Monday

Day 4    September 5, 2011    Monday   Labor Day    DBC

Final day of the DBC, our morning assignment meeting informed us that most of the big name players were clustered from 11:55am to 12:35pm tee times, including Els, Dustin Johnson, Phil, Rickie, Watney, then there was a large gap until the last 3 pairings of the day, Kelly & Scott, Steele & Reavie, and finally, Bubba Watson & Jason Day.  I thought I'd be assigned to one of the earlier times, but was surprised when I wasn't called until the last group, scheduled for a 1:45pm tee-off.  I was psyched although, since there were five players tied at -10, with Bubba at -11, chances were good there would be a lot of lead changes throughout the day.  We'd be the last to finish, we just might not be the winning pairing.

So, had 5 hours to kill, spent eating, texting friends and family about my assignment, but with an upgrade in my usual routine of hanging out at the player practice area.  Rather than sitting in the packed grandstand, I stood inside the ropes at the ball tent, out of everyone's way, as players and caddies came up to get buckets of balls, all arranged by brand name so that players could practice using their own ball.  The players don't practice with ordinary range balls like the rest of us.  Phil is only going to hit Callaways, for example, knowing precisely how they respond to his swing.  Great atmosphere here as not only players and caddies, but also well known instructors, TV personalities, corporate staff, and various PGA personnel were milling about. Found little odd jobs to perform in this general area to help out at the practice range, making the time pass more quickly. Got to chatting with the volunteers staffing the ball tent, as well as two young female BMW representatives who were infatuated with Rickie Fowler and interested in hearing of my close encounters with him earlier in the week.   They were completely star-struck.

Met up with Rick our crew leader, at the first tee, great guy, has served as a marshal at countless Travelers tournaments, as well as most DBC's since its inception.  He and I organized our positioning relative to the players, each taking one side of the fairway or the other, but immediately adjacent to Bubba and Jason as we escorted them through the round.  The gallery was fairly large at the start, then grew substantially as we went along, picking up everyone along the way as we were last to finish.  Our round went well, although I had to feel sorry for Bubba, as it just wasn't his day to win DBC.  He started well with a one stroke lead, but played poorly and developed a negative demeanor, dropping back to -6 but rebounding with a birdie on 18 for a final score of 8 under par.  Jason Day gained 3 shots through the round to move to -13 but missed several crucial putts.  On four separate instances, I had tricky marshaling situations with shots landing outside of the ropes.  In each case I was the first marshal to arrive at the ball, just me and about 300 fans in the immediate vicinity, until reinforcements arrived from our crew and hole marshals stationed further down the fairway.  One especially tough situation arose when Day's ball landed 20 yards to the right off the 9th fairway, always a very crowded section of the course near the main spectator entrance.  Was a challenge making a path through the gallery back to the fairway for Day and his caddie, after which he gave me a nice "Thanks mate!"

Bubba Watson's wife, Angie, was walking along with us throughout the round, a seemingly very nice person, attractive, providing him with a supportive presence despite his difficulties.  This was the first time I'd ever seen a player accompanied by a spouse or girlfriend, maybe I just wasn't that aware in prior rounds. Our gallery experienced some drop-off in size as other players moved up the leader board, which was only reinforced when the TV camera crew and NBC on-course commentator Dottie Pepper abandoned us as well.  Still, as we made it through the 16th, 17th, & 18th holes, the crowd roars ahead made for an electric atmosphere.  We were informed by headset that a playoff might be a real possibility, the first one in DBC history.  The 18th hole was simply remarkable, packed from tee to green with over 20,000 spectators watching the final groups.  In the group ahead, Chez Reavie bogied, sending him into a playoff with Webb Simpson.  Even though Watson and Day weren't finished, Rick and I were immediately reassigned to go back to the 18th tee for the playoff.  As we headed there, we heard the huge double crowd roars as Bubba birdied and Day eagled, but too little too late to get into the playoff.  We were soon joined at the 18th tee by Simpson & Reavie, who arrived by golf cart, as well as several other carts with dignitaries including Seth Waugh.  The sight of the huge crowd gathered on the hill along the entire left side of the fairway was amazing.  Add to that the noise, including the blimp overhead, Roger Maltbie standing near us at the landing area for their tee shots, it was a fantastic way to finish the Championship.  Every other available marshal had been assigned to form a corridor leading from the 18th green back over to the 17th tee, but Rick and our crew stayed with Simpson and Reavie, up and over the ravine bridge to the 18th green, where they both putted out for incredible birdies, still tied.  This playoff situation was unique and thus being set-up on the fly.  The 12th hole captain, Doug, standing at the 18th green, gave me his headset, so that I could have immediate radio contact as we accompanied the players, as this adventure unfolded.  I made my way over to 17, but the players were transported by carts ahead of me and were already hitting their approach shots on this par 4, surrounded by corporate pavilions, making for a stadium-like atmosphere.  My headset was continuously filled with chatter, planning for contingencies if play continued beyond 17.  I hadn't even been able to make it to the green before Webb Simpson clinched it all, a thrilling end to a fantastic day.  The atmosphere had been great, not quite a US Open, but still really special.                    

