Sankaty Head Golf Club

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Sankaty Head Golf Club is the one of the Eastern-most golf courses in the United States, perched on the edge of Nantucket Island in Siasconset, Massachusetts. It is one of the few examples of world-class links-style golf outside of the UK (see Shinnecock Hills). The Atlantic wraps around 270 degrees of the layout and the famous Sankaty Head Lighthouse looms over the front nine. The Head Professional is Mark Heartfield.

Sankaty members are a driving force behind the Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund. They also have successfully sustained one of the few remaining caddy camps in the world, Camp Sankaty Head, which has existed since the late 1950s. Membership is private, but the public is allowed to play in the off-season (October-May) for a fee. Famous members include Jack Welch (whose island residence is just off the 4th tee-box), Bob Wright, Harry Fraker, Larry Bossidy, Amos Hostetter, and Bill Belichick.

[edit] The Caddy Camp

The Sankaty Head Caddy Camp, directed by Douglass Ellesworth, is the last remaining caddy camp in the United States and one of the last in the world. Here 60 caddies, 6 junior staff members, a program director, caddymaster, camp director, assistant camp director, and cook are located just off of the 11th hole on the course. After being picked through an application process, caddies come to this camp from Iowa, Florida, New York, South Carolina, Maine, and other states.

There are three "huts" in the camp, with 20 boys in each. Other buildings in camp include a mess hall, recreational hall, library, laundry shack, staff hut, and the director's hut. While the boys are not caddying, they can enjoy organized team sports of softball, volleyball, football, basketball, and of course, golf. Also in their free time, the boys can enjoy recreational golf, a workout in the weight "pit", or a game of ping pong in the rec hall.

Having just finished my second year at Camp Sankaty Head, I think of it as the best summer job a boy could have. Meet new people, make some money, apply for scholarships, and live on Nantucket for just $5 per day in room and board? What's not to love?