Category: San Diego sights

Once again, I spent five days in late January at Torrey Pines Golf Course working as a “hole captain” during the Farmers Insurance Open. It was my 6th year as a volunteer marshal, 3rd year as a hole captain, and 1st year on the 9th hole on the South Course (9S).

As a hole captain in 2016 and 2017, I had been assigned to a 214-yard par-3 hole on the north course and oversaw a crew of 4 marshals. At 614 yards, 9S is 400 yards longer and “my crew” consisted of 19 marshals, swelling to 27 on the weekend, as we were joined by marshals who had worked North #9. (Both courses are used in the pro-am and before the cut, with the final two rounds taking place only on the South Course.)

This year, as you might infer, was harder. It was more difficult physically and more complicated logistically. The job of a hole captain is to help make the experience of each marshal as pleasant and satisfying as possible. You make sure they get lunch, that they have bathroom breaks, that they get to do different jobs on the hole, etc. You also train them, give advice, answer questions. Seven of my 19 marshals were rookies, their first time as a marshal.

The physical aspect of 9S that is challenging for a hole captain, as well as for any golfer on the hole, is its length. As a golf challenge, it is not difficult for any reason other than distance. As hole captain, I walked around to each marshal’s post all day. The app on my iPhone reported that on Wednesday, the first day and the pro-am, I took 16,091 steps, covering 6.4 miles, and climbed the equivalent of 15 floors. Numbers were lower in subsequent days, but, in total for the 5 days, I took 56,072 steps, covered 21.8 miles, and climbed 42 floors.

When I wasn’t walking, I was standing. I would estimate that, over the course of the 5 days at the hole, 8-10 hours each day, I sat for a total of less than 30 minutes. This, I guess, is my annual workout.

As with other events at which one works, the focus is more on the immediate, “little” things than the overall event. Marshals seek to manage the fans, providing golfers with quiet and space to do their job well. We also aim to make the experience enjoyable for fans as well, usually by trying to manage those fans who are loud and obnoxious.

The big difference this year was, surprise, Tiger. For marshals, it was not due to his golf, but because his return to golf and to this tournament attracted people. Crowds were not large overall on Thursday and Friday, though his crowd was much larger than anyone else’s. Even though he was not in contention on the weekend (he barely made the cut), the number of people following him was larger than that following Phil Michelson and the leaders’ threesomes combined.

But it’s not just the number of people. There are many people who follow Tiger because they want to see him play golf. There are many other people who follow him because of his celebrity. Those people do not seem to care about the etiquette of golf, or much about etiquette at all.

I was not present at the time, but at #9 North on Friday, Tiger’s errant tee shot resulted in a situation that made the local news. His drive went into a section “outside the ropes” and amongst the crowd. Fans surrounded the ball and, despite the efforts of 7 marshals and 4 San Diego police officers, no one would move to permit Tiger to play his next shot. They only moved when Tiger’s caddy shouted out that Tiger would not continue play until everyone moved to the other side of a cart path.

On Saturday, he was to finish his round on our hole, having started on #10. As it would happen later in the day, it would mean maximum crowd. Adjacent to the area where most drives land on 9S, the space for people on the right side of the fairway was narrow, because of fencing around a corporate tent. If Tiger hit one outside the ropes there, we foresaw calamity. As his arrival at the hole approached, more than 20 marshals from holes that had finished regular duties, arrived at 9S to help. I basically just asked them to be a “command presence” alongside the ropes in the landing area. They would also add to the number of marshals and other personnel who could help control the crowd, if we had to move them.

Standing in the fairway awaiting Tiger’s drive, I watched the marshal whose job was to indicate the direction of the drive. His paddle was straight up, Tiger hit, and the paddle then moved up and down repeatedly, indicating straight. Drive landed in the fairway. Problem avoided.

Sunday was the start of a heat wave, and it also featured Santa Ana winds, the hot, dry, strong winds from the interior. Because a couple of marshals were taken from my hole for other duties, I spent the day on the right side, at the landing area for drives (just about the same spot as in the photo above). Over the course of the day, 7 or 8 golfers’ drives were pushed by winds over the fence around the corporate tent. As marshals, we were to report the fact to the golfer as he arrived and secure a place where he could get a free drop and make his next shot. A PGA rules official would arrive and ask us to confirm the drive had gone over the fence and to indicate about where it had done so. Then we stopped people walking from either direction toward the spot and cleared an area for the shot.

The tournament ended in a tie between Jason Day and Alex Noren. They played five playoff holes Sunday, remaining tied, before darkness forced postponement. Focused on “my job” and really looking forward to getting home, I had left and was unaware of the situation until the next morning when I picked up the paper in my driveway. (Is that old-fashioned or what?) I watched the playoff on TV a little while later and saw Day win by two strokes on the first hole.

This year’s experience was distinctive. More difficult, more intense. In some respects, more interesting. I won’t be a rookie on this hole next year, so I look forward to it all again. Here’s a gallery of images, a mix of screenshots from television and my photos.

