Day 3    Sunday  September 6, 2009

Left for DBC at 7:30am, what a difference from prior mornings when I was driving to the TPC Boston before dawn.  Went to the practice tee to find that the first player of the day, Ben Crane, was just making the turn so I hustled out to the 12th tee.  Was initially assigned as spotter in the landing area along the right side of the fairway but was quickly replaced after Crane hit, since I'd told Doug, the 12th hole Captain, that I wanted to be on the green today.  Learned that one of the perks of serving as a volunteer, without pay obviously, was enhancing your experience by making your goals known in a polite way.

Watched Crane make an 8 on the par 4 twelfth by hitting 2 balls into the hazard to the right of the green. I guess if you're in last place it doesn't matter as much.  He seemed to take it well, with a smile. I had a great time marshaling at the green, so close to the action on this windy, sunny day, very challenging to players trying to land on the green and stay out of the hazard. Had lots of interaction with spectators standing at the ropes, answered lots of questions and heard lots of comments. People  want to connect with someone officially working the tournament.  Several asked who was in the lead, but with no score board in site, you lose track quickly, sometimes having to rely on other spectators who were wearing the single-ear headphone radios being given out at one of the corporate pavilions.

Being a marshal is often an opportunity to see the pros act in ways that let you know they're sometimes just guys playing golf and doing things on a golf course that we all do every once in awhile.  (Like seeing players take a leak in the woods).  They also do things we'd never do, like giving the ball they've just putted out with to a little kid at the rope as they exit the green to go to the 13th tee.  I love that every time I see it done.

The day continued with varying size galleries coming through, especially following Phil, Sergio, Camillo, and Singh.  Was rotated back to the tee box as we got word that the largest gallery of the day was approaching, Tiger and Glover.  When I arrived at the 12th tee, I could see Tiger's gallery, an unbelievable crowd of at least 1000+, packed the entire length of the par three 11th hole.  Its one thing to see it on TV, but to be inside the ropes and hear the buzz of a Tiger gallery is unreal in person.  To be right there as Tiger walked within 5 feet of me as I stood at the tee was an experience.  My first impression was that he's taller than I thought!  As he walked onto the tee he looked right at me, or so I thought, then teed it up.  Getting the gallery to remain quiet and stationary was tough, partly due to the location of the 12th teebox, immediately adjacent to the concession stand at the 11th green, which is a hub of activity.  Also, since people are standing 5-6 deep around the tee, those in the back tend to take longer to settle down so that play can proceed.  We had about 6 marshals placed around the tee, all giving the "Stand please" command to get the gallery to remain motionless and quiet.  For the rest of the afternoon, we had a large gallery pretty much taking up residence at the 11th green-12th tee-concession stand-scoreboard complex.  After the final pairing came through,  (Furyk and O'Hair), I joined the massive gallery as it moved along with them to finish 12.  I then walked outside the ropes as a spectator to finish up the back 9, ending up at the 18th grandstand, which was SRO.  I was eventually able to squeeze into a section due to the kindness of a grandstand marshal.  It was very impressive watching the last 2 pairings finish in the stadium-like atmosphere of the 18th green.   A terrific but very tiring day.  Learning that standing for over 6 hours was tough on the legs.