Just a few comments leading up to the fantastic 116th US Open at Oakmont. Like all volunteers, I'd anxiously opened my acceptance letter a year ago, informing me of my assignment at the Open. When I applied in early 2015, I'd indicated my preferences were as either a hole marshal or grandstand marshal. I was chagrined to read that I'd been assigned to the merchandise tent! The letter indicated that every effort had been made to assign all volunteers to one of their preferences, but that unfortunately, no changes could be made. I thought, what have I got to lose by calling the phone number listed for Oakmont. I spoke with a very polite receptionist who patiently listened to my concern that the Open was not utilizing experienced volunteers effectively. She transferred me to the USGA official who is onsite for the entire year leading up to the Championship. I explained my reason for calling, including citing a few examples of the lack of marshals with experience I'd encountered at Congressional and Merion. He agreed that the grandstand at Merion's 17th hole turned out to be a circus. I was astonished when he asked if I wanted to be a marshal instead of working the merchandise tent. As we spoke further, he told me of a new committee, (the ''19th hole'' committee) which had been developed by the USGA to serve as a sort of marshal's bullpen, to fill-in the gaps throughout the course where additional help was needed. Since I had prior experience in every kind of marshaling, he thought I'd be perfect for the assignment. I jumped at the chance. I commend the USGA for responding to the feedback it must have received following the previous Opens and developing the 19th hole concept. (It needs a better name, however)!
Since I live on Cape Cod, I was facing an 11-hour ride to Pittsburgh, which I was tackling on my own, as my buddy Jim, who'd been with me at Congressional and Merion, was recovering from major surgery. I'm so thankful to my wonderful sister Meredith and her husband Tony for putting me up in Connecticut overnight to break-up the trip. I also want to mention a terrific 1-hour lunch stop in Easton, PA to get together with an old fraternity brother, Rory Morgan, who I hadn't seen in over 30 years. What a great time we had getting reacquainted.
US Open Day 1 Oakmont June 15, 2016
I arrived at Oakmont at 9:30 am and was immediately struck by the look of the place...there was hardly a tree in sight. You could see the grand old Tudor style clubhouse clearly on the other side of the course; it looked a mile away. I was also struck by how hilly the course appeared, perched on an old cornfield from which was carved this magnificent golf course in 1903. Then there was the Pennsylvania Turnpike, running right through the middle of the course, but hidden as it ran through a deep walled canyon. I would later meet an Oakmont member who commented on how much the course had been changed over the last 30 years, with thousands of trees removed. At first he was against that change, but now feels like Oakmont is a fantastic work of art. That was my initial impression as well.
After the rain let-up I made my way across the pedestrian footbridge to the 12th hole volunteer pavilion to check-in. The Oakmont layout is so huge that two volunteer pavilions were created, one each for the east and west course areas. I met the 19th hole co-captain, Buck, who asked me if I'd be willing to serve as a walking marshal at some point in the tournament. I told him that was my primary assignment at DBC for the past several years and I'd be glad to. He explained that the USGA used only 2-man walking crews assigned to the top 4 "vanity pairings", which is far fewer than is utilized at Deutsche Bank. Evidently their rationale is that there are already enough marshals at every hole, so that only a few extra walking marshals are required. Unfortunately, he had no such assignment for me at that time. We soon had the 2nd rain delay of the day so I waited in the pavilion with hundreds of other volunteers for this to pass until I was finally assigned to the player practice area at 2:30 pm. So I headed to the practice area, immediately adjacent to the clubhouse, where the captain greeted me with thanks for the extra help. My job there was to wait for the arrival of each pro and caddie and place the appropriate name tag on the small placard beside the spot which they select to practice from. The tricky part can be when a relatively unknown player arrives on the scene and no one knows their name in order to select the correct name card. We sometimes had to quietly ask the caddie, "who is that?" This generally happened when one of the amateurs or foreign players arrived on the scene, but the caddies always took it well. We also had to pick up any left over golf balls and tees when they moved on to the chipping or putting areas. A great moment occurred while I was there when eight Pittsburgh Penguin players walked onto the practice area to rub elbows with the golf pros. They got a standing ovation from the fans in the grandstand, as well as drawing a small crowd of players, Keegan Bradley being one who posed for a selfie with them. After about 2 hours, the third suspension of play occurred, players, caddies, and assorted USGA personnel making a dash to the nearby clubhouse. I followed along, seeking the nearest protective shelter according to USGA protocol, ending up inside the clubhouse locker room area. A few security officials took note of my 19th hole credential which evidently allowed access. I spent the next hour waiting out the pouring rain while seated on a locker room bench amongst the players, caddies, PGA dignitaries, wags, Fox media personalities including Joe Buck, Brad Faxon, Paul Azinger, and various USGA officials. It was great getting an earful of various player interchanges regarding the hellacious weather we'd been experiencing all day. Around 5pm the rain let up and the sun came out, so I turned to a USGA official to ask if play would be resumed. He said there would be no more golf until tomorrow as the course was basically flooded. We would be playing catch up well into Sunday for these day long weather delays.
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