The Travelers Championship   June 23. 2024   Sunday

Thankgoodness I awoke in time to check my email at 5:45am, received notification from Greg announcing our 7am meeting had been moved to 6:30.  The PGA TOUR had decided on a reconfiguration of the tee times, as well as grouping players in threesomes in order to finish by 3pm, hopefully before any T-storms erupted. I had to hustle a bit to pack up and depart the Hotel Bednarek, luckily zero traffic at that hour so made it to TPC River Highlands with 10 minutes to spare.  Got assigned to the third to last group, JT, Lowry, and Finau.  Wished I'd gotten Scheffler, Bhatia, and Kim, in part to compensate for our abbreviated round yesterday.  I'd also marshaled JT and Lowry earlier in the week and was a bit surprised at the repeat.   Nice to only wait until 10:53.  Got breakfast and sat in the volunteer villa to watch the weather and get some details about yesterday's lightning strike, which had occurred just off the 5th tee, injuring 3.  I was initially overjoyed that the overcast sky was keeping it at 80 degrees, but that ended by tee time when we were at 90.  Once again my neck wrap loaded with ice at every other tee box saved me.  My Mobile Ambassador crew of Nick and Paul were both experienced guys so needed no coaching, making for a smooth day.  My attention was focused a bit on our "Honorary Observers", two pleasant gents originally from Eastern Europe.  In my experience, Honorary's initially follow the few directives: remaining within arms length of the rope and at a discrete distance from the players, but then tend to migrate closer to the action, even walking across greens and fairways.  These two however were terrific, very knowledgeable about golf and today's leaderboard, and always checked in with me if they had a question about where they should be positioned.   

My nephew Adam met me at the 4th tee, always a bit of a pleasant surprise when you hear your name being called by someone in the gallery.  Chatted ever so briefly, but I had to keep moving along with the players, which is always difficult for my friends to keep up while they move through a congested gallery.  I texted him later to see how the rest of his day went at TTC.  He'd followed Scottie's group mostly and had a great time until the weather got to be too much.

 I rarely saw my small crew of two throughout this round, which I view as a good sign; they're experienced and know where to go to be the most effective.  An unobtrusive marshal is the best kind. They'd briefly touch base with me so we could keep organized on each hole for optimal positioning.  Paul was especially adept, as he had been lead on several occasions.  

We were later joined at the turn by two last minute additional Honorary's, who I asked if they'd received any instruction on the inside the ropes protocol.  Shockingly, No!  I half jokingly instructed them to just "Just follow these other Honorary's, they're great, fully trained", to which one of the original guys replied, "Hey, I'm just following you"!  At times I directed them to the best viewing spots, and they were very appreciative. The back nine was a pleasure to have them along.

(Photos by Adam Mitchell)

At the 11th tee, I raided the semi-hidden volunteer cooler and snack bin, nearly chugging a water and grabbing another to go, also retrieving 2 Clif bars which got me through the back 9. I had an incident at the 12th tee where I quickly shut the crosswalk rope to avoid the lengthy wait for players as the gallery leisurely traversed the long cart path. The hole captain took exception to my actions, stating he doesn't close the gate until the final player's putt drops.  The problem was the 100' walk for the players to the tee took far less time than the longer 500' walk for the gallery to get to the other side, resulting in an unnecessary wait.  Anyway, he wasn't happy that I'd stepped to close the gate, Oh well!  Not trying to throw my weight around as a Mobile Ambassador, just trying to streamline pace of play for the players.  

I again decided to implement the 15 --> 17 route, skipping 16, which was fine except we missed Finau's tee shot into the lake which took him out of the lead and dashed his hopes for a win at TTC.  I guess it was  another one of those moments when I'd decided to move ahead of my assigned player group, only to miss a game-changing moment for them in the tournament, (Mickelson at the 13th green at Shinnecock in 2018 comes to mind).  I gradually worked my way over to the 17th fairway, watching the Aberg/Hoge/Swenson and Cantlay/Yound/Pavon groups go by.  Our group was next on the tee, up the hill 300 yards away, whereupon JT struck a drive that narrowly missed the hole marshal sitting alongside the 17th fairway.  He was okay, and received some kind words from JT when he arrived on scene.  Along with Paul and the 2 hole marshals present, we moved the crowd back a bit so JT could hit his 2nd shot to the green. He voiced his appreciation for our efforts.  