Sunday

Day 3   September 4, 2011   Sunday   DBC

Later start always welcome by this stage of the Championship, 7:30am mobile marshal's meeting much easier to take than 6am.  Assigned to another high-powered pairing, Rickie Fowler and Nick Watney, both up and coming golfers with plenty of fans in the galleries.  They were the third to last pairing of the day, doing pretty well in the tournament standings.  Our 1:20pm tee time meant I got to eat a second breakfast at the volunteer tent, then hang out at the practice range.  Witnessed a funny incident where a caddie tripped over one of the large water buckets near the players as they were warming up, turning a near perfect 360 head-over-heels, not spilling his bag in the process.  We all gave him a standing ovation from the grandstand.  Marveled at the opportunity to watch DJ, Overton, O'Hair, Haas, McDowell, Jacobsen, Rose, Wilson, Van Pelt, Badds, Karlson, and Harrington hit every kind of shot, all in a row.   My next 5 hours consisted of: getting a free swing analysis at the spectator experience concourse; checking out the media center for some folks I'd met at prior DBC's; snacking on various freebies being handed out at vendor tents; reading the Globe's lengthy sport section, (learned Keegan Bradley had missed the cut); made several phone calls from the designated calling area; passed Steve Stricker on the walkway at the practice green, exchanging greetings; tried sitting at the unshaded 9th grandstand but had to move to the 18th to get out of the sun on this humid 85 degree day; cashed in my lunch voucher allowing enough time right before we were to get started around 1:00.

Made my way to the 1st tee where I met up with our co-chair David who assigned me to my preferred position alongside the players, rather than forward at the landing areas.  Enjoyed walking along escorting the players, despite the heat, as the "Rickie & Nickie show" got to be very entertaining throughout the day.  We eventually accumulated a gallery of 1,500, including lots of Rickie wannabes, dressed in traffic-cone orange from head-to-toe, mostly kids but an occasional 30-something adult, which looks pretty ridiculous.  Had an NBC camera crew with us as we came down the 13th fairway to the spot where Rickie's ball had landed outside the ropes.  Had to position the gallery to form an open lane for his shot, as well as allow the camera crew to position themselves.   Later on some drunk fans got pretty mouthy at the corporate pavilions from 16 to 18, it being a hot Sunday afternoon.  Not much we can do as marshals to quiet things down in these areas but I think the players don't really mind too much.  Had a few instances of asking fans to stop taking pictures, most were cooperative and understanding.

Accompanied the players off the 18th green, through a sea of humanity to the scoring trailer and interview area.  I was surprised at one point while I stood there waiting for them, turning around to see I was standing only 5 feet from Ernie Els as he was being interviewed by Golf Channel.  Turns out we weren't needed to marshal at the autograph area so I was done for the day, completing a 12 hour shift.  As I made my way home, I spoke with a few people who told me they'd been watching the TV broadcast but hadn't seen me on camera.  Tough to pick me out of the crowd even when they know which player I'm assigned to, we're all dressed in identical outfits as part of the DBC Blue Crew.

Saturday

Day 2    September 3, 2011    DBC   Saturday

One of my best ever days marshaling, an A+ day experience.  I was assigned to the premier group of the day, Phil Mickelson, Gary Woodland, and Jonathon Byrd.  Their tee time was at 8am so it would be a relatively short day, no long wait, plus we would have a huge gallery in comparison to the pro-am.  Got a bagel and some coffee and went to the practice area where I watched Harrington, Na, Fowler, Garcia, Vegas, Moore, Toms, Haas, Watson, Poulter, Donald, & Phil warming up.  Went to the 10th tee for our assigned time, groups going off both 1 & 10 in three-somes due to the vagaries of the weather.  A gallery of approximately 500 people had already gathered for our grouping, this was going to be fun as it gradually grew to over 2,000 throughout the round.  Had a crew of 4 mobile marshals as well as 4 ''mobile device'' marshals who were tasked to enforce the strict PGA TOUR policy of no photographs during play.  We'd all been instructed to request spectators to delete pictures when we saw them using cellphone cameras.  I personally had 2 patrons react negatively to this policy, and frankly, I couldn't blame them.  The PGA TOUR had reluctantly agreed to allow cellphones onto the property during competition days, realizing nearly everyone was carrying one anyway, but for texting/calling purposes only, in designated areas away from the players.  We'd been told in our assignment meeting that the PGA TOUR considered any pictures taken by fans as copyrighted material, and thus prohibited.  A difficult policy to enforce but we were giving it our best without upsetting too many paying fans.

