Volunteers brave long day to help golf tourney
Posted on Sunday, July 6, 2008
A 6: 45 a.m. tee-time isn't anything for the high-steppers who actually make the P & G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship golf tournament in Rogers go.
A little more daunting, perhaps, was the 12-or-so hour wait to see the one golfer most everybody here Saturday was talking about. Of course, those high-steppers we're talking about are the hundreds of volunteers that manage the game once players leave the clubhouse. They're the ones at the tee-boxes and greens with those menacing "quiet"sticks. They're the ones shagging those occasional errand shots out of bounds or down the ravines. They're the ones on the walkietalkies giving and taking orders - and we're not necessarily talking about cheeseburgers, either. Saturday surely tested their commitment to volunteering, which the LPGA bills as "a great way to have fun, meet new people and watch the best women golfers in the world. "Friday's five-hour rain delay left 72 golfers on the course when play was suspended for darkness. Back with rising sun Saturday, the volunteer army was at their stations when the first round continued shortly before 7. Just over two hours later, play was again suspended due to rain and lightning in the area. By 9: 20, 11 groups remained on the course from the first round.
When the second delay hit, these hardened volunteers who deserve a collective slap on the back could be found huddled around the tents set up on the far flung reaches of the 6, 238-yard par 72 Pinnacle Country Club course, which looks 10 times better in person than on CBS. Even on an HD.
Two hours later, around 11 a. m., six groups remained to finish their first round ! An hour later, the first round was done and eight groups had teed off for second round play.
By 1 or so, the crowds finally began to swell for the first time at this tournament's local venue.
Truly a treat for those of us in the 50-plus set was getting to watch ageless Jan Stephenson tee off on No. 10.
But if the fans were coming to see local hero Stacy Lewis (and they were ), they - like the volunteers - were in for a long wait Saturday.
Lewis, the former Arkansas Lady Razorbacks golfer, was scheduled to tee off on No. 10 along with Paige Mackenzie and Moira Dunn.
At like 5: 20 p.m.
But, hey, what's a 15-hour day to an avid volunteer, of which there are many troopers here.
By mid-afternoon Saturday when skies began to clear, nary could one be seen slacking.
They're not the most talkative. They hardly fraternize with the fans, not nearly as much as the lady golfers do anyway.
And they don't ask for autographs when they're in uniform - those blue LPGA polo logo shirts.
Given a preference where to work - and I don't think too many are given the opinion - you'd have to pick as plum assignments the driving range or the nearby No. 1 or No. 10 tee-boxes, where my old pal Gene Bland hung out Saturday.
Better still, you might pick the par-5, No. 18 green, where they take "quiet"quite seriously. That is to say more than once Saturday the volunteers looked up to the outdoor seating in the Platinum section next to the public bleachers and issued a firm "shush."
Obviously, that's where you'd want to station your retired law enforcement officers - around the 18 th green.
Then still, the best volunteer jobs - aside from driving the pros to the course in an air-conditioned shuttle - were the ones off to the side of the No. 18 green.
That's where always gregarious Judge John Scott and a couple of partners were perched at the leaderboard. His job was taking radio callins from around the course and getting the board updated. He had it made in the shade. But just like the rest of the volunteers, you wouldn't want to engage them in a whole lot of conversation. They're busy managing a golf tournament.
• • • Jim Hall is a part-time Sports Writer for the Benton County Daily record. He can be reached by e-mail at jimh @ nwanews. com. The opinions expressed are those of the author.
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