At the 18th tee, I had to reposition my Honoraries at this narrow chute so they wouldn't get killed by a slightly errant tee shot, they were most appreciative about my concern.  We walked our group to the 18th green to finish up, the excitement palpable for an epic finish.  Nick and Paul exited but I remained at the traditional clubhouse side of the grand amphitheater, along with some of my fellow Mobiles.  We hadn't received the usual directive to remain at 18 for added marshaling support, nor had a rope been issued to potentially string across the fairway behind the final group for gallery control.  A playoff was becoming increasingly likely, which would have been a nightmare if fans had to be cleared from the 18th fairway.

 

Scottie Scheffler, Tom Kim, & Akshay Bhatia approached 18 to a tidal wave of cheers, nice to see each one receiving an ovation.  It was quite the electric situation, Scottie in the lead by one stroke.

 Then out of the crowd emerged five protestors carrying smoke bombs and bags of red and white powder, which they dumped on the green in a mis-guided effort to bring the proceedings to a halt.  They were immediately subdued and handcuffed by the police who had been surrounding the green, and unceremoniously marched off the premises.  I won't further publicize their message which was emblazoned on their shirts.  Suffice to say that it's a huge stretch to draw a connection between their "cause" and a PGA TOUR event.  The players were rightfully stunned by this interruption of play but once things settled down, it was terrific to see the focus that both Scottie and Tom brought to their climactic putts, Kim especially, able to pull off a birdie and head to a playoff. They went off to the scoring area, then were taken via carts back to the tee on 18.  While all this was happening, the green was cleaned of this powder-like substance via blowers and towels, but since enough remained near the hole, the decision was made by the PGA to cut a new one, in record time.   I received texts from a few friends watching on TV, asking "What the heck was that.  Protestors on 18, that's crazy?!"  Evidently the video feed had been cut soon after the protestors entered the picture.  I gave as detailed description as I could my incredulous buddies. 

The outcome of the playoff was more or less decided when Kim hit into the greenside bunker.  Kind of a toss-up for me as I would have been happy with either player coming out on top.

Sunday Steps  15,481    Miles  5.91    Hours on site  11.0  

 

Total stats for 2024 Travelers Championship

Steps  84,243

Miles  31.76

Hours on site  50.5

Players 8

Crew members  13

  

         

 The Travelers Championship   June 22, 2024   Saturday

Again weather played a major part in today's proceedings, resulting unfortunately in an abbreviated experience walking inside the ropes with the top player in the world.  I was assigned to Scottie Scheffler and Akshay Bhatia at our 7am meeting, my crew consisting of 2 experienced Mobiles, Julia and Dan, who would need no training other than some strategizing for the best coverage hole by hole, recognizing where we were needed and not duplicating the roles of the hole marshals already in position.  

I was able to successfully transfer some guest passes to my nephew Adam and his friend Justin for Sunday.  Still finding the digital ticketing process complicated, but big thanks to Jeff for his help.  An even bigger thanks to him for swapping my radio earpiece to something more comfortable.  Jeff, you are a master technical wizard!  

Scottie and Akshay didn't tee off until 1:50pm, the second to last group for the day, both having a great championship so far.  The round started out with what seemed to be an abnormally high amount of heckling directed toward Scottie, most of it indecipherable, some references to his recent arrest could be heard.  Makes you wonder why someone would be impelled to bellow such nonsense at a professional sporting event, when everyone else in the gallery can hear and see who is being such a nitwit.  I spoke with the police officer accompanying our group; he seemed unfazed, stating the inebriated knuckleheads generally aren't able to keep up the walking pace with the players, especially in the heat, and end up just parked near a watering hole.  

I found myself marveling at Bhatia's play, especially given his 130 pound physique, hitting 300 yard drives in his attempt to keep up with Scottie.  'Shay is an excellent guy to be close to inside the ropes as well.  Scottie's game is outstanding as everyone knows, but to have the privilege of witnessing it, and playing a small part in facilitating the optimal playing environment is beyond words.  We only got to spend 8 holes with them, however, as the hazardous weather horn blew at 3:30.  Thankfully, carts were right behind #8 green, so the players, caddies, and cops were quickly transported back to the clubhouse.  We had a blessedly short walk to the volunteer villa, which actually felt too cold, so I sat outside and was joined by my crew from yesterday, the 3 C's!  They seemed to be still buzzing from our experience.  We were all checking our weather apps, the yellow-orange storm stretched clear across the map looking pretty intense.  I told them all we're about to get slammed, so I headed for my car, sprinting the last hundred yards as it intensified.  Spent the next 2 hours waiting it out through heavy rain, wind, lightning, thunder, and another tornado warning, monitoring my radio for notification of resumption of play. I finally texted Greg when play resumed as 6:40 to see if my services were still needed, but there were relatively few spectators remaining, so no need for gallery marshaling.