 

 

 

Last week, Wednesday-Sunday, I was a marshal at the Farmers Insurance Open, the PGA tournament at Torrey Pines Golf Course. This was my fifth year as marshal, and second as hole captain. Some of you may recall that last year’s tournament was a bit hellish, with a strong storm on Sunday requiring suspension of play and a Monday finish without spectators for safety reasons. As the photo above attests, the weather this year was much kinder. Indeed, it was Chamber of Commerce-quality — sunny and in the 70s on the weekend.

(I should point out that the title of this post has no relation to my play of golf. I might achieve par on a hole or two, but the closest I’ve ever come to “par for the course” was an 86 and that was long ago.)

I was assigned to the par-3 8th hole on the North Course, Wednesday-Friday. Last year, I was on #17 North, which is the same hole. ?? The North Course was redesigned last year by Tom Weiskopf and, in the process, the nines were switched. So hole #1 became hole #10, etc., thus #17 became #8. On the weekend, I served on #8 South, also a par 3.

Those of you who are golf fans likely know that this year’s tournament featured the return to the field of one Tiger Woods. He played in Wednesday’s pro-am, where amateurs pay big bucks to play alongside the professionals. Wednesday is also the day when cameras are permitted.

The photo above is of the green on 7 North. Tiger, center, is about to putt. Another feature of the pro-am is occasional opportunities for food. Par-3s are especially popular for those, because there is frequent backup of players, hence more time for food. We had a vendor who provided fish tacos. Many gave them praise, but we worker bees were not permitted to indulge. At right, Tiger gives an autograph to a young man, whose dad worked at the stand. The kid, named Isaiah, just about got every player’s autograph.

Golf fans also know that Tiger did not make the cut and didn’t play on the weekend, much to the chagrin of tournament sponsors. Tiger brings eyeballs to the broadcasts and feet to the course, all adding up to money. That might seem crass, but all profits from this tournament go to local charities, and his absence, as well as that of several other big-name players who failed to make the cut, hurt. He is far less a player than he once was, but he remains the most popular figure in the field.

The vast majority of players in the field attract a quite small number of fans who walk along the course with them. The two most common questions tournament marshals receive are “Where’s Tiger?” and “Where’s Phil (Mickelson)?” The answer always is “Look for the crowds.” Below was the scene as Tiger left the 8th tee during the pro-am, when attendance overall was the smallest.

For those who enjoy the scenery as much as, if not more than, the golf, 8 North was nice. This was the scene in late afternoon.

Hole captain is essentially an administrative position. You provide information to the marshals assigned to your hole, manage their individual assignments, call in lunch orders, request transportation when the round’s over, keep track of who shows up, etc. I lucked out this year with four gentlemen I had not met before, of whom three had not marshaled before. Each was different as a person, of course, but all were dependable, hard-working, and amiable.

In the obligatory, it seems, small-world department, one marshal, Steve Orenberg, had moved to La Jolla just last summer, from Boston’s North End. Even smaller world, he had grown up in Brookline, where younger daughter Julia and I lived 2000-08, and had gone to the Devotion School in Brookline, same primary school Julia attended.

I mentioned the nice views from 8 North, the tee of which may be the highest point on the course. Spending the weekend on 8 South was equally nice in terms of view (photo at top of post), and better in terms of warmth. I had told my newbie marshals that the environment on the South Course, compared to the North, was not unlike the difference between Little Italy, the mecca for young professionals in San Diego, and Fallbrook, where I live, which is more “horse country.” The South Course has the corporate tents and “watering holes” and, as a consequence, the crowds.

8 South was adjacent to the 19th hole, sponsored by Grey Goose. Each morning, at 9:30, the doors of that facility would swing open and a crowd of viewers, with drinks in hand, would come out to the stands to watch the golfers. While somewhat raucous at times, the crowd was generally well-behaved. Often the most noise came when people betting on which color bib worn by the caddies stepped on the green first were encouraging their choices. “Come on, Red!” “Hurry up, Blue.” “Yay, White!” I could see handfuls of cash being exchanged. As you might guess, the noise increased as the day wore on.

Below is an aerial view of #8 South. It’s just a photo of what they showed on TV. Tee is at lower left.

The biggest name left in the tournament on the weekend was Phil Mickelson, who lives in nearby Rancho Santa Fe. He ended up tied for 14th. Late in the final round, it appeared likely the tournament would require a playoff, as several players were tied for the lead and others one stroke back. But Jon Rahm, a 22-year-old graduate of Arizona State, from Spain, shot a 30 on the back nine, finishing with a 60-foot putt for an eagle on #18, to break it open and win by three strokes. It was his first title and he is the youngest to win the Farmers. I was driving home at the time, and watched it later on TV. Still pretty exciting.

Here’s a three-minute collection of final round highlights, and it includes scenes from #8 South.

Just so you know the players were not the only ones active on the course, the “Health” app on my phone tracked my movements. (I only learned about its presence on my phone a short time ago.) Over the five days, I walked a total of 41,957 steps over a distance of 16.7 miles and the equivalent of 42 stories. That is substantially above my normal pace of activity. Time for a rest!