US Open

Day 2     June 17, 2011

Strange start to the day in getting to Congressional, some nut had placed a ''suspicious package'' at the Pentagon, causing a massive traffic jam throughout DC.  We arrived on course at 10:30 to a gorgeous sunny 85 degree day, still a couple hours before our respective shifts were to begin.  We sat at the 2nd hole, watching Poulter, Garcia, the Molinari brothers, and Jimenez pass through.  Definitely a different vibe than what I'd experienced at the Deutsche Bank Championship.  It would take awhile before I could put my finger on what it was exactly.

Made my way to the 1st tee grandstand, where I was assigned as crew leader for this 6 hour shift.  Met the two other marshals assigned, as well as getting my headset radio set-up.  We coordinated our plan for managing the grandstand, assigning one guy to each of the stairways and one to serve as usher, locating vacant seats.  The 1st tee is a very popular place, and the small size of the grandstand meant we were packed all afternoon.  We had a sizable line built-up at our entry stairway all day, letting people in only when other seats were vacated.  Lots of people camped out in our grandstand for extended periods once they scored some seats.  One of our main responsibilities was to restrict crowd movement to those moments when players weren't teeing off, as the grandstand is a metal framed bleacher and it makes a lot of noise when people walk on it.

Among the additional benefits of volunteering at a professional golf event is meeting people who are just as nuts about the whole experience as you are.  One of the marshals on my crew that day was a 22 year old kid named Phil who lived only 10 minutes away from Congressional, attended Harvard, and is now working in international investment banking in New York.  Nice guy with a single digit golf handicap in high school. We talked about our golf games, his student life at Harvard, living in the Boston area, volunteering, work.  Very mature and well spoken guy.  He served as our grandstand usher all day, climbing up and down the center aisle endlessly scouting out seat vacancies as we tried to squeeze in as many folks as possible.

Got to experience a rain delay as I was informed over the headset that lightning was spotted nearby.  The officials blew the horn signaling stoppage of play, I then had to make the announcement to vacate the grandstand and direct patrons to seek the nearest shelter.  Unfortunately it's basically every man for himself as there was no designated lightning shelter for the spectators.  We found cover under a small tent at the clubhouse entrance, where we waited out a deluge that was thankfully over in 5 minutes.  I was then informed via headset to prevent patrons from returning to the grandstand until play resumed, roughly 45 minutes later.  I guess the USGA didn't want folks sitting on what was essentially a giant metal framed lightning rod as long as there was a threat of lightning.  Some people weren't happy that we were denying them access for their own safety.  Eventually the weather cleared and it was business as usual until the final group of golfers teed off.