LADUE, Mo. — Mike Smith has carried a lot of famous bags in his career as a caddie.
He started at 11 years old in 1968 and has been going ever since, carrying the bags for Wayne Gretzky, Brett Hull and, most famously, the greatest golfer of all-time, Jack Nicklaus.
And he didn't just caddie for Nicklaus, he did it for the "Golden Bear" during the 1971 Ryder Cup held at Old Warson Country Club in Ladue.
At just 14 years old, there's a chance Smith is the youngest person to ever caddie in the Ryder Cup.
Smith got to caddie for Nicklaus after being selected for the caddie pool for the tournament, and then drawing Nicklaus' name out of a box.
"I was nervous for a couple weeks but the only time I was real nervous was the first time I met Jack in the locker room the very first day," Smith remembered.
Smith said Nicklaus was good to him, but all business when the competition started.
"I did caddie for him for seven rounds. It was amazing," Smith said. "Super nice. Talked a lot to me during the practice round. But once the matches started, hardly any conversation at all."
And no, Nicklaus wasn't coming to the 14-year-old Smith for too much advice during the matches.
"No. Nothing at all. He had won nine or ten majors, I knew I wasn't going to be reading any putts. I just wanted to keep the clubs clean, find the ball of course," Smith said.
Smith did say he messed up Nicklaus' rotation of golf balls once on the course, but that was his only "mistake" of the week. Smith said Nicklaus used to use a different ball on every hole.
"He hit the ball so hard back then that he would play with it... drive it, hit it up on the green, putt it and then take it out of play till two holes later," Smith said. "He just said, 'I hit it so hard it goes out of round.' Now you couldn't tell by looking at it."
Smith got paid pretty well for his services in 1971 dollars as well.
"The PGA of America paid every caddie on both teams $175, and all players gave an additional $125. So for the five days of caddying, almost every caddie made $300. A caddie can now make that in a day or two," Smith said. "Back then carrying a single bag at Old Warson paid $6."
Smith is still at it 50 years after his days in the spotlight with Nicklaus at the Ryder Cup. He said he's still full-time at Old Warson, and caddying three times a week.
And he still talks about that thrill he got in 1971 every chance he gets.
"I talk about it almost on a daily basis," Smith said. "To be honest with you it's kind of hard to believe I did that at 14 years old."