Much more relaxed start as 7:30am meeting allowed for an extra hour's sleep. Got assigned to the Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reed, & Patrick Cantlay group for a 9:15am tee off. Diane would be lead marshal but I was on headset as well to help coordinate communication in our crew of four, including Chris and Scott, both great guys. Chatted a bit with David about the our Pro-Am group, asking if there had been any repercussions from having so many non-players inside the ropes. He hadn't heard anything but appreciated the feedback.
I was shocked at the volunteer tent when I went for my pre-round breakfast, there was absolutely no food! Evidently us volunteers had been eating more than our estimated allotment and catering was in the process of restocking. I used one of my meal vouchers to get a breakfast burrito at the concession stand next door, pretty tasty but not my usual thing, I'm more of a bagel and cream cheese guy. Hoped I wouldn't be paying a price later on.
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| Phil Michelson |
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| 10th tee |
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| Phil |
At the 10th tee, saw Diane and Chris and got going with Phil's group, drawing the largest crowd of the morning, Tiger's group not teeing off until 1:16pm. Had 2,000 walking along in the gallery, enjoying the Phil Show immensely, all smiles, thumbs-up, constantly tipping his cap every time a fan called his name, which was about every 10 seconds. New this year were comments related to his dance moves as seen on a recent commercial, lots of requests shouted out for an on-course demonstration or two. He just smiled. We spent an equal amount of time inside and outside the ropes, attempting to keep the crowd stationary while all three players completed their shots. Most of the time the gallery was cooperative and respectful in this. We'd been briefed at our meeting that Patrick Reed might be the recipient of some heckling as he'd posted a complaint on Twitter about his less than spectacular seats at the RedSox game last night. Not a discouraging word was heard all day, other than some pointedly sarcastic shouts of "Go Sox" thrown his way.
The gallery size varied at the usual spots, down to roughly 1,000 at the distant holes 12-15, then growing again to +2,000 at the stadium-like 16th and through 18, then reduced again at 1 due the distance from the clubhouse. It always grows as you get closer to the 9th hole, in this case the finishing hole of the round. I however didn't get this far in the round as we began hearing about the gallery gathering for Tiger's group, and this was before he'd even teed off. Several of us were being asked to leave our groups if possible to join in the TW adventure. I arranged with Diane to take a break as we reached the 5th &7th greens complex so I could grab lunch while she, Chris, and Scott continued on through 6 and 7 which are always lightly attended. When they got back to the 7th green I rejoined them to assist with the infamous 7-to-8 cart path bridges, which are always a tricky mix of spectators and carts transporting the players and caddies. Once Phil & co. made it through to the 8th tee, I continued walking in and was joined by Tony, also heading in to join us reinforcements. We quickly stopped at the volunteer tent for a bathroom break and an iced coffee, then battled the sea of humanity. We cut over to the 4th tee and walked up to find Karen, Maureen, and others facing a wall-to-wall crowd. I got to walk close to Tiger as he exited the tee walking down 4, his face wearing a wry smile, he was really enjoying this. Tony, Maureen, and I stayed back to catch him and his playing partners Marc Leishman, and Chez Reavie as they made their way back on 5. Maureen was already thinking way ahead, to the 7-to-8 bridges and working out the logistics for handling what must have been +5,000 spectators. We walked on ahead to this area and eventually had 6 or 7 people all waying in on strategic planning. Finally, as the crowds started to build, those trying to keep ahead of Tiger in other words, we sprang into action. I and others spent the next 30 minutes acting as traffic cops, diverting the flow of spectators so as to keep the cart path/bridges clear. There must have been 10 marshals involved altogether in this plan, and we were later told that the 7th green captain said he'd never seen the carts return so quickly. Mission accomplished! It wore me out however, and by this time, there was no catching up to Tiger's group on the 10th tee. When I saw Diane and Karen, I told them I was wiped out and done for the day. They thanked me for my efforts in manning the trouble spots and going where help was most needed.
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