US Open   June 14, 2018     Day 1

I delayed my start out to Shinnecock a bit in response to the email warning us about traffic delays.  As is turned out, there was minimal traffic on the Sunrise Highway eastbound, heading away from NYC at 8AM, followed by a 35 minute bus ride to the course.  On arriving, I walked directly to the volunteer pavilion and got a cup of coffee, a bagel, and an apple.  Nice when they provide us volunteers with a decent breakfast in a pleasant and roomy atmosphere, lots of flat screen tv's even.  I then went next door to the volunteer HQ and met the 19th hole committee chairman, who welcomed me and signed me in on his list, noting the designation of "forward marshal'' beside my name.  I asked about my assignment as a ''forward marshal'' but he had no info relating to this particular job for a 19th hole volunteer.  He explained further that all 4 of the walking marshals had already been assigned to the marquee groups for the day, (Phil, Rory, and Jordan in the morning, and Tiger, DJ, and Justin Thomas in the afternoon).  He said he'd see what he could do about scheduling me to walk tomorrow, the same groups going out but switching AM-PM starting times.  As an aside, he curiously mentioned the system was in ''complete chaos''.  I was a bit concerned that my forward marshal designation was going to take some back channel networking on my part.  To that end, I eventually heard another marshal coordinator speaking with the 2 walking marshals about to head out with Tiger's group this afternoon.  I introduced myself to Andy and explained my desire to be designated as a forward marshal tomorrow if possible. He said to arrive an hour before my designated shift just to be sure that the arrangement could be made.
I sat in HQ for an hour, noticing a guy (Tom) who was obviously some sort of Captain for the 19th hole marshal bullpen, receiving requests on his headset then announcing to the those of us waiting if we'd like to volunteer for such-and-such assignments, (''they need a couple of marshals at the 8th hole crosswalk'' was typical).  I began chatting with him and he was curious about my marshaling experience both at US Opens and DBC/DTC.  He said I could handle any marshal assignment, so what would I like to do?  "Maybe you could just go out and freelance at the greens where they might need some help".  I thought "great", I can see where I'm needed and fill in the gaps.  I headed over to the first tee, immediately beside the clubhouse and began working the chute and crosswalk where players were having to negotiate a narrow corridor with fans packed 10 deep behind the rope. The place was an absolute madhouse with fans, security, photographers, and USGA personnel jammed together.  The first tee Captain was great, with an excellent crew of marshals who were having to manage this crosswalk without having a riot on their hands. When Tiger's group approached, we heard them before we saw them as the crowd went nuts shouting.   Justin Thomas and Dustin Johnson walked through the chute and onto the tee, looking relaxed and fist-bumping everyone on the way.  Then Tiger arrived, to the sound of over a thousand people shouting his name.  As he walked by me, my reaction was that he did not look like he was having any fun!  His face looked downright haggard.  There was no energy in his affect.  He almost appeared nervous.
I walked inside the ropes with this group through the first 4 holes, seeing the course for the first time and getting a feel for the whole US Open atmosphere.  The severity of the rough was astonishing, knee high fescue which would be nearly impossible to hit from.  I remember worrying that we were going to spend a lot of time helping players look for any stray balls that landed in this stuff.  Shinnecock is a beast, listed as the fourth best course in America, (behind only Pebble Beach, Augusta National, and Cypress Point).  It is a classic seaside links design with hardly a tree in sight.  The wind was blowing at least 20 mph and I recall thinking I couldn't break 125 on this stark wild layout.  I was having a terrific time marshaling just inside the ropes, the gallery huge but largely respectful toward these 3 top players.  It couldn't last.
At the 5th hole, an area Captain spoke to me and said I didn't have the proper color coded credential for being inside the ropes.  Who knew?  I explained my situation but he said without the credential, I needed to remain at fixed areas on the course, not walking with the players.  He assigned me to work a crosswalk on this hole, for about an hour, whereupon I was subsequently relieved by other marshals permanently assigned to the fifth hole.  No problem. The USGA now has so many marshals on each hole that extra 19th hole marshals are often unnecessary.  I decided it was time for my lunch break so I stopped at the nearby concession stand for what is the traditional volunteer marshal meal, grilled chicken sandwich with lettuce and tomato, iced tea, and a double chocolate brownie.  That'll keep me going!
From here I calculated that Tiger's afternoon group would have an enormous gallery following along, so I went ahead to the 13th green, looked up the hole Captain and offered my services to help marshal, in anticipation of the massive crowd following TW, DJ, and JT.   He readily agreed and assigned me to the green for added marshaling support.  When Tiger got to the green, he unfortunately 4-putted, going +2 for the hole.  I felt like my man TW was blowing it and I internally wished he could hold on to make the cut.

