Day 3   September 6, 2015   DBC   Sunday

Met up with my good friend and regular Wednesday golf partner Tom who was volunteering for today and tomorrow's rounds.  He'd also been a mobile marshal in 2013 and really enjoyed it.  We were assigned to Matt Jones and Kevin Chappell, playing in the second to last pairing of the day,   close to the lead and bound to draw a sizable gallery.  We would be positioned immediately in front of Rickie Fowler's group, the DBC leader.

I'd decided to wear my fluorescent green Nike Airmax running shoes, making a serious fashion statement, for which I was prepared to take a lot of grief.  The reaction was over-whelmingly positive from my fellow marshals as well as spectators throughout the day.  Our Mobile Marshals Co-leader David kiddingly told me at one point the he'd received word from a few players who said the shoes were a distraction on the golf course; Phil Michelson asked that I remove them.  Way more comfortable than my walking boots.

I introduced Tom to some of my marshal friends over breakfast, then afterwards we headed up to the range to hang out until our teetime.  We ran into our friends Mike and Chris who were there for the day as spectators; Mike was a mobile marshal in 2013.  Back at the volunteer tent for our 2nd breakfast we ran into Jim, a former mobile marshal who now works the DBC as an NBC TV spotter.  Very interesting assignment, inside the ropes, providing info to the broadcast crew throughout the round.

Our round with Chappell and Jones went very well, starting out at the first tee with about 100 fans, building gradually during the afternoon to a couple hundred, very manageable by Tom, Darin, and myself.  It was a fairly hot day, with varying amounts of fatigue as the round wore on.  I've learned I have to keep an eye on Tom to hydrate.  We had a few instances of errant balls going outside of the ropes but we made a good team working with the hole marshals to drop the ropes, move the crowd, and try to keep everyone still while they stood so close to the player.  Thankfully, the fans are always on their best behavior when standing less than 10 feet away.  The 18th hole was packed as usual, people crowding 10-deep along the ropes, as were the hospitality pavilions and grandstand at this time of day.  We smoothly escorted our players through all this, to the scoring area, no autographs, so we were done for the day.

We went directly to the volunteer appreciation dinner held on the grounds of TPC Boston.  It was set-up with a buffet and bar, plenty of seating, which was nice since we'd just walked at least 6 miles.  After dinner, a surprise guest appeared, Brandt Sneaker, who gave a very gracious speech, thanking us volunteers.  Its nice to hear that the players recognize all of our combined efforts in making the DBC come to life each and every year.  He then posed for photos with us all, another nice gesture.

Day 2  September 5, 2015   Saturday   DBC

At the assignment meeting, met up with my old friend Pat from Connecticut, as well as Melinda, Queen of the autograph signing area, and Rick who's been doing this forever, at DBC and the Traveler's in CT.  All great people.  I got assigned as the lead marshal for Rickie Fowler's group, including Jason Bohn and Sangmoon Bae, teeing off at 9:30am.  This was ideal as it allowed us a leisurely breakfast and didn't involve lots of waiting around.
At the first tee, I checked with the hole captain to see where he might need some extra help in crowd control.  He directed us toward a group of about six guys standing directly behind the tee and up in the grandstand, all with breakfast beers in hand, loudly calling out to the golfers and their caddies standing at the tee.  Melinda and I took up positions nearby, inside the rope, whereupon one of the guys said, "Uh-oh, here comes the no-talking police", which drew a laugh from everyone.  We gave them our best smiles just so they knew we were there to keep it respectable for the players without getting too serious about it all.  They kept up their give-and-take with Rickie & Co., but quieted down when play began, which was great.  The fans at DBC are almost always aware of the need to allow the golfers to play without interference.
We had a pretty good size morning gallery, around 200 people to start, which grew throughout the round to over 500.   Our round went very smoothly, my crew of 4 veteran mobile marshals working well together, spacing ourselves correctly and always adjusting our positions to where we were needed the most, hole-by-hole.  Thankfully the weather was great, 80 degrees, unlike the pro-am oven.  We did our best to minimize the use of cellphone cameras, in accordance with PGA TOUR regulations, especially Melinda, who engaged lots of fans in a good-natured way.  To be honest, I saw over 50% of the fans holding phones as we walked along inside the ropes, which means we're fighting a losing battle in attempting to enforce the no-picture policy.  We do our best under the circumstances.

