Juan
Antonio “Chi Chi” Rodríguez, born in Barrio San Antón, lived and grew up
with his parents and six siblings in “Parcelas Falú”
and neighborhood in the town of Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. At a very young
age Chi Chi started working as a forecaddie at the Berwind Country Club in
the town of Carolina. Although he worked long hours as a forecaddie, his
learning experience took place far from the stately fairways of Berwind.
Young Juan made his golf clubs out of guava branches and his golf balls
from tin cans-perfectly round with a piece of lead stuck in the center. He
was already dreaming of playing in the PGA Tour and being one of the
best.As a child, Chi Chi looked like a toothpick that would
snap at the slightest touch. The prospect of him excelling at anything
athletic must have seemed nothing more than a dream. But, the more he
banged away at those homemade golf balls, the more he developed his
tremendous hand/eye coordination, an asset that would make him famous on
the Tour later on.
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