The Presidents Cup   September 29, 2017    Liberty National Golf Club   Jersey City, NJ

I applied to be a "Roving Marshal" at the 2017 Presidents Cup (PC) over one year in advance, thinking at the time that it would be a long shot at best.  I expected this to be second only to the Ryder Cup in sheer numbers of applicants who would sign-up to be selected from the online lottery.  I was happy to be selected, and very excited about being a walking marshal, a committee which had been sorely needed at the 2016 Ryder Cup.  Having been a "Mobile Marshal" for so many years at the DBC/DTC I early on contacted the overall marshal committee chairperson to discuss how a similar committee could work at the PC.  This was well received at first, then, no further response for months.   Reality set-in when I began receiving a series of emails which ultimately demonstrated that the responsibilities of the roving marshal committee were evolving drastically.  Here's an excerpt from one of the emails:

''Roving Marshals are responsible for crowd control outside of roped off areas throughout the course. They include walkways for PGA TOUR player movement, escorting Pros from tees to greens, and supporting landing areas for errant shots. In working in this roving position at the Presidents Cup, it will not be a typical Roving Committee where you are assigned to one group throughout the day because of the Match Play format. Roving marshals will only walk ahead of matches to landing areas for errant shots, but not Tees and Greens as there are many people with each group already. Roving Marshals will also make sure there is a smooth transition from Greens to Tees but there will be times where they will help in areas of congestion to support crowd control, movement, and other areas of need, which may not necessarily be near matches.''

This description is confusing and logistically impossible. It is contradictory in its definition of the roving marshal duties.  Later emails were received which attempted to clarify our duties, but only seemed to be searching for something for us to do as we really weren't going to be "roving" after all:

''There are no “Travel Teams” at the Presidents Cup. We will have a major task in making sure the players can transition between greens and tees without spectator interference. 

This is a unique venture in that is unlike any other tournament most of us have been involved with. We as a group, are tasked with making sure the gallery moves throughout the course effectively and safely. 
Each morning a certain number of Rovers will be assigned to man specific cross walks as the crowds file in and will be replaced as the Marshals arrive for their duties on each hole. Each Rover will then have a break before moving on to their next assignment, which will be given to you when you arrive.''

Okay, except there would be no way of actually contacting us out on the course to give us our "next assignment" as we weren't being issued headsets.  At best, we had the cell phone number of our committee chairman to contact for direction.  In addition, although we'd been requested to provide our preferences for AM and PM shifts, in reality, we were informed that roving marshals don't have shifts but are expected to report to their assigned crosswalk positions 1 hour before the gates opened. This meant that Saturday's assigned oncourse starting time was 5:30am!  I guess a number of people protested when I received this email:

''We wish to thank all of you for your patience as we start the scheduling process for the tournament.   With the exception of Saturday, all shifts are single shifts. Saturday is a two shift day due to the early starting times.   The secret to being a Rover is to be flexible and have fun. ''

So by now it was apparent this was a committee that had been kept in place but with nowhere near its original intention. It was with this overall limited job description that I arranged my travel plans and accommodations for Jersey City.  I was happy to find out that hotels hadn't sold out or become outrageously expensive. Remember, a ''volunteer'' has to pay all expenses for the privilege.  Fortunately, they're tax deductible due the significant charitable contributions of the PGA TOUR.  Thank heaven for my Waze app to guide me to the Liberty National site as the metro highway system is a nightmare. 

On arrival, I was immediately struck by two things, what a site, with the NYC skyline  and the Statue of Liberty, so close as to seem reachable with a 7-iron, and two, this was unlike any other golf course I'd ever seen, from the airport-terminal style clubhouse, to the tournament set-up for the massive crowds expected, to the remote location of the volunteer HQ.

