This sculpture was carved by Paul Frenette as a commission piece for Glen Peister and Sons at Innerkip Highland Golf Club in Innerkip, Ontario.
Glen said he had an old Maple tree that was dying and they had to take it down. The tree is at least 150 years old and he didn’t want to just throw away all that history. He wondered if the tree could be carved, thus preserving the history. Of course Paul said “No problem, what do you want carved?”. Glen had a small statue of an English Golf Caddy in the pro shop at the clubhouse and wondered if Paul could do a scaled version of him. Again the answer was “No problem. That will be a blast to do!”
This majestic old tree stands 12 feet in circumference, or about 5’ across, and the stump was cut at about 15 feet tall. There are two main trunks to the tree that split off at about 12 ft up. God himself must have planted the seed for this tree with the intent of producing this Golf Caddy for this course on this hole. When Paul scaled the statue to the maximum size he could, given the diameter of the tree there was only one way the carving would work. The trunks in the tree lined up perfectly to allow him to cut the golf bag at the right angle and the right place to fit on the caddy’s back and still carve all appendages in the right places. The uncanny thing was the fact that the only direction he could possibly place the carving to take advantage of the maximum scale, was with the Caddy gazing down the #1 fairway at the Clubhouse! This grand old boy stands just to the right of the #1 green, gazing down at the golfers as they approach the green as if waiting to offer his services. As Glen said “Just ask him, he’ll tell you where your ball went.”
A message from Paul: “Well it’s finally done! The Golfer is finished and I must say, I am impressed with the outcome. I really thought it was good enough without any finish on it, just the raw wood. But wow! I never really thought colouring him would make so much of a difference. I had a blast working on this project and could not have asked for better customers. The Peisters are the best and were a great inspiration throughout the entire project. I think this Golfer is the perfect addition to a great course!”
Head over to INNERKIP HIGHLANDS GOLF CLUB in Innerkip, Ontario (about midway between London and Kitchener). Have a round of golf and check him out up close!
