Day 5     September 2, 2013  Labor Day    DBC

Raining on the drive up to TPC Boston from the Cape, so I wasn't too optimistic about our prospects for avoiding a weather-related delay today, especially given the events of yesterday and the plan for a possible player evacuation due to lightning, (much more serious than a mere rain delay).  Our 7:30am assignment meeting was pushed back to 8:30, in conjunction with a delay in the starting tee times for those players at the bottom of the leader board.  We got a special privilege in being able to hold our meeting indoors at the MGA (Massachusetts Golf Association) building. Normally we held all of our morning meetings outside on the patio of MGA headquarters but today we crowded inside the museum room, devoted to the long history of golf in Massachusetts.  Great exhibits there, including memorabilia going back to the days of Francis Ouimet's U.S.Open victory a hundred years ago.  If you're ever able to visit TPC Boston, make a point of taking in the MGA museum, right on the property.

Got assigned to the threesome of Tiger Woods, Richard Lee, and Ryan Moore, not as crew leader, that job would be taken by our marshal's chair Maureen, assisted by David, Karen, Jack, and John.  I still got a headset to be able to communicate with everyone in our crew of six mobile marshals, as coordinating a Tiger gallery is always a challenge.  Today would be kicked a notch but more on that later.  Tee times were reconfigured, going off both the 1st and 10th tees to make up for lost time.  Tiger's group went off 10 at 10:10am with a fairly small gallery, by TW standards, of around 1,000.  He was at 9 under par, well back in the pack, behind leader Sergio Garcia at -19. John and I were positioned next to the golfers throughout the round, closely escorting them especially when exiting each green to make the walk to the next tee box.  Jack and Dave worked the forward positions, while Maureen, Karen, and David were everywhere it seemed, filling the headset with plans for evacuating if the weather took a turn.  Meanwhile, it felt like John & I were in the center of it all, just trying to take care of business with the players.  We had several instances where Tiger's shots went outside of the ropes, creating a need to get the gallery into position to make an alley for him to hit safely.  Jack and Dave were essential in getting hundreds of spectators to cooperate, everyone wanting to be positioned right on top of the ball if possible.  Every time we arrived at the ball, everything would be under control thanks to these guys.  I was especially impressed when Tiger hit a seemingly impossible recovery shot on the 14th hole, off the cart path, over the trees, almost onto the green.  To be right there to witness it up close was spectacular.  He was still recovering from his back injury at that time, which made it all the more remarkable.   Awesome gallery assembled all along the 16th through 18th hole corporate pavilion area, deafening at times.  We lost some of our traveling gallery as we made the turn onto the front nine holes, but still numbered over 500.  By the fifth hole it began to rain, Maureen giving us all a heads-up that play was likely to be suspended by the PGA.  She was especially concerned that Tiger and company be evacuated without incident.  When the horn blew, I was positioned closest to Richard Lee standing in the 5th fairway.  I said to him and his caddy that they should follow me up to the evacuation van parked beside the green, after he marked his ball.  Tiger and Ryan Moore were right behind us as we proceeded to the green and then to the van. Fortunately, the hole marshals at the 5th and 7th green complex held back the assembled gallery from the 3 vans strategically placed there. I commandeered one of the vans for Tiger's group, then directed all three players, caddies, the volunteer scorer, & sign-carrier inside, closed the doors and off they went through the crowd back to the clubhouse.  It was only then that I heard someone calling to me from literally 20 feet away.  My kids Jill and Brian been standing right beside the 5th green and got to see all this close-up.  My son said he was really impressed with how it looked like I was in control of the whole process, he said, "Dad, you told Tiger Woods where to sit!''  I later heard from Karen that we were already getting positive feedback from the PGA on our first full field evacuation of the DBC.  I remember being thankful that those vans were actually there, as we'd never rehearsed an evacuation, and couldn't be sure until it actually happened.  Whew!

Play resumed after an hour delay, I'd been passing that time standing with Jill, Brian, & Lauren, telling them about events of the day as the round proceeded.  They especially enjoyed hearing that from my vantage point up close to Tiger all day I could hear various comments between him and his fellow players and caddies.  My impression was that he sounded and acted like just one of the guys, interacting with everyone just like we would when we're out playing golf.  There was one instance when TW emerged from a port-a-potty along the 7th fairway and someone in the gallery shouted, "he's human after all!" As play got back underway, I got word from the Norton police officer accompanying our group that they would have to be especially vigilant after the delay. The beer venderss had remained open, after all.  Some in the galleries were trying to go out of their way to shout the strangest comments, such as ''mashed potatoes'' in hopes it would be captured on TV for rebroadcast on YouTube, or so I was told.  Had to point out a few repeat offenders to the cop occasionally.  "Get in the hole" is bad enough, but ''Bababoey''?

As we finished the round at the 9th hole, I said goodbye to the kids, who said they'd had a great time, one of the best ever at DBC, despite the weather.  Karen complimented us all on how well we'd handled the unique events of the day.  One of my favorites in my Deutsche Bank experience.