We eventually accompanied our players from the 18th green, to the scoring and interview areas beneath the TPC clubhouse, then waited at the autograph area for Rickie to return.  In the meantime, Jim Furyk emerged from the clubhouse to do some signing, so we bracketed him as he made his way down the line, fans standing 5-6 deep, to have him sign hats, flags, programs, balls, etc.  At one point a small boy asked him, "Mr. Furyk, if you could have any super power, what would it be?"  Without missing a beat, he replied, "Invisible", which drew lots of laughs from the crowd.  I told him that was the quote of the day.  Rickie eventually emerged, the crowd reacting as if a rock-star was in their midst.  It was a challenge for Melinda and I to manage this frenzy, thankfully we were reinforced by 2 security staff and well as a Norton police officer.  Melinda is at her absolute best in this environment, I can only take so much of it.  It always reinforces my belief that the pros don't get enough acknowledgement about their work with the fans, to be so gracious under these trying circumstances.
 

The 2015 Deutsche Bank Championship   Thursday Pro-Am    September 3, 2015

Up and on my way at 4:15am to arrive at TPC Boston by 6:00am, in the dark, an ungodly time of day, but filled with the excitement of starting our annual get-together with people from all walks of life who serve as mobile marshals at the DBC.  Began the process of getting caught up with old acquaintances who I'd met over the last 7 years of volunteering.  Great seeing David, Karen, Maureen, Tony, Jack, Jim, & Diane again.  Got assigned to Rory McIlroy for his 12:20pm teetime.  There was an instant buzz in the air as DBC had decided to group the three biggest names in the game, with Jason Day and Jordan Spieth teeing off at noon and 12:10pm respectively, right in front of our group.   To pass the time, I volunteered to marshal for Rickie Fowler's group, going off at 7:30am.  Had a blast working with the lead marshal Jim, who is an Eddie Murphy-type guy, the unofficial ambassador of DBC.  We had a group of 4 mobile marshals, including James and Joe who all worked well together and needed minimal direction.  Ricky Fowler was excellent with the gallery, signing autographs and posing for pictures, but a tad less exuberant than in 2011 when I'd last worked with him during the pro-am.  Then he was brand new to the PGA Tour and the hot young stud.  He's still that, judging by how many hundreds of fans I saw dressed in regulation Rickie traffic-cone orange.  If anything, he has a bigger presence than back then.  His amateur partners were in awe as well, resulting in less than spectacular golf shots occasionally, but having a great time nonetheless.  It means a bit of extra work for us marshals, finding duffed balls outside the ropes or in the rough. The ams are always so appreciative of our help, with profuse thanks.  At times I collected 1 or 2 of Rickie's broken tees, and handed them to little kids at the rope for a souvenir.  Our group was joined for a short while by Jacques Brand, CEO of Deutsche Bank. Seemed like a nice fellow, walking along with his sons while chatting with Rickie.  I left after completing the back 9 with this group, having to save my legs for my primary assignment later on.  It was 84 degrees by 10am, going to be a scorcher.

Back at the volunteer tent I put my feet up and texted all my friends about my assignments for the day while having my second breakfast.  I was eventually joined by Tony, Steve, & Diane for lunch, having a lively discussion about the Tom Brady-Roger Goodell controversy.  We all then headed to the first tee for the arrival of Jason Day. He has such a gracious way about him, attentive to everyone who greets him, seemingly interested in it all. Just coming off his fantastic win at Whistling Straits.  After he teed off, Jordan Spieth arrived, along with Jacques Brand, one of his amateur partners for the day, as well as former N.Y. City Mayor Michael Bloomburg.   A small entourage was also gathered, including Mr. Brand's 91 year-old mother, a spry grand-dame who got to ride in a cart. After they got under way, Rory McIlroy arrived and was met with cheering and applause.  I remember standing nearby as all this was going on, as the temperature reached 90 degrees, thinking this is going to be one interesting day! So we were off, our 3-man mobile marshal crew consisting of Steve, Tom, and myself.  Seems like I was all over the place during the round, at times right next to Rory, other times looking for wayward amateur shots, on the cart path holding back crowd movements while everyone finished putting.  Had to get a bottle of water at every 3rd teebox to stay hydrated.  The back 9 was a long hot walk, my legs feeling it in the heat, but so was everyone else including the players.  Rory held up really well, signing for fans at every hole, unlike last year when he waited until after the round.  At one point, I had a very interesting chat with an English woman standing at the rope, accompanying Spieth.  Turns out she works on Mr. Brand's staff at Deutsche Bank, and was very interested in details of volunteering and marshaling.  I told her I have to train all year to be able to walk 27 holes / 7+ miles in this heat as a volunteer.  We finished our round at 5:20pm.  The tremendous galleries we'd anticipated never materialized, probably due to the heat and it being only Thursday of Labor Day weekend.  All I know is I was drained.            

