????時(shí)光倒流回上世紀(jì)五十年代晚期，那時(shí)的彼得?林奇還是一個(gè)十一歲的懵懂少年，卻已經(jīng)在馬薩諸塞州牛頓市的Brae Burn鄉(xiāng)村俱樂部（Brae Burn Country Club）當(dāng)上了小球童。“這份工比送報(bào)紙來要好，賺的錢也多得多，”如今已經(jīng)貴為富達(dá)投資集團(tuán)（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(gè)夏天。“你得把球場(chǎng)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(gè)球洞該怎么走了，”他接著說。“這要是放在別處，十五、六歲的孩子哪有機(jī)會(huì)給權(quán)貴們當(dāng)心腹顧問啊！”

????林奇服務(wù)過的大人物里，有一位就是時(shí)任富達(dá)基金總裁的喬治?沙利文。林奇的機(jī)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(gè)崗位，七十五個(gè)人申請(qǐng)，”林奇回憶說。“不過我是唯一一個(gè)已經(jīng)為總裁當(dāng)過十年球童的人。”后來，他再接再厲，把富達(dá)麥哲倫基金（FMAGX）的資產(chǎn)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(bào)率達(dá)到了創(chuàng)紀(jì)錄的29.2%。

????從擔(dān)任球童到成為資本管理者中間的這段時(shí)間里，林奇靠著弗朗西斯?烏伊梅基金（the Francis Ouimet Fund）提供的獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金在波士頓學(xué)院（Boston College）求學(xué)。【“我之所以能去沃頓商學(xué)院（Wharton）進(jìn)修，而且沒借一分錢，完全多虧了這項(xiàng)獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金，”林奇表示。】弗朗西斯?烏伊梅基金得名于1913年美國(guó)高爾夫球公開賽的勝者。這個(gè)基金創(chuàng)立于1949年，為十三位球童、球場(chǎng)管理員、器材商店店員和其他在高爾夫球場(chǎng)工作的孩子們提供約4,600美元的大學(xué)獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金。截至去年，這項(xiàng)獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金已經(jīng)為325名學(xué)生提供了約150萬美元的資助。

????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(qū)還是俄勒岡中部，全美到處都有類似的項(xiàng)目。比起獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)運(yùn)動(dòng)健將的傳統(tǒng)體育獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金，這類獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金就不那么為人熟知了。但是烏伊梅基金的執(zhí)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(guān)系融洽，資助孩子們上大學(xué)合情合理。“球手和為他們拿球桿的孩子之間存在著一種完整的傳幫帶關(guān)系。對(duì)孩子們自己來說，當(dāng)球童就是近距離觀察學(xué)習(xí)成功的榜樣。”

????事實(shí)顯而易見，從演員比爾?莫瑞，到《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》（ New York Times）言論專欄作家托馬斯?弗里德曼，再到前通用電氣（GE）主席兼首席執(zhí)行官杰克?韋爾奇，各行各業(yè)的名人里有很多都是球童出身。與他人合作創(chuàng)立投行艾維克合伙人公司（Evercore Partners）并曾擔(dān)任財(cái)政部副部長(zhǎng)的羅杰?阿爾特曼也是烏伊梅基金資助項(xiàng)目的受益者。同樣的還有雷?達(dá)里奧，他創(chuàng)辦了資產(chǎn)管理巨頭橋水聯(lián)合基金（Bridgewater Associates）。

????當(dāng)然，球童出身的金融界大腕數(shù)量如此之多也可能純屬巧合。但是迪克?康諾利并不這么認(rèn)為。“球童生活能教會(huì)人大量商業(yè)和生活方面的知識(shí)，”他說。“你得學(xué)會(huì)提前到場(chǎng)，學(xué)會(huì)握手時(shí)直視對(duì)方的眼睛，學(xué)會(huì)閱人——比方說學(xué)會(huì)判斷誰會(huì)作假，而誰不會(huì)。”康諾利長(zhǎng)期擔(dān)任摩根士丹利（Morgan Stanley's）波士頓分部的投資顧問，他曾經(jīng)是烏伊梅獎(jiǎng)學(xué)金的資助學(xué)生，如今和彼得?林奇、羅杰?阿爾特曼一道，都是這個(gè)項(xiàng)目最大的支持者。

????康諾利跟我們分享了他在球場(chǎng)上學(xué)到的最重要的一課，他說：“我當(dāng)球童時(shí)服務(wù)過的一位球手告訴我，要想在任何領(lǐng)域取得成功——不管是高爾夫球場(chǎng)還是生意場(chǎng)——都必須花費(fèi)大量的時(shí)間獨(dú)自修煉，要么練習(xí)，要么工作，雖然你可能更想花時(shí)間和朋友們聚會(huì)玩樂。這話說得在理，我一直牢記在心，也從中受益匪淺。”（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

????譯者：Nasca

????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?"

????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.

????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.

????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."

????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.

????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.

????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."