Tiger unfortunately 4-putting

After 13, I walked over to the 16th green to marshal a complex set-up, with players teeing off on 17 while others were putting on 16.  A classic situation where massive crowds influenced the play in a US Open due to the close proximity of a green/tee complex on this classic old style course set-up.  The 17th hole marshal at the tee was basically alone in attempting to keep play under control.  He was really happy to have my support to keep the fans quiet and in control while the TW group completed play on the 16th green.  From there I walked up to the 18th green, found the Captain, and offered my assistance.  He said he definitely needed me alongside the green so I marshaled there as TW, DJ, and JT came up.  Always great to witness such top players give their all to stay in contention  at the US Open.

US Open   June 13, 2018   Shinnecock Hills    Southampton, NY



Once I'd received notification of having been selected to serve as a 19th Hole Marshal for the US Open at Shinnecock, I emailed Hank Thompson and cc'd Mike Davis:

Gentlemen,

It may be too late in the game to inquire further as to your plans for the U.S. Open at Shinnecock in a few months.  Nonetheless, I wanted to re-establish contact with you both about the need for and potential benefit of having walking marshals assigned to the highest profile player groups at this year's Championship. This need was further reinforced to me by my experience as a "Roving Marshal" at the President's Cup last October.  Despite there being as excessive amount of people inside the ropes with each player group, I believe a crew of 2-4 marshals would have quieted some of the exuberant fan behavior.  I accompanied several groups, and did what I could as a single marshal, but repeatedly wished I had 2 or 3 other marshals to help quell the rough comments directed at International team players, as well as WAGs. I am presently assigned to the 19th Hole marshals committee for this years Open, and would welcome the opportunity to expand our responsibilities to including walking marshals. 

Best regards, 

Wyn 

Hi Wyn,

I hope this email finds you well and getting ready for golf season.

We are looking forward to June at Shinnecock Hills.  We are also appreciative of your time and energy once again.  As you noted, we have you assigned to the 19th Hole Marshal Committee.  Within this committee we deploy marshals to different areas on the golf course to assist marshals.  We also utilize marshals from this committee to provide support to “marquee” groups during championship rounds.  Due to your experience, we have marked your information to be one of those marshals to help out with a certain group.  At this time, we do not know what groups at the moment but that will become clearer when starting times are determined prior to the championship.  

As we discussed following Oakmont, we continue to review our practices so that we can provide a secure playing fields for the players.  We also continue to review who has access to follow groups to attempt to clean up the areas around the players in the field.  As you note below, a concern of ours continues to be the number of people inside the ropes.

Thank you again for the email.  We look forward to seeing you in June!

Hank

I wasn't sure what to expect in being designated as a walking marshal for one of the marquee groups but I'd soon find out.  

I arrived on Long Island on Wednesday June 13th after a 5 hour drive from my hometown on Cape Cod, plenty of time to spare to see the course and test out the commuting logistics to the central parking area arranged by the USGA.  The Gabreski airport in Westhampton Beach would serve as the only parking for the Open, for all volunteers and spectators , located about 10 miles from Shinnecock.  The actual bus ride took 30 mins, not too bad, this being 5pm.  The championship director would subsequently send a email to all volunteers stating that the morning bus ride was taking 1:45 however, due to weekday L.I. rush hour traffic + golf related crowds on the roads.  Yikes!   