Day 4   September 1, 2014    DBC   Labor Day

We got assigned to Phil Mickelson and Jerry Kelly for a 9:05am tee time, my crew included Jim, Tony, and Melinda.  At the first tee, Phil acknowledged my greeting, as did Notah Begay, walking along with our group for NBC sports.  It was going to be a long hot humid day in the 90's, toughest weather of the entire Championship week.  We also had the largest galleries of the week, so my buddy Jim got to experience the excitement of walking inside the ropes with one of the most popular figures in the game of golf.  Neither Phil nor Jerry were in contention, so it turned out to be a more relaxed round, with Phil constantly chatting with Jerry, the caddies, us volunteers, and the spectators.  Melinda, Tony, and Jim were all great marshals, taking lots of initiative as we escorted the players through the round.  Melinda was the queen of tact enforcing the PGA "no pictures during play" policy.  Our gallery grew to over 1,000 by the time we made it to the back 9.  This was Jim's first look at these holes, and he commented on the layout being much less spread out than the front. (A shorter walking distance, also). After the round, we escorted the players to the scoring area, then Phil went to the autograph area, where a massive crowd was waiting behind barriers, clamoring for his attention.  There were at least 200 people gathered, 5-6 deep in spots, handing Phil everything from hats, programs, & pin-flags to sign. Thankfully, we had extra security in place, including the Norton police officer who'd walked our entire round with us.  Phil was in his element as he patiently worked the crowd.  At one point, a young fellow in a wheelchair asked Phil to sign his "Hall of Fame" hat, which already had the signatures of Arnold Palmer, Jack Niklaus, and Gary Player.  Phil said he would be honored, having recently been inducted into the golf HOF.  In addition, Phil then removed his own hat which he'd been wearing all day and gave it to this fellow.  It was a very moving gesture, and everyone witnessing it broke into spontaneous applause.   I complimented my crew on a job well done and they all agreed it was a treat to be inside the ropes with Mickelson and Kelly.

We broke for lunch and I put my feet up, getting ready for the rest of the day, which would include finishing up the final phase of the DBC.  Jim headed back home despite my suggestion that he stick around to witness the conclusion of the tournament.  I rested for a couple hours, knowing I'd be called upon in relief to help out in the afternoon rounds with escorting the lead players.  From what I could see while I was sitting in the shade in the volunteer pavilion, our staff were wilting in the heat as they staggered in for a break.  On the headset I heard that several holes were running out of water in the coolers at each tee box.  In addition, our marshal chairperson Maureen, and others, reported that batteries on their headsets were draining more rapidly in the heat.  I went to the radio trailer nearby and got 3 fresh batteries, pledging my life to the radio guy to return them at the end of the day.  I then scrounged up every bottle of water I could find, filling three large coolers in the volunteer tent.  I radioed Maureen and she was on her way as soon as possible.  Meanwhile, David, our mobile marshals co-chair came in looking pretty exhausted, so I offered to relieve him, which he gratefully accepted.  He got someone to load a cart with the water coolers to deliver them out on the course. Meanwhile, I headed to the 10th tee to join our co-chair Karen and 5 other marshals, working with Rory McIlroy and Chris Kirk, the 2nd from last pairing.   We all worked really well together, managing a gallery of 3,000 to 4,000, despite the heat and excitement.  Rory couldn't quite catch-up at -11, and tied for 5th; Chris Kirk being the eventually winner at -15.  My daughter texted me excitedly, saying she spied me alongside the 16th green as she was watching on TV.  The excitement was palpable as we finished on 18, with thousands in the gallery crowding the entire length of the fairway.  After escorting Rory and Chris off the 18th green, I stayed positioned nearby as Russel Henley and Billy Horschel, the final pairing, finished up.  Horschel came up short in his attempt to pitch onto the green from inside 150 yards to send it to a sudden death playoff.  The entire crowd felt badly for him as his ball landed in the hazard fronting the green.  Despite his near-miss, it was an exciting ending to a thrilling DBC.
As we all gathered at the 18th green for the trophy ceremony, I said goodbye to everyone, see you next year.

