PITCHCARE CLASSIFIEDS GOLF
The TPC Sawgrass Experience
Jonathan Kelly, greenkeeper at Ballyhaunis Golf Club, describes his time working as a volunteer at The Players courtesy of John Deere
Firstly, I would like to thank all the people involved in the Sawgrass Volunteer Programme. I would like to thank John Deere for sponsoring the programme, and also the GCSAI for giving me the opportunity to represent them in Sawgrass. I also want to thank Ballyhaunis Golf Club for allowing me the time off work while I was away, and the staff - Kieran, David and Martin, plus Paul McLaughlin from Tubbercurry Golf Club - for keeping an eye on the course.
To take part in the volunteer programme, I had to send in my CV and a letter as to why I should be chosen to go. Once I got through that stage, I was asked to attend an interview at Galway Bay Golf Club. A short time later I got the call to say that I was going to Sawgrass in May 2018.
The first part of the trip involved travelling over to Harrogate to meet the other volunteers that were going with BIGGA and to have our photograph taken at the John Deere stand. As it was my first time at Harrogate, it was great to see what was on display there.
I flew to Manchester on the 3rd of May where I met the other six BIGGA volunteers, and also the John Deere representative, Nikki McKenzie, who came with us. On the 4th of May, we flew to Orlando. We then drove to Daytona, where we stayed that night before travelling up to Sawgrass. We went to the dorms where we would stay for the next ten nights.
Everything that we needed was supplied at the dorms. Scotty from The Valley course made sure that everyone was settled before we went over to meet up at Sawgrass. The shuttle bus brought everyone over that evening where we had dinner and met the rest of the volunteers and Sawgrass staff. The very moment we drove in the gate I could not believe what I was seeing, the organisation of all the sheds and machinery was something I had never witnessed before.
As we had dinner, Lucas, the Course Superintendent, came around and had a chat
with the volunteers and talked about what his plans were for the week ahead. After dinner, we had a walk around the sheds, had a look at all their machinery and talked to some of the staff. We then headed back to the dorms for the night to get some sleep before the early morning start.
On the Sunday morning, everyone was up and ready to go at 4.00am. We got the shuttle bus to Sawgrass and met in the marquee. On the projector screen was our list of jobs for each morning for the week. My job each morning was cutting the fairways. Lucas explained our jobs and what he expected from everyone for the week. At 4.50am, we were heading for the course. To see over 110 staff leaving the yard at that time of the morning was something I have never seen before.
For the first hour, all that would be seen was the lights on machines moving. As soon as it got bright it became clear how good Sawgrass really was.
As the week went on, everyone got more efficient at their morning jobs. This was needed as there was very little time to get all the work done before play started. By Thursday, everyone knew what had to be done.
Once the morning jobs were done, we had breakfast at the marquee. This was a great time to meet people and talk about where they worked and the way they worked. After breakfast, we were free to do what we wanted. I
watched the golf everyday between the morning and evening shifts.
At 3.00pm, we would all meet up at the marquee and have dinner while getting our evening jobs. The jobs in the evening were varied and depended on what had to be done.
On the Saturday evening, my job was to help with the ‘Pink Out’ on the island on the 17th. This involved taking out the flowers that were planted on the island and putting in 5,000 pink flowers, all these had to be brought over by boat. We had it all done in three hours.
On Monday morning, the day after the competition, we got a chance to play ‘Nearest The Pin’ on the famous 17th island green. Even though it was dark when we started, it did not matter as we could still see the water splashing plenty of times. I was happy I hit the green but, unfortunately, not close enough to win the flag. Once this was over, we headed back to Daytona where we stayed for our last night before flying home.
To anyone thinking of applying for this opportunity next year, I would say it is definitely a once in a lifetime experience. You will get to meet a lot of people, make new friends and contacts from all over the world and also get great experience of tournament golf.
This article first appeared in Greenside, the official magazine of the GCSAI and is reproduced by permission.
144 PC August/September 2018
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