Carl Carmoni, superstar | The Press

The lady, her first name Caroline, is on the verge of tears, her eyes sparkling. The photo is taken. ” Oh my God ! », she exclaims.

She would have just encountered Bono in front of the Sphere in Las Vegas and it would be just like that. But here we are in the heart of Petit Laurier, corner of Papineau, on the site of a former gas station transformed into a public space, where we find a six-hole mini-putt course.

And the man who provoked this reaction from Caroline is Carl Carmoni.

“You have no idea. I watched Mr. Carmoni with my grandmother when I was young, says the lady. These are family moments. The commentator added to the spectacle in a delirious way. Every time he made a birdie, the dancing… It was like Sunday Night Football, but better! »

“It was always a beautiful moment,” she continues. I admire him, I like his personality, I like how he is with his wife, Suzanne. He’s a really nice guy and I wanted to see him. »

There were a few dozen there despite the gray weather. The few drops that fell, however, were not going to make them miss what was neither more nor less a nostalgia Thursday for the Y.

Here is Julien Blanchard, a young forty-year-old, with his friend Fabien, a Frenchman who discovered Carmoni “two days ago”, when Julien showed him videos of the exploits of the mini-putt legend.

“Yes, there is Carl Carmoni, but there is also the presenter [Serge Vleminckx], which created the scale of the event. When you’re young, you remember Mario Lemieux, Wayne Gretzky, the great players. Carl Carmoni, that’s the name I remember. »

Anthony, 32, rejuvenates the crowd a bit. “My father had cassettes. With my brother, I watched videos of mini-putt,” he describes.

Frederick, 47, smiles from ear to ear. He has just beaten Carmoni on hole number 1, which earned him an autographed card. “Thank you very much, this will make my friends jealous! », he says to the star of the day.

“I was watching this on RDS in the basement at my friends’ house. Carl Carmoni was the enemy of Gilles Bussières. That was it. It was evenings stealing beer from our parents to watch The mini-putt challenge. Bungalow basement summers. »

It was at Zellers in Saint-Jérôme that the Carl Carmoni phenomenon was born, somewhere in 1970. It was there that he bought his first putter. “I paid $6.99 for it, I made 40,000 piasters with it! », he explains proudly.

“In 1993, I had a brain cramp, I went and bought this one – he holds it up – for $19.99. I made 25,000 with it. People ask me: “What putter do you recommend?” As light as possible. “How much does it cost ?” You can find them for 8 or 9 piastres. People say to me: “Are you sick? It sells for 400 piasters.” You can pay that if you want, you won’t putt any better! »

Carmoni loves his putter as much as he did in 1993. “It’s not my lucky putter. It’s just super well balanced. I like lightweight putters, because I control a lightweight putter. »

Over time, he added a tip to the upper end, to pick up his balls. “Why bend over?” After 71 years, it takes a suck! It doesn’t bother me, my age. 50 year olds can’t keep up with me. »

In his younger days, Carmoni was all rain and shine on the RDS airwaves, propelled by the “birdiiiiiie” of Serge Vleminckx. The two men are still in contact; if so many Quebecers – and even Braves pitcher John Smoltz, according to the legend that circulates – tuned into RDS to watch him talk about Totem, Hockey, Culotte and Plateau, it was also to hear Vleminckx shouting.

“I have some TV show offers these days. I try to convince him, but he is reluctant. He never accepted that the sponsors had withdrawn. Major baseball complained to RDS because we had higher ratings. They beat us up at midnight and we beat them again! It frustrates me. »

Carmoni talks about it with passion, because that’s what mini-putt is for him. “I have my business, I am a customs and transport broker. Mini-putt is for fun. »

For this fun, he took the pilgrim’s staff. He now asks for a fee for his attendance, but that was not always the case. He unpacks the numbers.

“I used my popularity to infiltrate the media. Yesterday, on Radio-Canada, it was my 249^e intervention. How much free visibility, how much money have mini-putts made thanks to me and my wife since 2005?

“From 2005 to 2011, I did it at my own expense. I wanted to promote mini-putt. It cost me $11,288.68 in expenses, gas and hotel. I don’t plan on eating it, but it costs more in a restaurant than at home! »

The obstacles were not only financial. Last year, nasopharyngeal cancer weakened him. He says he is cured, but the side effects persist. “When I speak, I can’t hear myself, it’s a radio that’s grating. It aged me at least 10 years. I went from 193 lbs to 141 lbs. I wasn’t allowed to eat. A hole in there – he points to his stomach – you feed yourself with a syringe there. »

An onlooker on site listens to him detail his fight. “Carl, you are a hero, a mini-putt hero and a cancer hero. »

He is, at the very least, the icon of his sport. This is why the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough thought of inviting him for the inauguration of this new public space. The project is intended to be temporary; the land must be used for the construction of social housing.

But while waiting to receive projects, we saw fit to invest $100,000 to develop a mini-putt course and an urban agriculture course, removable installations which could be moved to another field in due course. place. In the meantime, we will give a use to this vacant lot which has disfigured a busy intersection for several years.

“It’s been a long time since there was anything, it was abandoned. It’s cool to have a little corner where people can gather,” notes Fabien, our Frenchman we met earlier, who lives a few meters from the site.

Carmoni’s presence visibly hit the target, seeing the people who came to meet him, hoping to have their photo taken with him or receive advice.

He takes his stick, extending his index finger so that it is parallel to the handle. “The finger is never good, because you push and you don’t control your speed. I don’t want to see that. You have to take the ball and push it towards the target. »

Over time, he developed his talents as a crowd entertainer. “Are any of you thinking of beating the pro here today? he shouts. Are there any? »

There will be dozens of them trying their luck.