My mid-morning arrival at the HQ was met with a vacant marshals desk so I had no direction but to grab a bagel and coffee from the ample breakfast set-up and sit near the entrance.  I was soon greeted by my friends from DBC/DTC, David and Maureen who joined me for breakfast.   It was great having familiar faces in a strange place, people who are expert marshals and totally familiar with what it takes to operate a first class tournament.  It was immediately apparent that both David and Maureen felt this was a classic one-off, most of the volunteers doing this event for the first time, and would never again be called upon to sort-out the details.  We're spoiled by the well-oiled machine that has been developed for the DBC/DTC and are super-conscious of tournament play that falls short of our standards.  We discussed the "roving marshal" situation and lamented how it had changed over time, evidently, they had initially been interested in signing up for this committee as well but had been selected to captain the 17th and 18th holes instead.  I headed off to my assignment at the third hole cross-walk and met with the other roving marshal at the adjacent crosswalk. 

Liberty is this close

 I actually had a very pleasant time for a couple hours directing the spectators as they came into the course from the nearby main entrance, seeking directions. In my two-hour stint at this location, I must have been asked over 100+ questions from spectators, "What hole is this, how do I get to the first hole, what is the difference between foursomes and fourball play, how should we watch the tournament, (where are the best spots?).   As I had never been to this golf course before it was fun looking at the course map with the patrons trying to learn the course layout together. After I was relieved of my duties by the 3rd hole marshal, and since I had no new assignment, I decided to become a roving marshal and rove along with the matches as they progressed along through fourball play.  At the nearby fourth hole crosswalk, I ran into Rick, one of my good buddies from DBC/DTC, sporting his mirrored red, white, & blue sunglasses, looking sharp Rick! Chatted a bit and he pointed out two other fellow marshals Gino and Pam on this hole, all from the Travelers and FedEx Cup events.  

It was immediately apparent that my roving marshaling was needed, as by now the galleries were sizable and becoming vocal.  I was pleasantly surprised at the general respect the home crowd was giving to the International team, but it was early.  Along with the four players in each of the five matches, there were captains and assistant captains, wives & girlfriends (wag's), media commentators, TV crews, photographers, PGA personnel, riding in carts or walking along, all inside the ropes.  At least 30 people accompanying each match.  The fans constantly called out to people they recognized, trying to get a reaction or establish a connection, if just for a second.  Everyone wants to feel that Phil Mickelson looked right at them and gave a thumbs-up just for them.  For the most part the fans responded to us marshals when we raised our arms for the all quiet signal.  

Canadian Fanatics

I accompanied the first match (Jordan Spieth & Patrick Reed vs Hideki Matsuyama & Adam Hadwin) as far as the 9th green where I met up with Karen, my third friend from DBC/DTC who was captain of this hole.  We embraced and then got right to work as this was a very busy place, the green ringed by crowds 10 people deep. The job was complicated by a combination cart-path and exit chute leading to the 10th tee.  Karen had a couple hole marshals already handling this area but she was ecstatic to have a veteran arrive for reinforcement.  Lots of fans had been ducking under the rope apparently, trying to make their way up to the huge corporate pavilion overlooking the green.  As each match exited the green, the fans went nuts cheering them on as they passed by, reaching out for a fist-bump and nearly passing out when successful.  As the final match exited (Dustin Johnson & Brooks Koepka vs Adam Scott & Jhonattan Vegas), I said goodbye to Karen and joined the players to continue on with my roving duties.  The next hole, the short par-3 tenth is a signature hole with the skyline and Liberty seemingly right there, distracting in a way.  At the 12th green I witnessed a near mishap when Internationals assistant captain Mike Weir and 3 wags riding in his cart almost flipped while attempting to take the hill.  He had his passengers bailout while three of us helped give him a push, wheels spinning. Someone in the grandstand yelled, "Canadians can't drive!" which I thought was a bit rude.  I accompanied this match to its conclusion on the 15th hole, basking in the crowd roaring for DJ and Brooks, winning 3&2.  What a day, the USA team was ahead 8 to 2, with the International team taking a pounding.