The Travelers Championship June 22, 2023 Thursday
Now I had 6 hours to kill until we teed off ! I knew I didn't have the legs to walk an additional 9 holes with one of the morning groups, but four holes sounded doable and I wanted to see Max Homa & Wyndham Clark so I joined their group, playing with JT as well. Drawing the largest gallery on this chilly Thursday definitely meant a little extra help was needed for these guys. We'd heard at our meeting that the Travelers system of corporate sponsorship for individual holes had fallen on hard times, resulting in only 9 holes having a sufficient number of marshals, the remaining 9 needing as much marshaling help as they could get from the general volunteer pool. That's where us Mobile's were most effective.
I also tried to use up some of my morning by offering to work at the player practice area, but encountered a rather disappointing reconfiguration of that entire set-up, removing the grandstand for the gallery and physically locating the players further from the crowds, "for security reasons". This was further made plain to me when I was initially denied access by security officials, until the area captain could be summoned so I could offer my help to him directly. He allowed me access down to the practice area, but didn't need my help as he had lots of volunteers from local high school golf teams. Very nice fellow, we stood and chatted for a half hour about all things PGA, so it wasn't time wasted.
At the first tee I was surprised by how large the gallery was for a Thursday, at least 500 people clustered around, all in top voice for Rickie, (Colin and Matt to a lesser extent). I was still getting used to the nuances of TPC River Highlands, determining which side of each hole was the most accessible for walking on this very hilly and steeply sided course. I was still learning how to best get from point A-B-C. Thankfully all four of my guys were experienced mobiles so they knew were they were going and where to best position themselves as we went hole to hole. Having at least two marshals in a forward position was optimal so that we could be on the scene quickly for any ball landing outside the ropes. I stayed back walking with the players most of the round. It was nice having a highly skilled crew today, no newbies to train, not that I mind that, but the opposite is a real pleasure too. Part of my job today was taking care of my boys, tracking down the isolated water sources which had been strategically placed at 4-5 tee boxes, for volunteer use only. New this year, the PGA had decreed that no water was to be taken from the coolers on every tee, reserved for players only. I abided by this rule but there were times when we needed a drink on the back 9 and had to radio in for a volunteer services cart delivery.
I want to go into a little extra detail here in describing what happened at the 15th hole when Rickie Fowler hit his shot way right on this drivable par-4. The 15th presents an odd configuration in that spectators can't walk from the 15th green to the 16th tee due to the presence of the lake which borders 15, 16, and 17. I decided that we wouldn't all go down 15, just sending one of our crew, David, ahead just in case. The rest of us headed over to the 16th. From here, I observed Rickie's drive go way offline right up into the trees, behind a portable scoreboard. David had his hands full trying to organize a chute for Rickie to exit the wooded hillside, which was covered with spectators. Meanwhile, I could see a single hole marshal was trying in vain to persuade a solid line of fans sitting along the rope the entire length of the fairway to create a gap for Rickie's shot. No one was moving. Even though we are advised not to cross a fairway, that is exactly what I did in order to come to the aid of the hole marshal, reinforcing him in having the fans pick up their chairs and create a sufficiently wide enough gap. Some folks grumbled a bit but it had to be done. Smile on my face but firm tone in my voice, "Sorry folks, we need to clear some space here". Rickie successfully hit onto the green and came down through, caddie in tow. They ducked under the rope I was holding up for them and said "Thank you". The hole marshal and I released the crowd, who quickly moved all of their seats back in place on this tight hillside cart path. He then came up to me and thanked me as well, "they just wouldn't move for me!'' I said to David that he really saved the day by being right there for a quick response to Rickie's wayward drive. All in a day's work.
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