Thousands of spectators from all over the area came to witness many of the world’s best golf players and caddies tackle the challenge of Congressional Country Club’s Blue Course at the AT&T National Tournament this past week.
However, many spectators may not have noticed the 2,000-plus volunteers from the greater Washington, D.C. area who took time out of their week to help run this production. Locals took various positions as marshals, standard bearers, walking scorers and driving range officials, among many other jobs necessary to make a tournament run smoothly.
"As a spectator I didn’t think much of the volunteering and the number of volunteers it takes to run the tournament," said Mike Cerda, a walking scorer from Northern Virginia. "Now I have much more appreciation for them and for the work the caddies do on the course."
Volunteers like Richard Robb have been working inside the ropes since 1989. He even witnessed Greg Norman’s eagle on No. 1 at Avenel back in the days of the Kemper Open.
"I’ve always done it every year. I take a week off of work because I just like golf," said Robb, who was a marshal this year. "It’s interesting to hear the players before they start; it’s just like a day at work for them."
MANY CHILDREN from all over the Washington area volunteered as standard bearers in the tournament, holding a sign behind each group of players so that spectators can see where they stand in the tournament. It is the only opportunity for anyone under 18 to volunteer in the tournament.
"It’s cool to get to be right up with the actual players and inside the ropes," said Ford Martin, a rising ninth-grader at Georgetown Prep. Throughout the week Martin walked alongside many golfing notables including Bubba Watson, Justin Rose and Jesper Parnevik.
Congressional member Russell Gagarin spent the week coordinating the standard bearers, which required many hours of preparation before the tournament.
"It’s been busy, but very worthwhile. The kids have been great and I’ve gotten good feedback from parents about their experience," Gagarin said. Gagarin himself was a standard bearer in the 1980, ’82 and ’83 Kemper Open tournaments, and he has been to seven U.S. Open Tournaments. He was impressed with how the AT&T National functioned just four months after it was announced.
"From my experience, this seems to be a very big production that came together quickly and the [tournament organizers] did quite a good job," Gagarin said.
Some of the standard bearers from the Washington, D.C. participated in The First Tee, a World Golf Foundation initiative dedicated to giving children of all backgrounds an opportunity to develop through golf. Alex Steward, a member of the First Tee program, had his second experience as a standard bearer.
"There was a lot more people at this tournament and the atmosphere was more intense," said Steward. "The pace of play was faster here because these are top-of-the-line players."
James Kettler, 13, of Bethesda, was the standard bearer for the group with PGA golfer John Daly on Friday, who missed the cut after ending the day at eleven over. Passersby repeatedly asked Kettler about how many cigarettes Daly smoked during the round. Kettler shrugged off the questions.
"I heard he smoked so I kind of expected it," Kettler said. "It was cool to get really close to the players."
ONE OF THE PERKS of being a standard bearer is the chance to see how the players act during a round of golf that can last up to five hours. As a standard bearer, Potomac resident Christina Norair got to see the emotions going through Stuart Appleby and K.J. Choi as she walked alongside the leaders in their final round of the tournament on Sunday afternoon.
"Appleby looked really nervous to me. When he was putting he took a long time every on short putt. Especially as a leader I would have thought he would have been more confident," said Norair. "Even after the round he was nice, he took the time to sign a golf ball for me and thanked me for being a volunteer. He seemed really genuine."
Larry Newman came to town this week from New Jersey to help out as a marshal on the ninth hole.
"It was great to see Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk. You see them on TV all the time, so it was great to see them in person," said Newman.
His friend Arnold Westerman, from Potomac, has been a marshal for the past six years when Professional Golf Association tournaments come to Washington.
"The high-level field makes it more exciting than previous tournaments; there’s been a lot of charged energy in the atmosphere throughout this week," said Westerman.
Montgomery County Police Officer Rupert Curry also helped at the tournament, guarding the putting green and escorting various players when needed. He escorted Tiger Woods in the Wednesday Earl Woods Memorial Pro-Am tournament. Curry also escorted Woods when he played in the 1997 U.S. Open, also at Congressional.
"The crowd was definitely larger this year," said Curry. "I think it’s great for the D.C. area to have this type of an event. … I don’t think we had this many people on the final day of the U.S. Open."