1945 circa WGCC Pro Dave Thomson second from left and Brick Wood far right
By Jonathan Thomas
Through an introduction by my friend Cindy Wood to her cousin Lori Marsengill, the family was kind enough to share with AHS their grandfather William H. “Brick” Wood’s collection of photos and articles about his long career at Washington Golf & Country Club in Arlington. Brick’s tenure at Washington Golf began in 1916 when he was just a boy caddying for Presidents Woodrow Wilson and Warren Harding, as well as Rear Admiral Cary Grayson.
Brick’s initiation at the Arlington club was an interesting one. As an 11-year-old, he and his pals would bike over from Fort Myer Heights, hoping to get asked to caddie, but the competition was plenty, and the older boys were tough, even chasing the younger ones off. But one day, because it was raining, no one chased Brick off, so he stayed, and the older boys let him learn to caddie. The experienced caddies liked to tote for the 50 cents per bag players, so Brick had to settle for the 35-cent bags. According to an old Daily Sun article by Joe Kipple, this is when Brick was introduced to President Woodrow Wilson as his caddie, and they developed an affable relationship at the club. Yes, the Chief Executive only paid caddies 35 cents to carry his bag.
According to another newspaper article, Brick was later given more responsibilities, including becoming the club’s caddie master at age 17 and an assistant golf pro under James Spencer in 1920. He became known to golfers throughout the Washington area and was deeply admired by the club members. As an entrepreneur, he opened the Brick Wood Driving Range, located where Woodlake Towers now sits on Arlington Boulevard and sold some of the lands he owned in Cherrydale to the county so they could build the library there.
Unfortunately, Brick’s life was too short; he died in 1959 at 53. Following in his footsteps as the Director of Play at WGCC was his son Gene, who could be found on the first tee for the next 30 years or so, and his son Bill operated and eventually sold the driving range in 1969.
Thank you to cousins Lori, Cindy, and her sister Lisa for helping make this collection appear on our site.