Shinnecock's timeless clubhouse 

I walked around the course a bit, taking in the stately old clubhouse, but  there was no gaining entrance without a member credential. Checked out the practice range, putting, and chipping areas, and strolled down to the volunteer pavilion, for once conveniently located near the clubhouse. Also checked out the massive merchandise area for potential purchases later in the week.  I could feel the buzz in the air from the crowd still on the premises at this late hour on the final practice day.   Can't wait to get started tomorrow.        

Day 2   The Presidents Cup   September 30, 2017

Sunrise view of clubhouse and Statue at Liberty National 

Had to be up by 5am and on the Liberty National course by 5:30, thankfully only 8 miles away via the spaghetti-like NJ highway system, but no traffic at this pre-dawn hour.  On arrival to the volunteer  HQ I finally got to meet our Roving Marshals chair, Sparky.  Nice fellow, he asked how I made out yesterday. I filled him in on my adventures at the 3rd hole crosswalk, the 9th green, and walking with the matches as a rover. He had no problem with everything I'd done and was glad I'd found something to do all day.  I was scheduled to work the #9 crosswalk (at the third green, go figure). I again confirmed that was the extent of my roving assignment, and he had no problem with me roving with the players as a mobile marshal for the rest of the day.  The walk over to the third hole was kind of spooky with the sky lightening up behind the city skyline and Lady Liberty to the east. At the crosswalk I met a nice chap named Glenn who had worked a Barclays and a couple US Opens but always in the merchandise tent, this was his first marshaling stint.  We didn't have much to do at this hour except chat with two area marshal coordinators who joined us.  It eventually got busy as play had begun at 7:02am, and all four matches had come through our spot by 8:30.  I said my goodbyes and tagged along with the final match, Justin Thomas & Rickie Fowler vs Louis Oosthuizen & Branden Grace. I also moved ahead to the DJ / Kuchar match with Scott / Hadwin.  It took awhile but I eventually caught up with the lead match of Spieth / Reed vs Day / Leishman, which ended on the 15th hole.  The crowd went pretty wild over this victory, only to be repeated on 15 green again with the next match, DJ and Kooch victorious as well.  On the way though, had some serious marshaling work to do when Adam Scott's drive went 30 yards offline beyond the ropes into a huge crowd.  When I arrived on the scene, 4 hole marshals had the ball surrounded where it had stopped on the cart path but were making no attempt to move the crowd back and create an alley for Scott to hit back to the fairway.  Bones McKay was with this group doing on-course commentary and joking to me how we had to get this crowd in order.  Scott had to take 3 separate ball drops to find a playable lie, a PGA official scrutinizing every move.  He couldn't see the green but hit a spectacular shot to get back in play.            

Jena and Paulina

 I continued on marshaling the other two matches as they moved on to conclude on 17 and 18.  The crowds were as thick as any I'd ever seen, and getting a bit chippy at times, alcohol fueled by midday. Comments of all kinds were being directed at the players, captains, wag's, some a bit tasteless.  DJ's wife Paulina especially drew a huge number of verbal proposals of all kinds.  Some partisan calls were also heard, some in poor taste, encouraging bad things to happen to the International's shots, "Go in the water!"  I witnessed some hilarious antics by the Fanatics, a group of about 10 International fans dressed in crazy drag and making up lyrics to songs to include players names. (see Youtube -- ''Si Woo, shaking his ass'').

I met up with David at the 18th green who was captaining this hole, we both agreed this was like DBC/DTC on steroids.  I felt the day would have been complete had it ended there, but we still had the afternoon matches to go.  Such a great experience already.  We went to a decent lunch in the volunteer HQ and compared experiences with Maureen who had been captaining 17.  They were surprised to hear I'd been roving along with all the matches and having a great time doing it.

