While getting breakfast at the volunteer pavilion, I ran into my buddy Ben who I met at the training session. He asked how the prom went and was treating me pretty much as an equal in being part of the walking scorers team which implied he could tell I was doing pretty well. He reassured me that the time will come when mistakes are made, “we all do“ at the scorers tent. I got my assignment, Matsuyama and Echevarria. I met my bearer partner Tom 830 something guy who works at travelers as a software engineer, has two kids and lives in old Saybrook. Turned out to be a great guy, we talked throughout the entire round, but had to limit our conversation, sometimes secondary to the potential for distraction from the exact job at hand with scoring. It’s always so nice to have each player and their caddie come up to you and introduce himself and shake hands, both of them greeting us in English actually. I was admittedly a bit anxious at the first tea being on my own for scoring, but settled by the second hole into a step-by-step rhythm, recording each, and every shot for each player. A typical shot sequence involves making at least a six step process. Eventually, it felt like triggering the release button on the device for each ball. Strike was an integral part of the golfers experience on the course. It was an incredible experience to be in walking near the players from T box to green on every hole, hearing the player-caddie comments to strategize each shot. Unfortunately, with this pairing, they were speaking Japanese or Spanish to each other! The feeling I got was you developed tunnel vision, and screen out the gallery and any distractions so that you have a focus for what amounts to about 140 separate shot entries. Throughout around.
It was nice to have four of my family in attendance who I briefly encountered at the fourth hole and then again at the 17th Green. In each instance, they had to call out to me to get my attention as I was completely focused on scoring.. Couldn’t linger for a chat as play continues without a break.
After we finished the round, it was nice to be thanked in person by both caddies and Echevarria, and we received the traditional signed golf balls, both me and Tom. Tom and I then got a ride from the Clubhouse back to the scorers tent where I spoke with Nick and Mike, that chairman, about not being on the schedule for tomorrow I was told I will be assigned to a 1030 group Saturday and if I wanted, I could be on the bullpen tomorrow, just show up between 630 and 7 AM. With this in mind, I checked with Greg Hammond, the Mobile Ambassadors Chair chair about the possibility of working as a MA Friday if my services were not needed for scoring. He was more than happy to agree to receiving my help and to let him know tomorrow about my status.
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