US Open

Day 3    June 15, 2013

Got an early start to breakfast, chatting with the cook about our need to start even earlier tomorrow, before the buffet opened.  She very graciously put together a breakfast tray for the two of us, such a nice lady. She knew we were volunteering at the Open and thanked us for our efforts.  My shift today was scheduled to start at 10:30 so we were off to Merion by 9:30.  On the way we received a call from Jim's wife Amy who made lots of funny comments about Jim's big day at the Open yesterday, inside the ropes.  I arrived at my assignment on the 17th grandstand, which was only 20% full at that hour.  I was pleasantly surprised when one of the grandstand co-captains held a meeting of the 20 or so marshals, to strategize our plan for managing this huge location.  One of the primary concerns was implementing the USGA system of allowing fans to leave the grandstand when it was at capacity, yet still be able to re-enter and not lose their seat.  To do this, we had to station a marshal at every exit, issuing a ticket on which he would write the exact 1 hour time limit for when the patron could return.  Sounds simple but in practice was virtually unmanageable.  In addition, we had to develop a system for limiting entry to the premium corporate grandstand section requiring a pass since on prior days lots of unauthorized fans were filling in empty seats in this section.  We were planning on being filled to capacity as the day wore on so we needed a plan.  I was assigned to the corporate entry stairway, checking everyone's passes.  All of us marshals were also attempting to maintain some crowd control while players were putting, which included restricting movement on the bleachers frequently.  This worked out quite nicely except for the occasional patron who would try to bluff his way into the corporate area without the proper pass.  The grandstand reached full capacity around 2:00pm, over three thousand people.  At this point the atmosphere became electric, we all became focused on the players below as they tried desperately to hit this green from close to 250 yards away.  Time seemed to fly by and my 5 hour shift was done.  I checked in with Jim over at the 18th tee grandstand, he had a couple hours to go in his shift, so I walked about spectating, ending up by the clubhouse.  The attendant at the main entrance recognized me from the rain delay on day 1 and let me through.   Inside, the place was like being in an old mansion, one small room after another, lots of old woodwork and displays of club history.  I eventually found myself in the small bar, just me, a USGA official, and three Japanese gentlemen watching a large screen TV with live Open coverage.  A waitress politely brought me a beer and I sat back to soak the atmosphere in.  What a great experience, Dan Jenkins was right!  I eventually texted Jim and told him where I was; he couldn't believe it.  I told him to meet me at the 18th green, whereupon I grabbed 2 beers and made my way over there, just in time to see Phil Mickelson and Luke Donald completing their round and exiting toward the clubhouse.  Jim soon arrived and we stood greenside in the spectator area watching the action.   After awhile, we went back into the clubhouse bar, just so I could give him a tour of the place, and get another beer, of course.  What a way to end our day as US Open marshals!