從球童到大亨 高爾夫球場上的成功路
Way back in the late 1950s, at the tender age of 11, Peter Lynch started caddying at Brae Burn Country Club in Newton, Mass. "It was better than a paper route, and much more lucrative," the Fidelity vice chairman recalls. He kept it up during the summers for almost a decade. "You get to know the course and can give the players advice about how to approach various holes," he says. "Where else, at age 15 or 16, can you serve as a trusted adviser to high-powered people?"
時光倒流回上世紀五十年代晚期，那時的彼得•林奇還是一個十一歲的懵懂少年，卻已經在馬薩諸塞州牛頓市的Brae Burn鄉村俱樂部（Brae Burn Country Club）當上了小球童。“這份工比送報紙來要好，賺的錢也多得多，”如今已經貴爲富達投資集團（Fidelity）副主席的彼得•林奇回憶道。他的這份工作做了差不多十個夏天。“你得把球場的大小道路拎得門兒清，這樣就可以給打球的人說明去各個球洞該怎麼走了，”他接着說。“這要是放在別處，十五、六歲的孩子哪有機會給權貴們當心腹顧問啊！”One of those people was George Sullivan, then president of Fidelity's funds, who was so impressed with Lynch's smarts that he hired him in 1966. "There were about 75 applicants for 3 job openings," Lynch says now. "But I was the only one who had caddied for the president for 10 years." He later went on to build Fidelity's Magellan Fund (FMAGX) from $18 million to more than $14 billion in assets, with a record-smashing 29.2% return from 1977 to 1990.
林奇服務過的大人物裏，有一位就是時任富達基金總裁的喬治•沙利文。林奇的機敏給他留下了深刻的印象。因此，早在1966年，沙利文就將林奇招入麾下。“三個崗位，七十五個人申請，”林奇回憶說。“不過我是唯一一個已經爲總裁當過十年球童的人。”後來，他再接再厲，把富達麥哲倫基金（FMAGX）的資產從1,800萬美元做大到了140億美元。1977年到1990年間，這支基金的回報率達到了創紀錄的29.2%。In between caddying and managing money, Lynch went to Boston College on a scholarship from a program called the Francis Ouimet Fund ("the main reason I could go on to Wharton with no student debt," he says). Named after the 1913 winner of the U.S. Open, the fund launched in 1949, giving out about $4,600 in college scholarships to 13 caddies, greens keepers, pro shop clerks, and other teenaged golf course workers. By last year, that had grown to $1.5 million in financial aid to 325 students.
從擔任球童到成爲資本管理者中間的這段時間裏，林奇靠着弗朗西斯•烏伊梅基金（the Francis Ouimet Fund）提供的獎學金在波士頓學院（Boston College）求學。【“我之所以能去沃頓商學院（Wharton）進修，而且沒借一分錢，完全多虧了這項獎學金，”林奇表示。】弗朗西斯•烏伊梅基金得名於1913年美國高爾夫球公開賽的勝者。這個基金創立於1949年，爲十三位球童、球場管理員、器材商店店員和其他在高爾夫球場工作的孩子們提供約4,600美元的大學獎學金。截至去年，這項獎學金已經爲325名學生提供了約150萬美元的資助。
The Ouimet Fund is open to Massachusetts kids only, but similar programs are flourishing across the U.S., from the suburbs of New York City to central Oregon. These funds are far less familiar to most people than the traditional athletic scholarships that reward players. But, says Ouimet executive director Robert Donovan, help with college is a logical extension of the rapport between golfers and their favorite caddies: "There is a whole mentoring bond that happens between the players and the kids who carry their clubs. And for the teens, caddying is all about being around successful role models."
烏伊梅基金只資助馬薩諸塞州的孩子，但無論是紐約市郊區還是俄勒岡中部，全美到處都有類似的項目。比起獎勵運動健將的傳統體育獎學金，這類獎學金就不那麼爲人熟知了。但是烏伊梅基金的執行官羅伯特多•諾萬表示，高爾夫球手與他們最喜歡的球童之間關係融洽，資助孩子們上大學合情合理。“球手和爲他們拿球杆的孩子之間存在着一種完整的傳幫帶關係。對孩子們自己來說，當球童就是近距離觀察學習成功的榜樣。”Apparently so. Erstwhile caddies include all kinds of luminaries, from actor Bill Murray, to New York Times op-ed columnist Thomas Friedman, to former GE (GE) chairman and CEO Jack Welch. Roger Altman, co-founder of investment bank Evercore Partners (EVR) and a former deputy Treasury secretary, was aOuimet Fund scholar, as was Ray Dalio, founder of money-management powerhouse Bridgewater Associates.
事實顯而易見，從演員比爾•莫瑞，到《紐約時報》（ New York Times）言論專欄作家托馬斯•弗裏德曼，再到前通用電氣（GE）主席兼首席執行官傑克•韋爾奇，各行各業的名人裏有很多都是球童出身。與他人合作創立投行艾維克合夥人公司（Evercore Partners）並曾擔任財政部副部長的羅傑•阿爾特曼也是烏伊梅基金資助項目的受益者。同樣的還有雷•達里奧，他創辦了資產管理巨頭橋水聯合基金（Bridgewater Associates）。Of course, the number of financial whizzes who caddied in their youth might be sheer coincidence, but Dick Connolly thinks not. "Caddying teaches you a tremendous amount about business, and about life," he says. "You learn to show up early and look people in the eye when you shake their hand, and you learn how to read people -- including who's inclined to cheat and who isn't." Connolly is a longtime investment advisor at Morgan Stanley's (MS) Boston office, a former Ouimet scholarship student and, along with Peter Lynch and Roger Altman, one of the program's biggest supporters.
當然，球童出身的金融界大腕數量如此之多也可能純屬巧合。但是迪克•康諾利並不這麼認爲。“球童生活能教會人大量商業和生活方面的知識，”他說。“你得學會提前到場，學會握手時直視對方的眼睛，學會閱人——比方說學會判斷誰會作假，而誰不會。”康諾利長期擔任摩根士丹利（Morgan Stanley's）波士頓分部的投資顧問，他曾經是烏伊梅獎學金的資助學生，如今和彼得•林奇、羅傑•阿爾特曼一道，都是這個項目最大的支持者。The most important lesson he learned on the links, he says: "One golfer I caddied for told me that if you want to succeed in any field -- golf or business -- you have to spend a lot of lonely hours, either practicing or working, when you'd rather be partying with your friends. That's true, and it stuck with me. It's served me well."
康諾利跟我們分享了他在球場上學到的最重要的一課，他說：“我當球童時服務過的一位球手告訴我，要想在任何領域取得成功——不管是高爾夫球場還是生意場——都必須花費大量的時間獨自修煉，要麼練習，要麼工作，雖然你可能更想花時間和朋友們聚會玩樂。這話說得在理，我一直牢記在心，也從中受益匪淺。”