I headed back out to join the fourball matches already in progress, catching up with Thomas / Berger playing against Matsuyama / Vegas, then dropped back for Chappell / Hoffman vs Kim / Lahiri.  Rickie Fowler had the afternoon off and was walking inside the ropes with this group. At one point he ducked into the bushes to answer the call of nature, but was gone so long the fans started calling out to him.  When he finally emerged I said to him he was lucky that a few fans didn't come looking for him.  He said thanks for waiting for him.  Charlie Hoffman hit a wayward drive on the fifth hole which had me and 2 hole marshals looking for it in the trees next to the water.  At one point Charlie began donning his waterproof pants and jacket but it was determined his ball was unplayable and he conceded the hole.  It was fun hunting for a lost ball, just like I often do when playing with my friends only this time it was Charlie Hoffman at the Presidents Cup!  I again dropped back to marshal the DJ / Koepka match against Grace and Leishman.  This was the last match and was accumulating the largest galleries, 8-10 people deep.  I had some instances where I was the only marshal in certain locations, having to quiet the comments coming from the crowd at times with a look and a "Come on guys!".  I heard a response, "Uh-oh guys, I think we made the marshal mad".

 It was especially crazy near any of the double decked corporate pavilions where the booze had been flowing since 7am.  A shot by Leishman outside the ropes on 11 had only 1 marshal on site until I arrived.   The crowd began giving the Aussie the business, until a PGA official accompanying us motioned to have a spectator tossed by police.   A bit chippy, those fans could take a few lessons in sportsmanship.   I gave the usual "Quiet please, hold your positions", and you could have heard a pin drop, I was psyched.  It continued on this way, huge crowds outside the ropes, a large group accompanying the players inside the ropes, and me, providing the sole mobile marshal presence but always helped by the hole marshals positioned at every tee and green.  I heard lots of wag's commenting on how cold it was as they were all bundled up in winter coats, hats, and gloves in the windy partly sunny 60 degree conditions.  It was great to see each match conclude on 15 through 18, with the potential of a USA victory on Saturday a real possibility.  I'd eventually made my way to the 18th green and was helping David a bit as we were hoping to witness a victory for the home team right then and there, but superb play by the Int'l team held on to end the day without yielding the Cup quite yet.  With only 1 point remaining, it was a foregone conclusion that the USA team would be victorious early on in tomorrow's singles matches. What a day, I'd spent 13 hours at Liberty National and it just flew by.

I would eventually decide to forego the Sunday singles matches as anticlimactic.  The need for roving marshal help was virtually non-existant as they wanted us to be on the property at 8:30am, despite the fact that the first singles match didn't tee-off until noon. I texted my apologies to Sparky and also to David wishing him, Maureen, & Karen well.   I headed back home and arrived in time to see the conclusion of the singles matches on TV, including Daniel Berger's deciding putt to make it official.  I'd made the right decision as I heard the players comment at their celebratory press conference that it had been a weird day, nothing really at stake, sparse crowds, and anticlimactic.  It had been a terrific experience for me, different from FedEx and US Open events, especially Saturday's competition.  So fortunate to have been there!

     

The Presidents Cup   September 29, 2017    Liberty National Golf Club   Jersey City, NJ

I applied to be a "Roving Marshal" at the 2017 Presidents Cup (PC) over one year in advance, thinking at the time that it would be a long shot at best.  I expected this to be second only to the Ryder Cup in sheer numbers of applicants who would sign-up to be selected from the online lottery.  I was happy to be selected, and very excited about being a walking marshal, a committee which had been sorely needed at the 2016 Ryder Cup.  Having been a "Mobile Marshal" for so many years at the DBC/DTC I early on contacted the overall marshal committee chairperson to discuss how a similar committee could work at the PC.  This was well received at first, then, no further response for months.   Reality set-in when I began receiving a series of emails which ultimately demonstrated that the responsibilities of the roving marshal committee were evolving drastically.  Here's an excerpt from one of the emails:

''Roving Marshals are responsible for crowd control outside of roped off areas throughout the course. They include walkways for PGA TOUR player movement, escorting Pros from tees to greens, and supporting landing areas for errant shots. In working in this roving position at the Presidents Cup, it will not be a typical Roving Committee where you are assigned to one group throughout the day because of the Match Play format. Roving marshals will only walk ahead of matches to landing areas for errant shots, but not Tees and Greens as there are many people with each group already. Roving Marshals will also make sure there is a smooth transition from Greens to Tees but there will be times where they will help in areas of congestion to support crowd control, movement, and other areas of need, which may not necessarily be near matches.''

