I delayed my start out to Shinnecock a bit in response to the email warning us about traffic delays. As is turned out, there was minimal traffic on the Sunrise Highway eastbound, heading away from NYC at 8AM, followed by a 35 minute bus ride to the course. On arriving, I walked directly to the volunteer pavilion and got a cup of coffee, a bagel, and an apple. Nice when they provide us volunteers with a decent breakfast in a pleasant and roomy atmosphere, lots of flat screen tv's even. I then went next door to the volunteer HQ and met the 19th hole committee chairman, who welcomed me and signed me in on his list, noting the designation of "forward marshal'' beside my name. I asked about my assignment as a ''forward marshal'' but he had no info relating to this particular job for a 19th hole volunteer. He explained further that all 4 of the walking marshals had already been assigned to the marquee groups for the day, (Phil, Rory, and Jordan in the morning, and Tiger, DJ, and Justin Thomas in the afternoon). He said he'd see what he could do about scheduling me to walk tomorrow, the same groups going out but switching AM-PM starting times. As an aside, he curiously mentioned the system was in ''complete chaos''. I was a bit concerned that my forward marshal designation was going to take some back channel networking on my part. To that end, I eventually heard another marshal coordinator speaking with the 2 walking marshals about to head out with Tiger's group this afternoon. I introduced myself to Andy and explained my desire to be designated as a forward marshal tomorrow if possible. He said to arrive an hour before my designated shift just to be sure that the arrangement could be made.
I sat in HQ for an hour, noticing a guy (Tom) who was obviously some sort of Captain for the 19th hole marshal bullpen, receiving requests on his headset then announcing to the those of us waiting if we'd like to volunteer for such-and-such assignments, (''they need a couple of marshals at the 8th hole crosswalk'' was typical). I began chatting with him and he was curious about my marshaling experience both at US Opens and DBC/DTC. He said I could handle any marshal assignment, so what would I like to do? "Maybe you could just go out and freelance at the greens where they might need some help". I thought "great", I can see where I'm needed and fill in the gaps. I headed over to the first tee, immediately beside the clubhouse and began working the chute and crosswalk where players were having to negotiate a narrow corridor with fans packed 10 deep behind the rope. The place was an absolute madhouse with fans, security, photographers, and USGA personnel jammed together. The first tee Captain was great, with an excellent crew of marshals who were having to manage this crosswalk without having a riot on their hands. When Tiger's group approached, we heard them before we saw them as the crowd went nuts shouting. Justin Thomas and Dustin Johnson walked through the chute and onto the tee, looking relaxed and fist-bumping everyone on the way. Then Tiger arrived, to the sound of over a thousand people shouting his name. As he walked by me, my reaction was that he did not look like he was having any fun! His face looked downright haggard. There was no energy in his affect. He almost appeared nervous.
I walked inside the ropes with this group through the first 4 holes, seeing the course for the first time and getting a feel for the whole US Open atmosphere. The severity of the rough was astonishing, knee high fescue which would be nearly impossible to hit from. I remember worrying that we were going to spend a lot of time helping players look for any stray balls that landed in this stuff. Shinnecock is a beast, listed as the fourth best course in America, (behind only Pebble Beach, Augusta National, and Cypress Point). It is a classic seaside links design with hardly a tree in sight. The wind was blowing at least 20 mph and I recall thinking I couldn't break 125 on this stark wild layout. I was having a terrific time marshaling just inside the ropes, the gallery huge but largely respectful toward these 3 top players. It couldn't last.
At the 5th hole, an area Captain spoke to me and said I didn't have the proper color coded credential for being inside the ropes. Who knew? I explained my situation but he said without the credential, I needed to remain at fixed areas on the course, not walking with the players. He assigned me to work a crosswalk on this hole, for about an hour, whereupon I was subsequently relieved by other marshals permanently assigned to the fifth hole. No problem. The USGA now has so many marshals on each hole that extra 19th hole marshals are often unnecessary. I decided it was time for my lunch break so I stopped at the nearby concession stand for what is the traditional volunteer marshal meal, grilled chicken sandwich with lettuce and tomato, iced tea, and a double chocolate brownie. That'll keep me going!
From here I calculated that Tiger's afternoon group would have an enormous gallery following along, so I went ahead to the 13th green, looked up the hole Captain and offered my services to help marshal, in anticipation of the massive crowd following TW, DJ, and JT. He readily agreed and assigned me to the green for added marshaling support. When Tiger got to the green, he unfortunately 4-putted, going +2 for the hole. I felt like my man TW was blowing it and I internally wished he could hold on to make the cut.
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| Tiger unfortunately 4-putting |
After 13, I walked over to the 16th green to marshal a complex set-up, with players teeing off on 17 while others were putting on 16. A classic situation where massive crowds influenced the play in a US Open due to the close proximity of a green/tee complex on this classic old style course set-up. The 17th hole marshal at the tee was basically alone in attempting to keep play under control. He was really happy to have my support to keep the fans quiet and in control while the TW group completed play on the 16th green. From there I walked up to the 18th green, found the Captain, and offered my assistance. He said he definitely needed me alongside the green so I marshaled there as TW, DJ, and JT came up. Always great to witness such top players give their all to stay in contention at the US Open.
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