Why Did I Name The Book Eagle Eye Katie?

I used to work as a golf caddie. That’s a neat job for a kid. The name Eagle Eye Katie comes straight out of the caddie shack.

Chapter 6: A Nickname Is Born

            During my summers when I was in high school and college, I worked as a golf caddie at a local country club. The job of a caddy is, generally speaking, to carry the clubs, to keep an eye on the golf balls when they are hit, and to handle other matters for a golfer — a personal assistant for the time the golfer is on the course. That work usually takes around four hours to complete — from the beginning of a round of golf to the end of a round of golf. Often four people golf together during a round of golf.

            My vision was challenged during my youth, and I hated wearing eyeglasses. Every 4 hours of work, if one discounts the tradition of “the mulligan,” 4 balls are hit off 18 tees. That is 72 tee shots that need to be watched.

            When you have poor eyesight, keeping an eye on all of those shots can become an adventure. I saw most of the balls hit off the tee, but my eyes were not good enough to spot all the errant ones. The errant ones are exactly the ones that most needed to be spotted.

            How I bluffed my way through 8 years of lost balls is beyond me. I guess I made up for it in other areas. But, that particular area, I was definitely bad in.

            “Eagles Eyes,” is the term used to describe a caddy who sees every ball off the tee, even the hardest-to-see balls, balls that the golfer who hits it cannot even follow. “Eagle Eyes” is also the word used to describe, sarcastically, the caddies who cannot follow even the most gently hit 83-year-old woman's ball off the tee. In the caddy yard, it was more common to use the term sarcastically.

            As I rode a train called the California Zephyr from Denver, Colorado to the Utah border, the lush, late-fall landscape was teeming with life. I sat in the observation car, with massive windows along the sides of the entire train. To my left in the observation car was Don, to my right Katie, or Eagle Eye Katie as she soon became known. They both had a propensity for spotting majestic bald eagles, as the train zoomed by at 50, 60, 70 miles an hour. But Katie, ebullient, boisterous, and talkative, at 29-years-old felt like someone who needed a nickname.

            Right out of the caddy yard came her nickname. 

            Eagle Eye Katie.

- Allan

This is a selection from my forthcoming book “Eagle Eye Katie.” (https://realstevo.com/products/eagle-eye-katie) It is the follow-up to the book “The Amtrak Vignettes,” which is about my first Amtrak mission trip in November 2023. “Eagle Eye Katie” is the story of what happened after that trip came to an end. A neat story began to be told with the writing of “The Amtrak Vignettes,” (https://realstevo.com/products/the-amtrak-vignettes) and that story continues with the writing of “Eagle Eye Katie.” Every day until that story comes to an end, I intend to share a part of it here. 

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