This description is confusing and logistically impossible. It is contradictory in its definition of the roving marshal duties.  Later emails were received which attempted to clarify our duties, but only seemed to be searching for something for us to do as we really weren't going to be "roving" after all:

''There are no “Travel Teams” at the Presidents Cup. We will have a major task in making sure the players can transition between greens and tees without spectator interference. 

This is a unique venture in that is unlike any other tournament most of us have been involved with. We as a group, are tasked with making sure the gallery moves throughout the course effectively and safely. 
Each morning a certain number of Rovers will be assigned to man specific cross walks as the crowds file in and will be replaced as the Marshals arrive for their duties on each hole. Each Rover will then have a break before moving on to their next assignment, which will be given to you when you arrive.''

Okay, except there would be no way of actually contacting us out on the course to give us our "next assignment" as we weren't being issued headsets.  At best, we had the cell phone number of our committee chairman to contact for direction.  In addition, although we'd been requested to provide our preferences for AM and PM shifts, in reality, we were informed that roving marshals don't have shifts but are expected to report to their assigned crosswalk positions 1 hour before the gates opened. This meant that Saturday's assigned oncourse starting time was 5:30am!  I guess a number of people protested when I received this email:

''We wish to thank all of you for your patience as we start the scheduling process for the tournament.   With the exception of Saturday, all shifts are single shifts. Saturday is a two shift day due to the early starting times.   The secret to being a Rover is to be flexible and have fun. ''

So by now it was apparent this was a committee that had been kept in place but with nowhere near its original intention. It was with this overall limited job description that I arranged my travel plans and accommodations for Jersey City.  I was happy to find out that hotels hadn't sold out or become outrageously expensive. Remember, a ''volunteer'' has to pay all expenses for the privilege.  Fortunately, they're tax deductible due the significant charitable contributions of the PGA TOUR.  Thank heaven for my Waze app to guide me to the Liberty National site as the metro highway system is a nightmare. 

On arrival, I was immediately struck by two things, what a site, with the NYC skyline  and the Statue of Liberty, so close as to seem reachable with a 7-iron, and two, this was unlike any other golf course I'd ever seen, from the airport-terminal style clubhouse, to the tournament set-up for the massive crowds expected, to the remote location of the volunteer HQ.

My mid-morning arrival at the HQ was met with a vacant marshals desk so I had no direction but to grab a bagel and coffee from the ample breakfast set-up and sit near the entrance.  I was soon greeted by my friends from DBC/DTC, David and Maureen who joined me for breakfast.   It was great having familiar faces in a strange place, people who are expert marshals and totally familiar with what it takes to operate a first class tournament.  It was immediately apparent that both David and Maureen felt this was a classic one-off, most of the volunteers doing this event for the first time, and would never again be called upon to sort-out the details.  We're spoiled by the well-oiled machine that has been developed for the DBC/DTC and are super-conscious of tournament play that falls short of our standards.  We discussed the "roving marshal" situation and lamented how it had changed over time, evidently, they had initially been interested in signing up for this committee as well but had been selected to captain the 17th and 18th holes instead.  I headed off to my assignment at the third hole cross-walk and met with the other roving marshal at the adjacent crosswalk. 

Liberty is this close

 I actually had a very pleasant time for a couple hours directing the spectators as they came into the course from the nearby main entrance, seeking directions. In my two-hour stint at this location, I must have been asked over 100+ questions from spectators, "What hole is this, how do I get to the first hole, what is the difference between foursomes and fourball play, how should we watch the tournament, (where are the best spots?).   As I had never been to this golf course before it was fun looking at the course map with the patrons trying to learn the course layout together. After I was relieved of my duties by the 3rd hole marshal, and since I had no new assignment, I decided to become a roving marshal and rove along with the matches as they progressed along through fourball play.  At the nearby fourth hole crosswalk, I ran into Rick, one of my good buddies from DBC/DTC, sporting his mirrored red, white, & blue sunglasses, looking sharp Rick! Chatted a bit and he pointed out two other fellow marshals Gino and Pam on this hole, all from the Travelers and FedEx Cup events.  

