Travelers Championship Wednesday 6/24/26

 ProAm

Today’s the day I get to see if I can handle the walking scorer device in actual use during play. Thankfully, the program requires only recording information for the pro. The team amateur score is recorded separately, a simple number on a traditional scorecard. 

Upon arrival at the walking scorer tent, I was met by Steve, who was assigned to walk with me throughout my round to assist as needed and answer questions if and when they arose. Steve’s been doing this for 26 years and is one of the half dozen honchos at Walking Scoring Committee who keep everything organized, but in the friendliest manner possible. That is a key factor to reiterate because I was entering what I always have considered a closed shop committee and I was hoping it wasn’t going to have much of an intimidating atmosphere since I was a rookie. It was overwhelmingly positive every step of the way, and reinforced my ultimate decision to attempt to learn this skill of scoring at the highest possible level.

Prior to heading out for my ProAm assignment, I got to have a nice sitdown chat with Buddy Buder who was holding court at the Walking Scoring HQ tent. He reminisced with me about our mutual friend Jim Horvath, but also demonstrated a genuine interest in my background, including how long I had been involved at professional golf events. It seemed like everyone I ran into this week knew Buddy in some capacity or other, generally mentioning that he was always the walking scorer for the final group on the leaderboard on Sunday.

I was assigned to Sam Stevens for the front 9 of the ProAm, to be followed by Brendt Snedeker for the back nine. Sam was very personable, introducing himself at the first tee, asked where I was from and chatting periodically as the round unfolded. Alongside me was our sign bearer, Mike, who was a great asset to me in keeping track of Sam’s score, kind of in a check and balance way. We had an interesting collection of amateurs in this group a 2, a 6,  and 10 handicap, but found out that the 10 probably should have been recorded as 28 as the round unfolded. He was having a blast playing so poorly, laughing off every flubbed shot, so nobody got exasperated when he would be putting for a quadruple bogey. It later got to the point where Brandt was kidding him about his game and it got pretty silly. Example, on the 16th tee, a par three with a forced carry over water, our “10” wiffed his ball and sent his divot flying into the water, a good 20 yards! It was hilariously bad.

 I was gaining confidence throughout the round, recording each and every shot accurately on the device. It got to the point where Steve didn’t need to check me out at all on the back nine. To elaborate, each shot necessitates  selecting on the device the location from where it is originating (Tee, fairway, rough, green, etc.), then holding the shot button until the moment the player impacts the ball with the club head, and releasing it at that exact moment. This then triggers the Shotlink tracking cameras located throughout the golf course which generate the ball flight depicted on TV screens through a complex hook up. In fact, it’s directly connected to the TV broadcast in that my radio was communicating with a producer rather than a scoring control official. You get used to it! I was very thankful that this first go round did not involve having to register any kind of penalty stroke or a shot into a water hazard or out of bounds. That was yet to come no doubt.

Travelers 2026

 Monday 6/22/26 

I still can’t believe that I am actually going to make an attempt at becoming a PGA TOUR walking scorer but here I am at the mandatory training session held at TPC River Highlands on the Monday before the actual tournament. I was encouraged by the presence of the entire walking scorer committee made up of about 30-40 volunteers, assembled for a PowerPoint and hands-on training session led by a PGA TOUR official. I was paired up with Ben, a 20 year scoring veteran, who was a great guy in answering my rookie type questions and pointing out a few things as the training went along. Using the scoring device is so detailed and complicated that it was somehow reassuring that even veteran volunteers benefited from the refresher course. I, on the other hand, had only been exposed to the process via an online training class, followed by a quiz with a strict pass or fail threshold. Luckily, I passed!  Now on to the “dress rehearsal”, the ProAm on Wednesday!

 Golf in Westport, Ireland 

My family and I decided we would take a non-traditional Thanksgiving vacation and spend a week in Ireland. (This American holiday is not generally observed in Ireland, but we all wanted to return to revisit this incredible country. This would be my fourth trip to Ireland).

We weren’t sure if golfing weather would cooperate, as we penciled in our possible outing for the last full day of the trip. As it turned out, it was the best weather day of the week, sunny, 50’s, with no wind, which was nice after all the rain we’d had up to this point. Westport golf club is in County Connamara in the northwest corner of the Republic of Ireland. It is an 18 hole, parkland course, with stunning views of Crough Patrick, the mountain named after the patron Saint of Ireland.

Brian and I weren’t sure how busy the course would be at this off-season time but we made a teetime for 10:20 am. The morning got off to a rough start at our Air BnB, trying to get the shower “on” switch activated, which was located outside of the bathroom. Typical crazy Irish electrical setup.

