The Travelers Championship    June 19, 2024   Wednesday

Whatever you heard about the 2024 edition of The Travelers Championship, and by that I mean it was a matter of many extremes, is true.  The weather was hellaciously hot.  The thunder storms (2) were biblically brutal and sustained.  Multiple lightning strikes at TPC River Highlands.  The delays in resumption of play were tedious.  The knucklehead protest really did happen and really did NOT destroy what was otherwise a sensational Championship.  And the New England fan base should be exceptionally proud of this tournament, the single largest annual sporting event in the state of Connecticut, which despite its magnitude is able to convey a sense of welcoming family spirit that entices golf's best to attend, immediately after the ballbuster antithesis of the US Open.  

(I'll attempt to apply an edited frame of mind to this installment of the The Travelers Championship, or TTC if you will).

Our 6am Mobile was preceded by some reconnecting with folks, including Big Jim, ex-Marine, who is full of interesting stories, including a recounting of discovering a collection of baseball momentos among his late father's belongings from the NY Polo grounds, plus a 21 year career as a usher at Fenway Park.  Greg Hammond, our Mobiles Chair, assigned me as crew leader for the first ProAm group, Scottie Scheffler, teeing off at 7am, in about 20 minutes!  I felt honored in Greg's confidence in my ability to get right into it with the number 1 player in the OWGR.  (This spot in the ProAm traditionally is reserved for the biggest names, TW especially, back in the day).  Three out of four Mobiles on my crew were experienced, so I only had to focus on our newbie, Cheolun Kim, who I promptly nicknamed "Tom".  He had a somewhat inscrutable reception to this but we went with it.  Instructing him in the nuances of marshaling on the fly were a combination of verbal and hand gestures in this ESL situation, but he was a quick study and did quite well.  Also joining the crew was Cece who I'd had the pleasure of working with at last year's TTC, a delightful personality who is enthusiastic and eager to learn the role of an MA in all its permutations.  Mike, as well, great guy, tons of experience both at the FedEx Cup events in Norton, as well as many events in Florida, both PGA & LPGA, were he's primarily volunteered as a walking scorer.  I told him of my acceptance to the upcoming FM Global LPGA event in August as a scorer, where he will be as well, so he instantly pledged to be my mentor in that new role for me.  Rounding out the crew was Adam, Mobile at both TTC and Norton, but more incredibly, is on a personal quest to run a marathon in all 50-states, and has only four more to go!  This crew made our front 9 holes with Scottie and 3 Ams quite smooth, although we had at least one ball go outside the ropes on every hole, but the morning crowd was pretty light.  Spectators will only hustle to be near a ball of a Pro when its gone astray, but Scottie always landed in the fairway. 

This group was done by 9am, so we had an hour lunch break and then met back at the 10th tee for the Mathieu Pavon group, plus 3 different Ams.  In hindsight, the heat index for our 10:07 am teetime was only 90 degrees, relatively cool compared to what lay ahead!  Trying to stay hydrated was complicated again this year by a ruling from the PGA Tour that teebox coolers supplied with water and ice were for players only.  Additional coolers were placed at about 5 other locations, supplemented by roving carts carrying vitals for volunteers, but it was too spotty, in my opinion.  In normal weather, perfectly adequate, not this week unfortunately. 

Mathieu Pavon proved to be a great golfer to watch, attempting to make a favorable impression with everyone during the ProAm, interacting with spectators in a personable manner.  My crew were just excellent, working both sides of fairways and greens whenever possible, so that we always had someone right there to help locate an off target ball.  "Tim" went above and beyond when he retrieved a lost putter cover and ended up going 2 full holes ahead to track down the owner.  This can only further our image with our paying amateur players and the PGA TOUR.   I think everyone on my crew enjoyed themselves, afterwards they thanked me for the extra training, even though they were all experienced to one degree or another.  

In other circumstances I would have taken a rest break, then gone out for another 9 holes or so, as I did last year with the celebrity group including Bill Murray.  This time though the heat index had reached 98 degrees, plus the celebrity groups weren't must-see in my opinion, (Carson Daly, Doug Flutie, and Chris Berman).  I was back to my sister Shirley's by 2:30 for a shower and a cold one, an unusually early finish.

 Days total:

  16,223 steps 

  6.31 miles

  8 hrs