It was immediately apparent that my roving marshaling was needed, as by now the galleries were sizable and becoming vocal.  I was pleasantly surprised at the general respect the home crowd was giving to the International team, but it was early.  Along with the four players in each of the five matches, there were captains and assistant captains, wives & girlfriends (wag's), media commentators, TV crews, photographers, PGA personnel, riding in carts or walking along, all inside the ropes.  At least 30 people accompanying each match.  The fans constantly called out to people they recognized, trying to get a reaction or establish a connection, if just for a second.  Everyone wants to feel that Phil Mickelson looked right at them and gave a thumbs-up just for them.  For the most part the fans responded to us marshals when we raised our arms for the all quiet signal.  

Canadian Fanatics

I accompanied the first match (Jordan Spieth & Patrick Reed vs Hideki Matsuyama & Adam Hadwin) as far as the 9th green where I met up with Karen, my third friend from DBC/DTC who was captain of this hole.  We embraced and then got right to work as this was a very busy place, the green ringed by crowds 10 people deep. The job was complicated by a combination cart-path and exit chute leading to the 10th tee.  Karen had a couple hole marshals already handling this area but she was ecstatic to have a veteran arrive for reinforcement.  Lots of fans had been ducking under the rope apparently, trying to make their way up to the huge corporate pavilion overlooking the green.  As each match exited the green, the fans went nuts cheering them on as they passed by, reaching out for a fist-bump and nearly passing out when successful.  As the final match exited (Dustin Johnson & Brooks Koepka vs Adam Scott & Jhonattan Vegas), I said goodbye to Karen and joined the players to continue on with my roving duties.  The next hole, the short par-3 tenth is a signature hole with the skyline and Liberty seemingly right there, distracting in a way.  At the 12th green I witnessed a near mishap when Internationals assistant captain Mike Weir and 3 wags riding in his cart almost flipped while attempting to take the hill.  He had his passengers bailout while three of us helped give him a push, wheels spinning. Someone in the grandstand yelled, "Canadians can't drive!" which I thought was a bit rude.  I accompanied this match to its conclusion on the 15th hole, basking in the crowd roaring for DJ and Brooks, winning 3&2.  What a day, the USA team was ahead 8 to 2, with the International team taking a pounding.     

Day 4    DTC   Labor Day Monday     September 4, 2017

Gorgeous weather, so much better than yesterday.  Great sunrise on the drive up from the Cape.  David asked me if I could do a double shift, nine holes with Jason Day and Nick Taylor, then after a break, work the marquee group of Spieth and Paul Casey in the afternoon.  Glad he has enough confidence in me and a few others to rise to the occasion on what always proves to be a thrilling and exciting final day at TPC Boston.  Watching Day warm up at the range was great, such power and control.

Jason Day warming up

 At the first tee, met up with my crew, Kelly a veteran of 14 DBC/DTC's as a hole and mobile marshal, plus Steve, and Dana, each with a couple years experience.  This being only 9:50am and Day essentially out of the running, we drew a small gallery of less than a hundred, which didn't build much on the front nine.  Turned out to be a pleasant walk in the sun for 9 holes, no marshaling challenges.  I handed the reins over to Kelly, who was a little nervous about being crew leader for the back nine but that's one of the many benefits of volunteering, you get to stretch your boundaries.  I later saw Kelly at the volunteer tent and found her smiling after a successful back 9.  Job well done Kelly!

We had a large crew set-up for the Spieth-Casey pairing this afternoon, (Maureen, Karen our co-chair,
Tony, Jack, & Chris).  Over lunch we strategized to address issues such as the exit chutes green-to-tee, which Spieth had complained about.  We'd been told that the chute widths couldn't be widened by repositioning the ropes at this stage.  Would have solved the problem.  It seemed a contradiction in reality as yesterday Spieth seemed to enjoy high-fiving the fans on both sides as he made his way down each crazy corridor.

                                    David Feherty in the cart behind me waiting for Spieth-Casey tee off

 We were accompanied by David Feherty all day doing on-course commentating.  A couple of times I was positioned right next to him, close enough to make a comment or two but restrained myself as he was getting a near constant bombardment of shout-outs from the crowd.  He's here working!  Had a thrilling moment on the 2nd fairway when Hadwin's errant drive almost hit me, landing outside the ropes.  I was the first marshal to arrive at his ball and quickly got the crowd to give it some room until he and his caddy arrived and surveyed the situation.  By then our crew had a gallery of hundreds positioned so they could hit back to the fairway.  I had a fan actually thank me for the quick work it took to get everyone in position.

