Today's assignment was marshaling holes #6 and #15 (the signature waterfall hole that they use the boom camera on during the 'bumper shots' into commercial breaks), and out on the course, it was pretty quiet all things considered...
Adam Scott won the long-drive championship on hole #6 with a blast that we estimated at 325 yards or so, and John Daly was second at ~315 yards...
The "Hey, I can do THAT" award went to Jose Maria Olazabal who topped one off the tee into the salad about 150 yards out on the left....
The subsequent "Hey, I CAN'T do THAT" award ALSO went to Jose Maria Olazabal who managed to dig his drive OUT of the salad with an approach shot that flew about 200 yards, setting him up for a 125ish yard approach shot into the green that he converted for par...amazing stuff...
That's the difference between the pros and us mere mortals...THEY make mistakes and then follow them up with brilliant recovery shots that salvage par or better...WE make mistakes, have an emotional breakdown, or a physical chokage and end up with a snowman or worse...
Oh, I forgot to mention, before I headed out to work with Tracy and the guys on #6, I headed out to the oak tree grove at the dogleg bend left on hole #1 to check out a few pairings...in EACH of the first three pairings, one of the guys dorked their drive...Davis Love III unfortunately found an oak tree squarely with his second shot, but proceeded to follow up with a dug-out approach shot that was about six feet from the pin...missed the putt for an opening bogey, but still...nice recovery, Davis!
Later on, David Toms pushed HIS drive into the oak grove, and had SERIOUS tree problems, but HE punched out and rolled it out onto the fringe for a par...HOWEVER, yours truly was on the SPECTATOR side of the ropes, and took the initiative to remove the rebar that the ropes are attached to, and lower the rope so David had a clear shot into the green...
After David worked his magic, I was replacing the rebar into its upright position (by jumping up and down on the "t"), and my left hand slipped off the rebar "t". There was a burr on the top of the rebar...holy smokes, I friggin' OPENED up my palm, RIGHT along my life-line...it was one of those gashy wounds that freak you out because it HURTS when the air hits it, but there's not much blood flow there, so you can see the flesh opened up, but it's not bleeding...creepazoid-city!
I actually had to FORCE it to bleed, so I could get it clotted up and glued back together...I stopped by those Porta-Sinks to wash my hand (PRAYING that they didn't fill it with recycled water), which was a religious experience when the water and soap hit my new self-mutilation...i finally got it calmed down, but I've now got a mini-stigmata in my left palm to show for my dedication to being Rent-A-Marshal on the spot...
Hole #15 was even QUIETER, as all the guys hit the green (yawn) with their drives...#15 is actually #6 (they reverse the hole order for this tournament) and it's the "signature hole" at Sherwood Country Club. It's a very scenic par-3 186 yard launching pad from an elevated tee, over a canyon with a lake and waterfalls and rocks and stuff in front of the green, with a big amphitheater behind the hole...
On a calm day, it's actually a pretty easy for the guys to hit the green, and today was one of those days...I was watching the USA feed when I got home this afternoon, and they said the guys were hitting 7 and 8 irons...OK, so you take 10 yards off for the elevated tees, and these guys are hitting 7 IRONS??? Geez - I'd be hitting an easy 7 WOOD 175 yards....
The National Weather Service says the wind is supposed to kick up to 15-20 mph tomorrow as a cold front begins to push southward from Oregon, so it'll probably be a BIT more exciting tomorrow, because the wind SWIRLS inside the amphitheater and makes that benign 186 yards turn into a snarling, angry cauldron of potential frustration where balls plop harmlessly into the lake guarding the green, or fly long and hit the big boulders that line the amphitheater and careen crazily all over the putting area...
They've lined the front edge of the putting service with a yellow line, so we're not going to be able to relive the magic of a few years ago when Davis Love's drive ended up on a small grassy ledge on the front of the rockpile that reinforces the green from the lake...Davis took a mighty swing with his lob wedge cranked FULLY open, and SOMEHOW managed to hit the ball basically VERTICALLY with enough forward momentum to land on the putting surface...sure, he bogeyed the hole, but if it were ME, we'd be posting Mr. Snowman, or Ms. Lollipop, or WORSE!!!
Now, onto the FUN part of the day, the time AFTER the round...I headed back to the putting green and driving range area to see who was out there, and attempt to deliver the "artans" and grips that I designed for the guys...
Davis Love was out on the driving range, languidly hitting low irons...joined by David Toms and Jose Maria Olazabal...Davis was looking quite serious and unapproachable today, so I headed over to the putting green to see who was there...
JACKPOT - Michael Campbell was out on the practice green, just DRAINING putts one after another...so I joined the line of seven year old kids waiting for an autograph on their hats, flags, programs and anything else their parents could jam into their hands to resell on eBay when the kids forget about the autograph...
Let's put it this way - my volunteer hat's brim is now RESPLENDENT with a silver-ink Sharpie autograph, and one professional golfer from New Zealand now has two REALLY beautiful golf grips, one with the New Zealand National tartan, and the other one that has "The Pride of New Zealand" tartan, shown at right. I customized the text for Michael's nickname, and incorporated his logo into the 'artan' design...I HOPE it was well-received...it appeared to be...
Even MORE interesting was a chance meeting with a prominent Hollywood personality (of Scottish heritage), who was spotted walking alone... we approached said celebrity, introduced ourselves and proffered a business card, and enjoyed a very brief, but very enthusiastic response to our products and designs.
THAT was fun...
More tomorrow - the Weather Service is continually refining their weekend forecast, and the rain seems to be getting pushed into a Saturday night/Sunday early morning event, so we might be able to dodge the dreaded winter rainstorm scenario...keep your fingers crossed....
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