Those of you plugged into the world of golf know that this week is one of the big ones on the PGA Tour schedule…the fourth and final major of the season, the PGA Championship. If you’re a citizen of the Twin Cities metro (and especially the southwestern metro where Hazeltine National is located), you’ve also noticed the extra traffic, the added journalists, and all the glitz that goes along with a big-time tour production.
A long time ago, I paid the money to volunteer (yes, paying to volunteer…but with all the perks you get, you definitely come out ahead) at the tournament. Lots of the more desirable committees filled up really quickly (like my friend who got on the “Thru Boards” committee- they’re the ones who hold up the group-by-group scoreboards), so I got the “Tech-Check” committee. Doesn’t sound too bad, right? It’s worth three 4-hour shifts to have the grounds pass for the week? Well…
First, let me say something about the PGA Championship. If you have a cell phone, LEAVE IT IN THE CAR!!! Leave it at home! Throw it in Lake Hazeltine before getting to the gate, for all I care! You’ve seen the tickets, you’ve heard it on the news, and if you’re old-school, you’ve read it in the paper…there are NO CELL PHONES on the course!! If you do bring it to the gate, you get to come see me and the rest of my friends on the Tech Check committee. We’re all good people- we really are- but let’s just say there was a bit of a rush at the check-in desk. We started the day at around 7am with room to check electronic devices for 1,000 people…by around 10am, we had that thing full. It reminded me a bit of the primary elections during last year’s presidential race- we were finding any scrap of paper to write a claim number on since we ran out of stickers. I’m not sure if people really did forget they were carrying their phone, if they didn’t think they’d check that closely at the gate (the TSA-style metal detectors refuted that theory really quickly), or if they figured they could spin some story so they’d get let in with their phone, but I was stunned at how many devices had to get checked. Apparently this volunteering thing was going to be some actual work…
But enough of the griping. Being a volunteer certainly has its privileges. Not only do we get to park in our own dedicated parking lots and get shuttled right to the gate, but after we’re done working we get to walk around in our sweet volunteer uniform (easily the best golf apparel I own). When you walk around with an official-looking shirt with a badge, you get a little extra cred. People think you’re a little more important than you really are, and if you’re really lucky, another volunteer who drew the job of filling up the coolers for the players and the caddies at each tee box (lucky dog) might hook you up with an ice cold Aquafina water (and yes, that is a plug- you actually can bring in a bottle of water, but if it’s not Aquafina you have to take the label off). You get to see pros that most people haven’t heard of hit a few shots at the pin…then a few at a different area of the green…then their caddies write all kinds of notes in their books…yep, these practice rounds aren’t about seeing if you can shoot 65. They’re about dropping balls in different spots and hitting different clubs, trying to find that last little break in a green that can mean the difference between missing the cut and walking home with a six-figure check.
The highlights from Day 1:
-Angel Cabrera berating his caddie in Spanish after he missed the green on the par 3 8th;
-His fellow countryman Andres Romero knocking a 2nd shot within6 feet on the 572-yard, par-5 7th about 15 seconds after I said that someone would have to be nuts to go for that well-guarded green in 2 (but I’d still doubt someone would go for it during the tournament);
-Japan’s teenage sensation Ryo Ishikawa plus Ryuji Imada being followed by 7 Japanese photographers inside the ropes, by far the most I saw with any group (obviously, I didn’t see Tiger play)
My favorite moment, however, did involve the golfer formerly known as Eldrick. Early in the morning- around 6:30am- Tiger was warming up on the driving range. I was one of about two dozen people watching him start with pitch shots, then go to mid irons, then the fairway wood, and then the big dog. Also “spectating” was Kevin Roman, a player in the field. He’d hit his ball, then look over to watch Tiger hit one. He’d hit another one, try to pretend that Tiger wasn’t there…then look again. Finally, someone in the small crowd asked him what he thought it would take to win the tournament. Kevin hemmed and hawed for a couple seconds, then gave a nod toward Tiger and simply said, “Ask him.”
I’ll be back out there early tomorrow for Day 2…hopefully I’ll be able to get within 15 feet of Mr. Woods again. Just remember one thing…
LEAVE YOUR PHONE IN THE CAR!