Day 3   August 31, 2014    Sunday   DBC

As soon as we arrived at TPC Boston, the mobile marshals co-chair David told me we'd been given the first assignment of the day, Bubba Watson and Ryan Moore, teeing off at 9:15am.  Somewhat disappointed that we weren't given a later assignment to a player in contention, but in a way this was better for Jim to get accustomed to a low key round without the potential craziness of a huge gallery late in the day.  Introduced Jim to several other marshals during our morning meeting then went for breakfast, where we were joined by Eric, also part of our crew today, very personable guy, an accountant in real life. After breakfast, we went to the range for an hour, Jim getting a chance to see all of the players first-hand as they were warming up. When our time came we got a cart ride to the first tee, where our 4th crew member, Ron met us, a chemist from Houston.  Good marshal but tended to be a phantom, self-directed kind of guy, keeping mostly to the cart paths, which was helpful in many congested spots.  Bubba and Moore both tied at +1, leaders at -9, so we attracted a fairly small gallery.  Jim soon got to experience being both inside and outside the ropes, as Moore's wayward drive on the second hole had us holding back the gallery to make an alley for his shot to the green.  Jim caught on quickly, he said later he just imitated me.

After working about 12 holes, I got a call on the headset reassigning us to the afternoon pairing of Matt Kuchar and Billy Horschel, the 2nd from the last group.  Evidently, the crew leader wasn't going to be able to make his assignment.  I discussed this with Eric and Ron as it would be just the two of them escorting Bubba and Moore the rest of the way, which was fine with them as the gallery had remained small and quite manageable.  We snagged a marshal support cart ride back to the volunteer pavilion and got ready for our reassignment, teeing off at 1:35pm.  With a little time to kill, I met up with my wife Mary and daughter Jill who were enjoying their seats at the Gosling Dark & Stormy Rum pavilion over-looking the 18th fairway.  The place was packed but they'd gotten seats and were trying to stay cool in the near 90 degree heat and humidity.

At the first tee we were met by 5 other mobile marshals, a rather large crew for Kooch and Billy but we split into two groups of 3 on each side of the tee box and pretty much kept that positioning and spacing throughout the  front 9.  Since our gallery had only reached 100 or so by this point, Jim and I excused ourselves from the remaining holes, (21 holes was enough for us, especially being Jim's first day).  We'd intended to attend the volunteer appreciation buffet scheduled for 6:30pm, but bagged it after seeing the hundreds of volunteers already in line. Instead, we headed out to dinner in Pawtucket near our rental.  Over dinner and a martini, Jim told me he really enjoyed the whole marshal experience but for different reasons than myself.  He said it was great getting completely away from his life in retail for a day, no customers, phone, meetings.  I was hoping tomorrow's assignment would give him a taste of  working with one of the biggest names in golf in front of sizable crowds on the final Labor Day finish.        

Day 2    August 30, 2014   Saturday   DBC

I was assigned as crew leader to Jordon Spieth, Jason Day, and Patrick Reed for a 1:28 tee time.  My four man mobile marshals crew included Larry, Doug, and Orson.  Larry was a true veteran, having volunteered at over 20 tournaments, including multiple US Opens.  With six hours to kill, I spent time hanging out with other marshals at the volunteer tent, getting caught up on everyone's lives over the past year; daughters getting married, medical procedures, work, life in general.  Interesting to compare all of the personalities who are drawn to this same place year-after-year, completely devoted to the tasks at hand.  Some take a full week's vacation on their own dime, working a variety of behind the scenes duties in the Monday to Wednesday pre-championship lead up; such as picking up VIP's at the airports in the courtesy cars provided by DBC.  Had my usual two breakfasts, 7am and 10am, followed by lunch at noon, today catered by Bertucci pizza, a nice perk for the volunteers.  I'd work all of that food off by walking 6-7 miles later on during the round.

