The 2017 Dell Technologies Championship   Pro-Am  Thursday August 31, 2017

Up at 4:10am and out the door in 10 minutes to make the 73 mile drive to TPC Boston.  Always hard to believe how wide awake I am at this hour in anticipation of another Mobile Marshaling experience.  On arrival,  met up with Jim and Kim on the shuttle bus, husband and wife marshal team who told me of their terrific time with Jordan Spieth on Sunday of this year's Traveler's when he made that spectacular hole-out on 18 to win.  I told them I'd seen them both on TV, they're famous!  Great to see my old marshal friends once again at our 6am meeting, Tony, Jimmy, Jack, Diane, and of course David, our co-chairman.  Our other co-chair Karen had 1st tee announcing duties today.  I got assigned to Sergio Garcia again this year for the Pro-Am, for which I was glad as he was such a pleasure to marshal last year.  Unfortunately, his 12:40pm tee-time meant for a long wait.  As I've done in the past, I've found hanging out at the practice range always has some interesting sights and sounds, first of which was standing near Ian Poulter, who was having a ''colorful'' conversation on his phone.

It was probably the most sparsely attended Pro-Am event I'd ever seen in all my 9 years at the DBC/DTC.  Virtually no spectators in the grandstand at the range or standing at the newly created adjacent autograph area.  Ran into Mr. Style of Golf Digest, who I chatted with briefly, asking him how he liked our Nike outfits this year? (a thumbs up).  Our marshal chair Maureen appeared on the range, giving me a big hug, and chatting at length about how great the Traveler's was this year, rivaling the DTC in the size of the galleries.  She invited me to marshal there next year.  We also discussed the rumored changes expected of the FedEx Cup and the DTC for 2018.

Fans finally started appearing in the late morning, I'd been looking around for my wife Mary and her friend Amy, who were somewhere on the course and probably getting into minor trouble.  I was getting pretty bored by this time, still 2 hours to kill, so I decided I'd try to get into the clubhouse, to use the bathroom.  (Marshal pet peeve...having to contend with the bathroom trailers they provide for us next to the volunteer pavilion, or the individual port-a-potties clustered throughout the course).  I was semi-shocked when the nice lady at the front door of the clubhouse checked my credential and let me in!  Didn't even ask me why.  The bathroom was heaven.  Later, my friend Diane and I took her golf cart for a tour of the new 12th & 13th holes, our buddy Steve joining us as our guide.   I really like what they've done to both holes, especially 12, although it looks significantly more difficult.  I now feel that the 10 through 13 group of holes is much more dramatic and adds a lot to the overall feel of the tournament.

With still time to kill, I grabbed lunch at the volunteer pavilion, when two Tour pros, Lucas Glover and Ryan Moore strolled in for a meet-and-greet.  Very nice guys, posing for selfies, and willingly taking time to chat.  We spent 3-4 minutes talking about the new PGA TOUR policy allowing unrestricted photography by fans in the gallery.  They said the only thing that bothered them was occasionally hearing shutter-clicking noises.  They reiterated the often heard pro pet-peeve of seeing fans move about, creating a visual distraction.  One reason us marshals are often heard saying "Stand please" to the crowd.  Later, another treat was having the official FedEx Cup brought into the tent for a photo opportunity.

Lucas Glover 

Ryan Moore

I went to the 10th tee for Sergio's 12:40 tee-time, and immediately met up with Mary and Amy.  We had a pretty sparse gallery for Sergio and the three amateurs playing with him but it was still a lot of fun seeing how he interacted with them throughout 18 holes, helping to line up their putts, commenting on their various shots, both good and bad, giving them advice along the way.  He also posed for countless pictures with fans in the gallery as they moved along with us.  He must have signed 500 autographs, always with a pleasant word or two. Becoming a real Boston fan favorite, not like a few years ago.  This was sort of remarkable in that the TOUR had just instituted a policy prohibiting players from signing while out on the course, instead, directing fans to go to the designated autograph areas.  I believe this will only hurt the PGA TOUR image in the long run if it continues. I much prefer to see fan-friendly interaction, exemplified by Sergio's actions. I also greatly enjoyed having Mary & Amy along for 4 holes, answering lots of questions as this was Amy's first TOUR experience.

As we made the turn at the 1st hole, both Sergio and I checked out the snack tent, where the pickings were sparse.  Sergio commented to me, "All that's left is fruit, that's what I get for having a late tee-time!" I saw his caddy dig something out of his bag for Sergio to nibble on.  We never had more than 50 people in our gallery all day long, which was a shockingly sparse day by FedEx Cup standards, but meant the fans had a great close look at this pro if they could keep up with us.  Sergio finished his round with 15 minutes of signing at the 9th green, no one left unhappy, a real gentleman.