Day 1 September 3, 2009
I got up at 4:30am, having a poor nights sleep in anticipation of the events of the day, driving 70 miles to the volunteer parking lot then catching the shuttle to the drop-off area, followed by a 10 minute walk to the course in brisk 50 degree weather. Got a Dunkins Donut coffee and bagel at the volunteer pavilion and walked out to my assignment as a marshal at the 12th hole. Impressed so far with the amenities afforded to the volunteers, including all-day food and beverages at the volunteer facilities, all part of the $80 package, (yes, you have to pay to be a volunteer, keeps those who might otherwise sign-up for the 4 day commitment from ditching-out after 1 day). For your $80 you get a huge amount of stuff: uniform golf shirt, wind jacket (both Brooks Brothers label), hat, parking pass, shuttle bus, admission credential to TPC grounds, daily meal voucher good at any on course concession stand, unlimited food and beverages at the volunteer pavilion, plus the inside the ropes experience every day.
I met the 12th hole captain Doug, plus 8-10 other marshals assigned this morning, fewer than I expected, but all I had to go on was my perceptions from what I've seen on TV. Our job is to keep the gallery outside the ropes from disturbing the players, both in terms of noise and movement. I eventually learned that the pros are much less concerned with ambient noise than they are with visually distracting crowd movement.
I was initially assigned to the cross-walk 250 yards from the tee box, controlling the rope gateway allowing the gallery to cross after the golfers pass by down the center of the fairway. Secondary responsibility was to locate wayward drives outside the ropes from the amateurs playing with the pros. Had some fun chatting with the ams while they tried to figure out what to do to get out of the shrubbery. Was informed later that each amateur had paid thousands of dollars for the privilege of playing with their respective pro, which in turn serves as the primary means for raising money for the charitable goals of the Tiger Woods Foundation and other affiliated charities of the DBC.
Rotated back to the tee box about two hours into my 6 hour shift, which turned out to be an incredible experience, seeing all these well known players close by as they teed it up...Tiger, Singh, Love, Cink, Weir, Furyk, Glover, Donald, Couples, Cabrera, Sabbatini, Mickelson, Poulter, Toms, Johnson, Gay, Kim, Snedeker, Ogilvy, Harrington, Stricker, Yang. Their interactions with the caddies and amateurs, hearing the side comments and jokes, was great. Sometimes sounded like my usual rounds with my friends, but with the added tone of a bunch of guys who couldn't believe they were actually playing golf with the likes of Tiger. I was impressed with how much interaction there was between the gallery and the pros, including autographs, picture taking, and chatting with people behind the ropes. The Thursday Pro-Am is definitely the day for getting close to the top 50 golfers in the FedEx Cup playoff. (Only half of the 100 golfers in the second round of the FedEx Cup are designated to participate in the Pro-Am). Met several marshals who have been doing this since the inception of the DBC around 10 years ago, some real characters in the bunch. They were generally very instructive in training me in the fine points of marshaling. For instance, you don't want to signal too soon for the gallery to quiet down. You wait until the player has taken his practice swings then steps up to address the ball before you raise your arms. Sometimes the command of ''Stand please'' is necessary, but not as a distraction to the player. I would learn that marshaling at DBC has been developed to a fine art, but more on that later.
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