky and managed to get the group together to play in a tournament there.
More Top Picks Common Migraine Triggers In Children
“I made a proposal and said, ‘let’s go hot shots, let’s see what we got,’’’ Pinc said, “We were all good golfers and played a little in college. But we got down there and got our (rear ends) handed to us. We realized there were a lot better golfers out there.”
The experience was fun enough that they made it a tradition to meet once a year to play in the tournament.
Pinc said things fell off in 1999 and they were still able to meet up somewhere but didn’t start golfing together again until 2007.
“We met but we just didn’t bring the sticks,” Pinc said.
Now they pick a spot somewhere in the country and meet up for a couple of rounds of golf.
“It’s a good group of guys who laugh a lot and it’s been a heck of a friendship,” Pinc said, “Some of us go back to when we were six months old. Keith and I lived two houses away from each other.
“I’ve known Bill Hallaron since first grade. Some others came in later because they lived in different parts of Oak Forest.”
And he can’t wait for them to relive their days at the place it all started.
“Doing this at Midlothian is top-10 bucket list,” Pinc said. “We’re going to be having fun like we are teenagers again.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.