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Published: August 6th 2007
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Flash as Michael Jackson
Looking very flash in our volunteer uniform. Well it's been quite a hectic week for us over here. The PGA Tour has been in Jacksonville at the Sawgrass Golf Club which is just down the road from us. Every year Sawgrass hosts 'The Players Championship' which is apparently a pretty significant golfing tournament which attracts all the big name players. I say 'apparently' because Fi and I aren't really huge golfers so didn't really know too much about it all until the tour arrived in town.
Through her work Fiona found out the you can volunteer to work at 'The Players Championship' which we thought would be a pretty good idea. I was a bit dubious at first, but it was a work thing for Fiona, so being the supporting husband that I am I signed up. We were both pretty happy with ourselves, volunteering our time for the benefit of the community; until we found out the it cost $70 USD per person to volunteer to buy the uniform - how lame is that!!!
So after forking out nearly $200 Aussie Dollars we were ready to rock 'n' roll. One of the other Aussies posted here (Jason) is a bit of a golfing maniac so
The Practice Green
This is Jason the other Aussie who volunteered with us in front of the practice green with Tiger Woods in the background. he volunteered with us which was good because he actually knew some of the players other than Tiger Woods (unlike Fiona and I) and could tell us who was who. We arrived for our first day looking very flash in our uniforms and had been allocated as 'markers'. This involved walking around with the players as they had their practice round and marking where they were on the course on a PDA which was then broadcast to huge TV screens so the crowd knew who was playing and where they were on the course. This wasn't too bad a job - Fi and I were allocated to Steve Stricker, Tim Herron and Brian Gay (his name amused me to no end....but I had to leave at the third hole). After the round they gave Fi a couple of signed golf balls for volunteering which was pretty nice of them (chatting up the Caddy must have worked!).
Although we had to fork out some of our hard earned cash (yes I am working hard over here), there were some benefits to volunteering. Our passes got us into the Golf all week regardless of whether we were working or not, so
Working as Markers
Here's Fiona performing her marking duties with the players practicing their putting skills. it was pretty much a free ticket. But the best part was that if you volunteered over 24 hours then they give you a free round on Sawgrass (which is worth about $350 USD) and we can bring three guests at half price, so the pressure was on to clock up the hours (not that I can play golf to save myself).
At this stage of the game, Fiona's work had conveniently interrupted her ability to volunteer so I was clocking up the hours every day while Fiona kept coming up with great excuses why she couldn't make it. Not really wanting to be there in the first place I was just stoked at this as you could imagine. Fashions on the field helped keep me entertained - Mr Green Pants (see photo) kept me amused, and one of the golfers decided that pink was in and had a pale pink shirt, black pants with a pink pinstripe and pink shoes. Hhhhhmmmmmm........hope that's not the dress standard when we play there.
After spending one day as markers we were working the rest of the week in the 'Benefactors Club'. It pretty much just involved checking to make sure
The 17th Hole
This is the 17th Hole - the place we worked is in the background to the slight right of the tee. The weather this day was pretty average (as you can tell from the photo), but it was still quite warm. people had the correct passes to get into the club - glorified bouncers really. This club was located directly behind the tee of the 17th hole which is touted to be the 'most famous hole in golf'. It is a short par 3 with an island green, completely surrounded by water. It's featured in a couple of golfing movies, and was probably the best place on the course to work. The first few days were pretty good as they were practice rounds and the first 36 were to cut the field down, so the crowds were pretty small. This left us to stand around doing not much and watching a lot of golf, which is great if you are into golf - pretty much bored the piss out of me.
Once or twice after work we went to watch some of the Aussies play. We were sitting on the 3rd Tee just as Peter Lonard managed to hit a 200 meter shot straight into the cup for a double Eagle on the 2nd hole. We didn't see any of it, although we did give him a 'C'mon Aussie' at the top of our lungs before played his shot on
Fashion in the Field
The golf fashion kept us amused throughout the week. Mr Green Pants here was a putter salesman peddling his gear on the practice greens. I guess some people will do anything to attract attention to their product, including wearing these pants!! the 3rd tee. That drew very angry glances from the silver haired golfing elite, so we decided to slink away.
The last day however was a nightmare for two reasons. Firstly the crowd was absolutely huge and getting stuck into the booze and making a bit of trouble which made our job increasingly painful. Secondly I was incredibly hung over and not really keen on standing in the sun for 6 hours. But Fiona said I had to go, so I did what I was told. After a long punishing day and me declaring I would never drink again about a million times the day finally drew to a close. In the finest tradition of Greg Norman all the Aussies choked and a yank won the competition. More importantly I finished with a total of 26 hours - Fiona had about 12........I'm now frantically collecting golf balls because I reckon it's going to take me a fair few to land one onto the 17th green. There may actually be another small island of golf balls before I'm finished. I have been inspired by the fashions on the field though and I think I'll have to break out my lime green safari suit and mustard flared collar shirt for our round - least if I play like crap I'll look good........
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mick
non-member comment
gold mate. keep them coming.