Golf Books #286 (Fore: Open Minded Birkdale Boys: The Story of Alfie Fyles and His Caddy Colleagues)

“FORE” is the story of four professional caddies who were raised within a few doors of each other in a small road in the Birkdale area of Southport and who happened to caddy for the winners of no less than ten golf Opens and numerous other prestigious tournaments over a period of fifteen years.

When they were young, the “Birkdale Boys” as they would become known, had a vision of making their living out of caddying and of going on to ‘Win’ in a big way: this book shows how their dreams became a reality.

Alfie Fyles, the main character in the book, had another dream – that he would write a book of his life experiences and, using the anecdotes and funny tales he used to regale everyone with, reveal the truth that was behind their success and the rollercoaster existence of numerous other characters who were on the circuit at that time.

Alf made and lost a fortune in his career and lived his life in his own inimitable way. He didn’t answer to anyone and, although his bills were all paid and his funeral was accounted for, he died with just a few hundred pounds to his name.

The book is hilarious in places and will make you cry in others, and it shows the human face of the four Birkdale Boys, ever mindful of the Opens, who would support some of the most prestigious golfers the world has seen to date.

Publication date: October 2, 2017 (source)

About the Author

Brother and sister John Murray and Mags Eatock were raised in the Marshside area of Southport in a poor but strong family unit. Being born during the late forties and early fifties respectively, they experienced post-war conditions, the teddy boy era, the affluent and rapidly changing sixties etc. etc. John loved sports from an early age and Mags enjoyed all aspects of the arts. John was captain of the Park Golf Club in 2009 and was proud to be elected again in the centenary year of 2014. He has built up successful Roofing and Pitch & Putt businesses, whilst Mags has been a teacher/artist and is now a Reiki Master. John and Alfie Fyles had a very special relationship – Alf was a ‘good friend and drinking partner’ (John’s words), and he also took John under his wing, becoming an influential avuncular figure. Long before John met and subsequently married Alfie’s niece Debbie, Alfie and John regularly caddied in the competitions held at local golf clubs such as Royal Birkdale, Southport and Ainsdale, Hillside, and the Hesketh. Alf was a very personable and charming man who had amassed a wealth of stories and anecdotes which would keep people laughing for hours, but only his nearest and dearest saw the pain he often experienced in his life. In 1994, when Alf was on his death bed, John asked him if he had any regrets in life and he said just two – the first, that he and Pat, the love of his life, his wife and mother of his children, had become estranged, and the second, that he had never fulfilled his dream to write and publish his life story. The idea nagged at John, and a few years later he approached Mags to write Alf’s biography. Due to their own mother’s illness and subsequent death, the idea went on the back burner for a number of years but was regenerated in 2014: this book is the result.