I had a great time working with Tony, Chris and Jack,  as we all attempted to escort the players through the gauntlet of fans at every chute.  That, as well as the usual cart path crowd control with Chris stationed inside the ropes, signaling me when the players had finished putting.  He's 6' 4'' but  all I could see was his upraised arms at times over a crowd 4 & 5 people deep.  This was his first marshaling experience and he turned out to be a natural.  The event built in drama as we entered the 16th hole stadium atmosphere when there was a 3-way tie for the lead, Spieth, Casey, & Justin Thomas at -15.  We didn't want to mention the dreaded 'playoff' word over the headsets as it's a logistical overload to handle.   It was quickly over, however, as Spieth could only manage pars on 16 & 17 while Thomas birdied and leaped ahead to win by 3.  We escorted Spieth and Casey to the interview area where several other marshals had gathered and awaited the outcome as Thomas finished on 18, making it official.  It was great to see Spieth interrupt his press conference to come over to Justin Thomas and congratulate him on his victory.  The comradery amongst today's top group of young players is refreshing.  So glad I've been able to be there to witness it up close.

                                                  Jordan Spieth speaking to the media immediately after his round

                               Justin Thomas walking off 18 escorted by Jim "The Mayor"

Jordan congratulating his buddy Justin's victory 

   

Day 3  DTC   Sunday   September 3, 2017

Rain was forecast as remnants of Hurricane Harvey finally reached here after devastating the Texas gulf area.  It was the first time I ever wore long pants and carried an umbrella at the DTC but was glad about my wardrobe selection.  We had a delayed start due to the weather, which was just as well as driving on the Mid-Cape highway was like being in a carwash.  It turned out to be a warm misty rain on & off all day, just wish my new golf shoes were water-proof.  By the end of our 18-hole walk I felt like I was wearing two soaked sponges on my feet.  Got assigned to Jordan Spieth, Patrick Cantley, & MacKenzie Hughes for a 12:16 tee-off.  This was the marquee grouping of the day so David was our crew leader along with marshal head honcho Maureen.  Joining us was Big Bill and his wife Helen, very nice people, veteran marshals of 4-6 years respectively.
Killed time with breakfast and conversation with Tony who is developing into a serious runner and has completed several races including a 1/2 marathon earlier this year.  He'l be competing in the Boston Marathon eventually, I told him.  Quite an accomplishment for an ex-smoker.  Also got another chance to chat with Maureen who was interested in hearing about my background, living on Cape Cod and working as an Occupational Therapist.

We had several hundred spectators at the first tee, and got to work with crowd control right away as the pairing of Dustin Johnson and Branden Grace ahead of us had both landed their drives beyond the ropes between the 1st and 2nd fairways.  It took a small army of hole and mobile marshals to sort this out, creating 2 parallel alleyways in the crowd for both players to hit back to the fairway.  Love this part of marshaling, and am always amazed when hundreds of fans can be almost right on top of the action and yet you could hear a pin drop!  With the large volume of fans, our crew spent a lot of time on the cart paths keeping the crowd still and avoiding 'head-starts' while other players were still holing out.  Had a chance to talk with David about his retirement plans for next year, planning to become a snowbird with a place in Florida, but also picking my brain for Cape Cod info and a potential spot to settle down.   We're both signed up to volunteer at the President's Cup in a couple weeks so we made some plans.  He'll be Captain of the 18th hole while I'll be a Roving Marshal.

Early on in our round I noted Jordan Spieth's family standing at the ropes and offered to assist them if they needed anything throughout our round.  I ended up spending a good deal of time walking along with our 2 honorary hole marshals, chatting about how to go about volunteering and related details.  Very curious about how much work we have to do 'inside the ropes'.  I also met up with Maureen during the round, who said that Jordan Spieth was reportedly concerned with how narrow the rope chutes were leading from each green to the next tee.  She assigned me to walk just ahead of Spieth as a buffer to hopefully keep the crowd back somewhat and tone-down their outstretched hands reaching for him.  Spieth was very business like throughout the round, focused, and as a result, playing quite well. Visibly frustrated at times whenever a putt wouldn't drop.

