Knowledge of golf helpful but not required.
Golfer? I'm not and my best shot of getting in a real golf course is only as a spectator. On occasion and possibly out of desperation, my friends would tap me as the fourth in their foursome but only in a Par-3 course such as Robert Moses on Long Island. I'd do well sometimes but distractions are aplenty. With the beautiful Atlantic Ocean next to the course and the unruly nature genes in me going wild, I'd often wander away from the game and just watch that deer or the red robin or even pull out some snapdragons while searching for my ball in the rough. This can be irritating to the serious golfers and that's why invitations from my well-meaning friends come few and far in between.
Since I do much better as a spectator, we'll just stick to that. Through our friends Ruth and Judy, we learned about the volunteer openings for the 2009 US Open at Bethpage Black next month. This will give us the chance to help out the Long Beach Reach organization with $35 going to their charity funds for every shift we sign up for. And so we did.
There were openings for all sorts of volunteer tasks, and certainly I'll never be able to do the job of updating leader board scores, reading score cards or anything closely pertaining to the game itself; not in my lifetime. So the verdict is, just be a gofer at the concessions tent. And even that stresses me out already.
Last night during our orientation, an army of volunteers showed up in Farmingdale all attentive to the 1 1/2 hour training session, but many eager to get home in time for the season finale (or is it?) of American Idol. A 10-page manual of policies and procedures, do's and don'ts and job descriptions were enough to scare me. I can't be a beer pourer since I'm clueless as to how much head is enough, definitely not a cashier either even if the registers are equipped with templates to make life easier for the mathematically challenged. Go figure, for a chemist I can't decant and I also can't count. Hopefully I'll be assigned as a runner or product re-stocker where I don't have to use my pea brains anymore. This delightful age when organs start to fail!
Some very important rules to remember:
- Wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands...
- Be at least 18 yrs old to serve beer, and 21 to drink
- No cell phones & they mean it!
- No cameras (Ouch!)
- No ladders (?)
And the list goes on. Sounds tighter than airport security check, doesn't it?
It was intimidating, the crowd I mean; they all looked and sounded like professional golfers to me. Almost in unison they corrected the trainer when she said that we should be ready, for a huge crowd will be following Tiger and Phil and to that they all exclaimed, "Phil is not coming!" I didn't dare ask what that was all about. I had no clue until today. It turned out that the favorite Phil Mickelson suspended all his PGA tour schedule indefinitely because his wife Amy was diagnosed with breast cancer. I'm saddened to hear of that.
Lacking the glitz and glamour of other tents, and not exactly your kind of grillroom with a well-stocked bar, it will be fun to help out sell beverages and food at the PROM concessions tent for this spectacular event. Bethpage is the only public course to host a US Open. And Tiger will be there!
To be there at the 18th or 9th hole and get to see all the players and support a cause, that'll make me feel good.