Phil was getting lots of love all day, at every tee box, all along the fairways, and every green.  He generally acknowledged all this love with a head nod and his permanent grin, even though he wasn't playing his best, using a belly putter to change things up a bit.  I was beside the players throughout the round, including being within touching distance frequently as we escorted the players along, especially through the narrow green-to-tee roped off chutes.  I actually heard someone in the gallery say, "I was this close to Phil, this is the best day of my life!" Such a nice scene to see one of the players hand his ball to a little kid waiting at the rope, just makes their whole DBC experience, mine too.  One of our biggest challenges was keeping the huge gallery patient and quiet as all three players finished their shots, the tendency being for everyone to surge ahead after Phil had hit his ball.  Phil and his caddie Bones even helped us out on occasion, requesting quiet from the crowd so that Gary and Jonathon could putt.

Turned out to be a bit warm, 82 degrees, so got lots of water at the teebox coolers as we made our way along, finishing up at the 9th hole.  We escorted the players to the scoring trailer, but that was it for us as they were being carted back to the clubhouse, about 100 yards away.  I got lunch and hung out in the shade near the practice area, resting my legs and feeling like it had been a great day.  As I walked by the putting green, I saw Gary Woodland doing some post-round practice, I caught his eye and he thanked me for marshaling for his group, signing a Titleist ball for me.  Nice guy.            

Thursday

The 2011 Deutsche Bank Championship     TPC Boston

Day 1    September 1, 2011

Pro-Am day

The day got started at 4:30 am so I could allow enough time to take care of business before driving 72 miles to arrive in time for the 6:15 mobile marshals assignment meeting.  As we assemble its great to renew old acquaintances with everyone I haven't seen since last year's DBC.  Our co-chair leaders Karen and David do a terrific job at that hour getting us up to date with various PGA rules we've got to pay attention to, including the official credential color of the day. Unauthorized media photographers occasionally slip inside the ropes and have to be politely removed.  I'm assigned as lead marshal for Rickie Fowler for a 1:00pm tee-time, so I have to kill roughly 6 hours until then.  This is what makes for a very long day and discourages lots of my friends from signing on to be mobile marshals, but I'm just insanely psyched about the whole experience, so I find plenty to do to pass the time.  After all, I'm at a PGA TOUR tournament, inside the ropes.  Could you get the equivalent experience at any other athletic event?
I've perfected the process of having a Dunkin Donuts breakfast at the volunteer tent, then volunteering to marshal for 9 holes with any particular player that interests me and might draw a significant size gallery.  I consult our tee sheet and see that Keegan Bradley is about to tee off so I head over to the first tee to walk along with the other marshals assigned to his small gallery of about 50 people, half of whom seem to be his extended family.  He had just won the PGA and was a hot young golfer, in addition to being from New England.  Seemed like a really nice kid, lots of interaction between him and the amateurs.  Playing with him was Seth Waugh, CEO of Deutsche Bank, so this pro-am group was a big deal with some heavy hitter executives rounding out the five-some.  Behind us was the Bubba Watson group, which made for a few fun moments when he yelled over from the 1st tee, kidding Keegan about his course management and swing thoughts.
After 9 holes I left Keegan and company to save my legs for an additional 18 holes later on.  At this point I got an iced coffee and went to the practice range area, sitting in the grandstands and taking a few pictures of players.
Justin Rose
Dustin Johnson

Jason Dufner

 Afterwards, I cashed in my lunch voucher and sat in the volunteer tent with Darren and Tom, my crew for this afternoon with Rickie. We eventually headed over to the 1st tee to get set for our round, Rickie arrived by cart and ended up standing near us.  After greeting him, I asked about his filming a PGA Tour commercial featuring him riding a dirt bike around a golf course and performing various stunts, including knocking a ball into a hole.  He said he did most of the stunts himself, but wasn't allowed to do the final one due to liability restrictions.  I was once again impressed with how approachable he was, willing to interact with us all, not in the least bit arrogant.  As it turned out, everyone in his gallery got a chance to get an autograph or picture with him as the pro-am pace of play was glacially slow, with lots of time waiting on each tee box.  We did have some extra excitement later in the round as two women joined our group of amateur players, walking in high heels inside the ropes in the middle of the fairway, definitely against PGA regulations. I spoke with them and politely requested that they remain outside of the ropes, which lasted about 2 holes, then they reappeared.  Evidently, they were "the rules don't apply to us" types.  I radioed ahead to our chief marshal Maureen, who met with them as we were exiting the 9th green, a Norton Police officer beside her, offering to escort them from the property if there were any further infractions.  They were quite indignant, saying they were bored with all that walking anyway and would meet their amateurs at the Grey Goose pavilion.  As it later turned out, Rickie's gallery petered out by 5pm on this warm Thursday afternoon, so we were relieved of duty by the 14th hole.  But just as we were leaving, the girls returned.  I asked them to behave themselves for the rest of the round, which I'm sure they did!