We all went to “The Place” down the street in Westport for a breakfast cappuccino and egg & bacon sandwich. The ladies planned some extensive shopping while Brian and I went to the Westport golf club. At the pro shop we got pull carts (trolleys) and rental clubs. Altogether it was €100 each including the green fee. As expected, there were not many other golfers there, especially since we were willing to tee off immediately, in front of a foursome of locals. The course was saturated and Brian‘s shoes got instantly soaked for the entire 18 holes. My waterproof FJ’s did quite well, fortunately. I played reasonably, staying up with Brian scorewise, as he is a 9 handicap and I’m a 12, (he beat me by four strokes 89 to 93). It was a bit of an adjustment for sure with a strange set of clubs, especially since my driver wouldn’t go beyond 160 yards! I ended up hitting Brian’s, which got me off the tee a bit better. There was no standing water on the course but it was so wet that we each lost balls due to plugging, me 1 and Brian 3. Came close to running out of balls as I’d only brought 2 ProV’s from the States. Thank goodness the starter informed us of the local rule lift, clean, and place rule for the day, it definitely helped.  Not our best golf scores consequently but the scenery was outstanding.

The FM Championship 

Sunday August 31, 2025 

After what I’d been through for the previous two days of this tournament, I was glad that the final day was a return back to normal, meaning a reasonable 12:10pm midday teetime. Our player group consisted of Aditi Ashock, India and Minjee Lee, Australia. We were back to twosomes which meant for a much more reasonable 4 1/2 hour round.

I had another great talk with Mike over lunch waiting for our respective rounds to begin. He gave me a lot more details about walking scoring for the PGA and how it differed in complexity to the LPGA system. He said there’s less margin for error and it’s a more complex, exacting system, which is tied into video recording as well. I had been thinking about pursuing walking scoring at the PGA level, specifically at Travelers, but I might have some second thoughts about that. This past weekend may have been the peak of my comfort level; laser focused for five hours to record every shot accurately and I sort of can’t imagine taking it to an even higher level.

Our standardbearer for today, Jill, was terrific, a super LPGA fan, who seemed to know all of the players and filled me in with lots of tidbits. My contribution generally amounted to telling her little stories about incidents that happened at certain holes around TPC Boston back when the PGA played the FedEx cup here. It was a lively discussion and the day went by fast.

Both Minjee & Aditi started this round at -8 and played really well although didn’t gain enough ground to catch the leader Miranda Wang who ultimately won at -20. Still, it was great to watch the precision ball striking and accuracy of women’s golf at the professional level up close from the fairway. 

13,127 steps 

4.5 miles

 FM Championship 

Saturday August 30, 2025

As it turns out, this was the situation I had been hoping to avoid by becoming a walking scorer rather than a mobile Marshal at the FM. By that I mean, the predictability of knowing exactly when your teetime is was such a tremendous benefit to the walking scoring assignment. Today, however, it was like being back in MM scheduling having to awaken at 4:45 am and make the drive up to TPC Boston in order to arrive by 6:20 am. I quickly grabbed my scoring equipment consisting of the radio and handheld device (iPhone) and headed out to the 11th green where we left off last night. It was rather pleasant actually, no one else was around, all I heard was crickets. The three players, Porvasnik, Kang, and Phatlum arrived with their caddies, ready for the 7 am restart. Immediately, Jessica Porvasnik asked me to summon a rules official with my radio as she was concerned that her ball mark from the previous night had been moved. As it turns out all three balls had been moved apparently so that the greens could be rolled for resumption of play. A rules official determined the players could estimate their previously marked positions and play resumed. It was a rather peaceful and pleasant golf experience, although a little chilly at 55°.  Early morning mist was rising off the ponds and we could hear roosters crowing nearby. Managing the scoring system was becoming second nature, although constant attention was needed to log every single shot accurately. I got to chatting with Phatlum’s caddy who told me that her nickname is “Whin”, pronounced just like my name “Wyn”!  I asked if she would object to me mentioning we have the same name and he said go for it, she would love it, and she did! She and I later chatted about her terrific par save on 9, the last hole, which enabled her to make the cut at -3. She was ecstatic. Such a sweetheart.   

A disheartening moment occurred after Kang sent her shot wide left of the green at the par three 8th hole. She was dragging her 7 iron along the wooden walkway from the tee to green as she was +7 for the tournament. I thought any minute she was going to wing it into the pond off to the left but she held it together nicely. Not so sure I would have seen the same degree of composure a few years back at the FedEx Cup event, (I’m looking at you, Mr. Poulter).  I received a signed golf ball from Whin at the end of it all. Handshakes and thank you’s from Kang and Porvasnik.

Took my lunch to the car, very nice chicken sandwich and fruit cup all the while wondering if I would get an assignment for the afternoon as there was a surplus of walking scorers apparently. Brian did set me up with a good group although not marquee, with the exception of Megha  Ganne, recent winner of the Women’s US amateur Championship.

