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Godlewski glad he bought into the club
Senior Mike Godlewski will be looked upon as a leader of this year's Elmwood Park boys golf team. | Jon Langham~for Sun-Times Media
Updated: November 12, 2012 11:06AM
ELMWOOD PARK — Four years ago, Mike Godlewski began working at a place that helped him become Elmwood Park’s No. 1 golfer and is likely to earn him a full scholarship.
Godlewski has worked at the Oak Park Country Club for four years now. He spent his first summer caddying for members, but rarely took advantage of the perks of his workplace. The Elmwood Park senior, who had little golfing background before working as a caddie, rarely played free rounds of golf in his first summer at the club.
But that changed in his second year.
Godlewski dedicated himself to the sport before his sophomore season, taking advantage of the club’s facilities before trying out for Elmwood Park’s golf team. Godlewski made the varsity squad in 2010 and then became its No. 1 player as a junior. In his senior season, Godlewski has reached another milestone. He shot an 85 at the Montini Regional to advance to sectionals for the first time, an accomplishment achieved largely because of the time he spent at Oak Park Country Club.
“For four summers now, I’ve been working at Oak Park Country Club as a caddie and I’m there every day,” Godlewski said. “I work the bag. I work the range. I have the privilege of working with the head golf professional and the assistant golf professional and basically being there from sun-up to sun-down for four summers. (I improved as a golfer) just because of commitment and having the privilege of practicing at a facility like Oak Park Country Club.”
Caddying for the country club’s top golfers has allowed Godlewski to improve things like his course management and reading greens. His reputation as the club’s top caddie has grown as well. That status comes with perks, the largest being Godlewski’s inside track to the Chick Evans Caddie Scholarship.
Godlewski, in his words, is “99 percent” sure he will receive the Chick Evans Caddie Scholarship, which is annually awarded to more than 800 caddies across the country. He visited the Evans House at Indiana University on Oct. 5, three days before shooting a 92 Monday at the Nazareth Academy Sectional. He has also applied to Marquette University.
Once Godlewski moves on to college, the Elmwood Park golf team will have to find a new No. 1 golfer. Elmwood Park golf coach Paige Kozyra hopes that Godlewski’s attitude toward the game rubs off on the players who will try to fill his void next season.
“He takes golf very seriously,” Kozyra said. “He’s a very fun kid and is involved in a lot of different activities, but he takes golf seriously and that’s been something that the other kids on the team have seen. Golf isn’t a lot of my kids’ first priority, so it was good to have somebody on the team, especially a senior, who makes golf his priority whenever possible.”
