Day 4  September 7, 2015  Monday-Labor Day  DBC

Got assigned to the first group of the day, Rory McIlroy and Brendon Todd, teeing off soon at 8:35am, so I hustled our 3-person crew off to breakfast, Tom, Melinda, and myself.  Later at the first tee I spoke with the hole captain who really appreciated our help every day in adding to the few hole marshals he had at his disposal.  Since Tom and Melinda were veteran marshals, I only had to tell them of my game plan to keep the crowds under control and in place until both golfers had taken their shots.  Everyone in our gallery would be there to see Rory, and would bolt before Todd had also played his shot.  I really wanted to avoid this if possible, meaning we'd have to pay special attention to people holding their positions at the ropes and on the cart paths.

The morning started out very comfortably, with a gallery of a hundred people or so, growing to at least 500 later on.  McIlroy played superb golf, going -5 for the day but not enough to catch the leaders.  He'd recently lost his ranking as the world's #1, and wanted to prove a few things for the remainder of the FedEx Cup series to come.  Our round was made even more interesting when Melinda noticed Rory's girlfriend Erica Stoll walking along with us, so we made sure she wasn't bothered by fans as the day went on.  I got to sit next to Rory in the golf carts for the ride from the 7th green to the 8th tee, a real treat. On the 17th fairway we ran into Notah Begay, doing on-course commentary for the Golf Channel and NBC broadcast.  Since it was still morning, I asked if he was already 'live', he kidded me saying they moved up their broadcast time and why wasn't I paying attention. I said I haven't been watching any golf on tv, I've been too busy watching in person.

Our round went blazing fast, we were done in just under 4 hours.  Tom and I broke for lunch and I tried to convince him to stay for the rest of the day to experience the closing moments of play, which are always fantastic.  Tom's back was barking at him so he had to leave, but said he'd sign-up again next year.  I got comfortable at the volunteer tent, knowing that I'd be needed later in the day for added marshaling support.  I monitored the marshals headset channel, listening to how it was going with the leaders Rickie Fowler and Henrik Stenson out on the course.  Around 2pm I got word that the 9th hole captain was requesting some help, which is right next to the volunteer village.  Steve, the captain was ecstatic when I approached him, saying he had no marshals on the green.  I positioned myself there as the final 5 pairings came through, then offered to help David,  Karen, and Maureen with the final group as they went through to the back 9.  All three of them looked fatigued and they welcomed some relief coming "off the bench".   They were working an enormous gallery, what we've come to call a "Tiger" gallery in the past, but this time for Fowler and Stenson.  It was barely manageable through holes 10 and 11 until something happened, which none of us had ever witnessed in years of marshaling.  On the 12th fairway the gallery ducked under the ropes as we walked behind the golfers, over a thousand spectators crossing to the opposite side to position themselves at the 13th hole.  We did our best to herd this crowd across and then outside the ropes, all the while saying how unbelievable it all was.  The excitement in the crowd continued to build as the golfers made their way to the 16th par-3 signature hole. Stenson proceeded to hit into the water hazard fronting the green, instantly relinquishing the lead to Fowler.  The atmosphere in the gallery went nuclear.  Now all Rickie had to do was hold on through 17 and 18 to win.  We all instantly went to red-alert in anticipation of a playoff, which would present huge logistical difficulties in keeping the crowd under control.  As I was standing alongside the 18th fairway, waiting for the players to hit their approach shots to the green, I glanced back just in time to see about 100 fans again ducking under the ropes to get out onto the fairway.  They were initially unmoved when I confronted them,

so I radioed Maureen, who had an "OMG" moment.  With the help of Rick and Jim who rushed to my assistance, we were able to convince these folks that we needed the fairway cleared in case the players had to come back to replay 18 if we had a playoff.  David radioed all of us stationed along the 18th to maintain our positions and not come down to the green until we were certain that a playoff wasn't needed.  He referred to seeing my green shoes, visible from over 200 yards away where he was standing.  I replied that now he was actually happy I'd worn something so visible under the circumstances.  The crowd noise was deafening when Rickie held on to win the DBC; he played terrific golf and deserved to win.  We all gathered beside the 18th green for the trophy award ceremony, then said our goodbyes, all of us exhausted after a very long but very rewarding golf experience.   I'd walked a total of 90 holes in four days of volunteering and had a wonderful time doing so.  See you next year.