Had an conversation with a fan at the ropes wanting to know about my pins on my credential lanyard, and how he could buy some.  His jaw dropped when I told him they weren't for sale and I'd earned them from having marshaled at 9 DBC/DTC's and 3 US Opens.

It was a great atmosphere at the 18th hole despite the rainy conditions, with a fairly large crowd perched along the ropes and up in the corporate pavilions and grandstands. It had been a long slog for us but I felt bad for the Tour caddies, especially Hughes man as he tried to catch up while juggling the bag, putter head cover, towel, and umbrella.  I was standing on the edge of the 18th green next to the NBC commentator Mark Rolfing, and commented that this caddy needs his own caddy, Mark chuckled.  We escorted Spieth and company off the green and into the interview/scoring/autograph areas.  My buddy Jim had control of the autograph area today, chatted with him as we bracketed Spieth during his 20 minutes of signing.

                       Jordan and I giving each other the eye as he signs autographs

Day 2     DTC     Saturday    September 2, 2017

Assigned to Phil Mickelson, Lucas Glover, & Ian Poulter for 8:27am tee-off, so had less than an hour for a quick breakfast, not a lot by FedEx standards.  My crew included Diane, and husband & wife team of Joe and Diane, who I had trained a couple years ago.  Grabbed a DD muffin and hot coffee as it was probably the coldest day I can remember for the tournament, glad I had the Nike jacket.  At the first tee, chatted with the Captain, who I greeted as Mr. Ambassador, who had been recently chosen as one of two volunteer ambassadors in recognition of their many years of service to the tournament.   I also greeted Lucas Glover as he walked up to the 1st tee, thanking him for taking the time to visit us volunteers at the pavilion, he said he was happy to do it and again thanked us volunteers for all our efforts. Warmed up in the sun, then strolled to the first green with the Norton police officer assigned to keep everyone in the gallery under control.  Great guy, said the FedEx cup duty was relatively easy, having to deal with the occasional ''genteel'' drunk, in contrast to the fans often encountered at  Xfinity Center concerts or Gillette tailgate parties.


Our round went pretty well, Phil garnering the most attention from the gallery, acknowledging continuous shout-outs from the crowd every step of the way.  Poulter, not a Boston favorite, had his moments, stopping to answer the call of nature mere steps off the 12th tee, while hundreds of fans in the gallery raised their cellphones to document the event.  I asked them to "please don't put this on the Internet, folks!", which was greeted with laughs.  He was mildly heckled throughout his round with comments generally aimed at his performance at last year's Ryder Cup.  Phil played really well, shooting a 67 and ending only 3 back from the leader Jon Rahm at -9 for the day.  Our crew had an out-of-body moment on the 16th tee when Glover had a hole-in-one, the roar from the crowd like something I hadn't experienced since the TW days.

Lucas Glover strutting off 16 tee after hitting a hole-in-one

 Challenging gallery management all day as we had to control the fan's tendency to move once Phil had competed his shot, despite having 2 other players to go.  The gallery was very understanding of this all day, which made our job easier.  My crew really did an outstanding job in this regard, keeping the gallery from trying to move ahead on the cart paths to get into position for the next hole.  Only one instance of needing to keep the gallery in position at the 5th green when Poulter's approach landed beyond the ropes, but thankfully there were enough hole marshals already in place to handle the situation.  Our gallery had been pretty thin at the start, but grew to over 1,000 by the time we made the turn onto the back 9, continuing to grow as we progressed toward the stadium like atmosphere of 16-18.  A full house affair along the 18th fairway with the "Phil Effect'' in full force.  After he finished, we escorted him over to the adjacent interview and scoring areas, in a newly configured arrangement, which I think worked well for gallery crowd control.  I didn't linger in the autograph area once I saw that Melinda, our "Queen of Autographs" was present and in charge of the situation.