Diary of a PGA marshal

Diary of a PGA marshal

Diary of a PGA marshal

Welcome to the Diary of a PGA TOUR marshal. These entries are taken directly from my journal as a volunteer at PGA TOUR and USGA events, starting with my first day in 2009 and continuing up to the present time. The most recent event is listed at the top, followed by subsequent tournament days in sequential order. You'll also read about some of my golf travel experiences and opinions pieces on the state of professional golf along the way. My intent is to share my experiences and attempt to provide a window into what is otherwise a relatively unknown view of PGA TOUR life, as witnessed by a volunteer marshal, who initially didn't know quite what I was getting involved with, but which has exceeded all of my expectations. Wyn Morton

Sunday

February 10, 2019

I received an email announcing that the USGA website had became active for accepting volunteer applications for the 2020 U.S. Open at Winged Foot.  I emailed my son Brian to let him now that the volunteer lottery system had gone live.  He and I later spoke by phone and he had lots of questions about working at the U.S. Open, and how it might differ from the Dell Championship.  He agreed that he would like to have that experience and we both filled out our applications, designating the 19th Hole Marshals committee as our preferred assignment choice.  We also requested to be designated as roving marshals, if at all possible.  Now begins the long wait to see if our names get selected from the thousands of other volunteer applicants for the very limited number of available marshal assignments.

Two days later, I received an email from David Fierman, sent out to all the Dell Championship mobile marshals, seeking volunteers to work as mobile marshals at The Travelers Championship in June.   I again contacted Brian to see if he was interested working a TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut.  I also contacted Tony Landry to gauge his interest, as we had discussed it at the Dell last summer.  Tony declined, saying he'd have difficulty getting the time off from work.  Brian agreed to sign-up if he could just work the Saturday and Sunday of the tournament.  We both completed the online volunteer applications and I let David know of our plans.