Also playing in this afternoon group teeing off at 1:42pm was Jin Young Ko, Korea & Yahui Zhang, China. For this third round, I was joined by a standardbearer, Scott, a terrific guy, chemist from Stowe, Mass. He didn’t need my help in posting the scores accurately and it was a good check and balance situation.

A little bit worried that an entire second round would be exhausting, but I was able to make it through successfully, ultimately 35 holes for the day. At the conclusion, had a great interaction with Ko’s caddy, a burly Australian dude who came up behind me, slapped me on the shoulder, and said some encouraging words, acknowledging my very lengthy day helping out with walking scoring, ending with him saying to those gathered round, “He’s a legend”!

Nearly 12 hours on the course

24,625 steps

8.3 miles

FM Championship 

Friday August 29, 2025

The prediction of rain for the entire day was an understatement. Ultimately, there were three thunderstorm delays, the first just ending when I arrived at TPC at 11:30am for my 1:10pm assignment. My players group included Jessica Porvasnik, OH; Haeji Kang, Korea; & Pornanong Phatlum, Thailand. 

I was then informed that our starting time had been moved back to 3:15! Two more rain delays would ultimately result in my assigned group not teeing off until 7 pm!

It was an unprecedented circumstance as everyone I spoke with had never experienced anything like it in all their years of involvement with the LPGA and PGA. The volunteer headquarters was jammed with us all seeking shelter. I met up with Mike from Travellers from two years ago and had a great lengthy chat about what he has been up to down in Florida, working at multiple tournaments as a walking scorer.  We both got to talking as a threesome with Brian Turbitt, Chairman of the walking scorer committee who has a very interesting background living on Nantucket as the town Finance Director. He has been involved with walking scoring going back at least 15 years to the FedEx cup era at TPC Boston.

As the hours dragged on during the delay, I went back to my car for a respite from the HQ bedlam. The restart for 5 pm was pushed back by the LPGA to 5:30, then to 6 pm.

Eventually play restarted at 6pm, with my group not scheduled to tee off until 7 pm.  When we all gathered at the 10th tee the players were surprisingly upbeat, I guess having been used to these kind of delays from past experience. The volunteers, on the other hand including the starter and myself couldn’t believe we were about to start a round of golf when it was nearly dark. We completed the 10th hole and teed off on 11 when the horn blue at 7:15pm halting play on account of darkness. Players marked their positions on the green and we walked back to the clubhouse cutting through the driving range area. During our long walk back, I had a great chat with Pornapong Phatlum and her caddy, both extremely pleasant people and very curious about my circumstances, background, history with walking scoring, etc. They both thanked me profusely for sticking it out to that late hour under trying conditions. I said goodbye to them at the parking lot where they all got into their courtesy BMW’s while I continued on to make my way home. I was fortunate that there was virtually no traffic driving back to the Cape on the Friday night of Labor Day weekend. Thank goodness since it poured rain for nearly the entire way.

The FM Championship

Thursday, August 28, 2025

I can sort of never get over how different it is to volunteer as a walking scorer at the LPGA FM Championship at TPC Boston than it is to be a mobile Marshal crew leader for the PGA. Part of the difference is the appearance of TPC Boston at this event, with the nearly complete absence of built-out infrastructure, far fewer corporate pavilions, grandstands, and vendor exhibits. Far fewer people in the galleries as well. But mainly, it’s the difference between the actual job of being a scorer versus a Marshal. Instead of walking inside the ropes with a crew of anywhere from 2 to 8 Marshals, I’m inside the ropes “alone”, just me and the three players and their respective caddies. We didn’t even have a standardbearer with us today. Since none of the players in my group were in the top echelon, we basically had the course to ourselves, virtually no gallery. It was only later when I watched the playback on Golf Channel that I saw that there were actually thousands in attendance, but they must’ve been on the other side of the course! It was a pleasant walk in the sun on a perfect late August Thursday. Of course, the responsibility of being the scorer required my absolute focused attention to record each and every shot from each and every position on the course and accurately enter it into the handheld iPhone scoring device. My player group consisted of Yahui Zhang, China; Kate Smith-Stroh, Detroit Lakes, MN; & Brittany Altomare, Shrewsbury, MA. They were all extremely pleasant to be around for 18 holes, introducing themselves to me at the first hole, both players and caddies. As volunteers we are instructed beforehand to not chat up any of the players in order to avoid distracting them, so there was no chitchat with them throughout the day. Although none of them scored really well on the leaderboard (the best of the bunch at the end of the day at even par), it was terrific to watch them play at such a high level from my vantage point in the fairway alongside them. I wasn’t absolutely certain I’d accurately recorded all 18 holes worth of golf for all the players (219 shots!), but once we got to the scoring area, everything matched up perfectly. All three players thanked me for my help, then it was a handshake and goodbye. I returned my scoring device and radio to Scoring Central and was reassured that the schedule for tomorrow was certain, (unlike last year!)