At the first tee, I greeted Jason Day as he walked up, wished him luck, gave him a fist bump, to which he replied, "Thanks, Mate".  My crew was excellent, Doug being a rookie with only yesterday's experience under his belt, so I focused on giving him some direction, while Orson and Larry positioned themselves to provide the spacing we needed to maximize our presence inside the ropes.  We're here to be seen yet be unobtrusive, in the background but helping the gallery to enjoy a great golf experience.  Escorting the players throughout the round, allowing the crowd to get in close as we walk through the round, but keeping things under control.  Jason Day was having a terrific DBC, tied for the lead, so we were on TV all afternoon.  Had many close encounters with Notah Begay, the NBC on-course commentator, exchanging a few comments with him now and then.  Also exchanged greetings with Rex Hoggard from Golf Channel, walking along with us.  Got a text from my sister-in-law Marge who captured us on DVR at the 12th hole when Day made a great chip from outside of the ropes.

                                                   That's me in the spiffy red Nikes.

We escorted our group off the 18th green, through the crush of fans, with brief stops at the interview and autograph areas, then into the clubhouse scoring area, and our job was done.  I thanked my crew for doing a great job, another 12 hour day at DBC, see you guys tomorrow.  I then drove to our Airbnb rental in Pawtucket where I met my buddy Jim who was going to marshal along with me for the final two days of DBC.  Jim had been with me at the 2011 & 2013 US Opens, but had never been a mobile marshal and was looking forward to the experience.  Over dinner, he asked me what I enjoy about it all.  I tried to describe the intensity of the experience once we start at the first tee, which only builds as the round goes along.  I really feel I have my own small part in making the whole championship happen. Not sure if I conveyed that feeling adequately to Jim, but I knew he'd find out for himself over the next two days.

The 2014 Deutsche Bank Championship    Thursday Pro-Am   August 28, 2014

The usual routine on arrival at the TPC Boston for our 6:30am mobile marshal's assignment meeting, renewing old friendships, people I only see once a year at the DBC.  I was assigned to Rory McIlroy, the first tee time of the day at 6:50.  In years past, this coveted tee time had been the exclusive property of Tiger Woods, but the torch had been passed to Rory as the new #1 player in the world golf rankings.  Joining me were Tony and Christine, two veteran mobile marshals who knew their stuff. As I hustled over to the 10th tee, I was glad I'd grabbed breakfast earlier on the way in at the volunteer pavilion. Very light gallery of only 30 people at that hour, perfect weather in mid-70's, slightly humid, eventually becoming sunny in the low 80's.  Rory was terrific during his round, lots of interaction between him and his amateur playing partners.  I was able to catch lots of his comments in the give and take going on throughout the round as I was stationed closest to him while Tony and Christine took more forward positions.  I was a bit surprised as Rory deferred all autographs from the gallery until the end of the round.  It turned out to be a very relaxed atmosphere, in contrast to some of the higher intensity rounds I'd marshaled previously, but after all, it was the pro-am.  It got a lot more hectic as we finished at the 9th hole, Rory being true to his word, stopping to sign autographs and take pictures all along the ropes exiting the green.  People were standing 5-6 deep, he must have signed over 100 items, and could have done three times as many. Tony and I bracketed him as he moved along the ropes, finally getting him to a cart where he then made his exit.  We were done and it was only noon, seemed a lot later.  I grabbed lunch at the concession stand and brought it into the volunteer pavilion.  Soon afterwards, a PGA TOUR official arrived, escorting Ryo Ishikawa of Japan, one of the new rookies to the Tour.  Its a nice perk we get as volunteers to have a chance to meet a pro and chat a bit as they hang out in the tent for a half hour or so.  After meeting him, I noticed we were the same height and weight, and I asked him how far his drives generally go, to which he replied "300 yards".   I asked how might I be able to accomplish the same thing.  He said, "my parents took me to my first golf lesson when I was 4 years old."  We both laughed as it was obviously too late for me to emulate his level of skill.  Nice kid, I complimented him on his proficiency in English.  The PGA TOUR official took our picture, which I texted to my friends and family.

Ryo Ishikawa