 

Today's total:

14,349 steps

5.3 miles

10.5 hours at TCC

 

   

 The Travelers Championship    June 21, 2024  Friday

At our 6am Mobiles meeting, (tee times having been moved up by the PGA Tour due to impending weather), I chatted with Adam, who completed his first assignment as a lead yesterday.  He commented on how much radio chatter there was in his ear throughout the round, who knew?  He enjoyed the experience, and is certainly qualified to be lead in the future.  I also spoke with Jim, who was still semi-exhausted from yesterdays heat, as was I. My assignment as lead today was for the 12:50 group, Wyndham Clark and Jordan Spieth. Greg apologized for giving me such a late tee time, plus a crew of 3 rookie Mobiles, but they turned out to be a terrific group.  Corey and his wife Cat, along with Corey's brother Craig made up a family affair of thirty-somethings who were quick studies and great personalities.  Craig was unmerciful in teasing his sister-in-law Cat throughout the round, which was hysterical.  

(How do I use up the next 6 hours until out teetime? Had breakfast, sat in my car, sat at 1st tee borrowing a marshals chair and chatting them up, walked a few holes with the Tom Kim group but wasn't really marshaling since I sat at a few shady spots, trying to conserve my energy, 84 degrees at 9am. Went back to my car and moved into a shady spot but it was still too hot to take a nap, grabbed lunch and sat at the Barbados pavilion chatting with the staff and a standard bearer seated nearby). 

Finally, at 12:30 I met up with my crew, the Three-C's as they called themselves, at the first tee and briefed them on details of marshaling on the fly, as differentiated from hole marshaling, which they had all previously done, as well as shot-link. They were full of energy and enthusiasm and were psyched!  With 10 minutes to go, I received word via head-set that we would be joined by the Governor of Connecticut, Ned Lamont, along with a security detail of unspecified number.  Radio speculation instantly began as to how many holes the Gov would last walking in this heat, 5 being the highest prediction.  Ultimately he and his party vanished after three holes.  His presence didn't affect our job at all as his group were pretty  low key, walking at a discrete distance inside the rope.  I had an interesting experience early in the round, near the 2nd hole green, as a ball came over the hill, and rolled up the cart path near my feet.  I actually recognized it as belonging to JT, a Callaway with 4 marked dots.  Fans instantly began to crowd around, but were great in allowing JT and his caddie to approach and direct us all as to their preference for relief from the path and taking a drop.  I had to remain here throughout these proceedings while my crew continued on with Clark and Spieth on #3.  Once I caught up to them on 4, I knew they were a competent bunch as they'd kept going, and didn't need constant directions from me.  

Wyndham Clark was having a fantastic round, -6 for the day, with the weather beginning to turn thankfully with a light rain and clouds to dissipate some of the heat.  Even so, we still baked on the back 9, a portion of the course, holes 12-13-14 which I dubbed the Sahara Desert due to the heat.  By the 15th hole, I was getting weather updates from Maureen, the PGA Tour's threat of a lightning cell moving in our direction, condition "yellow" now upped to "red".  The horn blew at 4:11 and we were directed to escort our players to the awaiting evacuation vans, of which there were none in this area.  Clark and Spieth were thankfully picked up by carts, so our job was done while we went into weather delay mode.  We stood under the 17th grandstand archway, us and about 50 fans, who'd been advised to evacuate the stands above, being predominantly metal structures.  It was an opportunity to talk at length with these three very interesting people, as well as share stories about our previous PGA experiences.  We eventually made our way back to the volunteer village and waited it out, the assumption being we would eventually head back out.  It was a wild time with the rain, thunder, and lightning pounding this canvas sided temporary structure.  A tornado threat caused us to begin cracking jokes about getting carried away in the storm.  The PGA Tour provided updates every half hour, at 5, 5:30, 6, but I questioned if there would even be any spectators left out there to marshal.  I finally got Greg to release use from duty at 6:30, and promptly thanked Corey, Cat, and Craig for their services above and beyond the normal call of duty.  Despite the weather we'd had, they said their experience was tremendous!

Total for day:

20,308 steps

7.37 miles

12.5 hours on site