Friday Activities:
As Friday sunrise came so did the rain in Rochester. A steady warm rain fell for hours on Friday
morning making the Oak Hill course a muddy mess for the spectators and a
challenge for the competitors. I had the
12:00 PM – 2:55 PM draw for the first tee duties and I was excited to get going
as I had some big name players teeing off.
The best way to describe the feeling of being a tee
announcer is that it is a HUGE adrenaline rush.
I would approximate that there were thousands of spectators both in the
stand and crowded hundreds deep around the tee.
CBS came to me early and “miked” me up with a radio so they could talk
with me for a few of the bigger name players.
We did some test runs with a few groups and they start by having me give
the TV crews a 1 minute warning before we are ready to hit. To time the TV just right they give me a
count down from 10….9….8…until it’s time to announce. Once the ball hits the ground they give you a
countdown from 5 seconds to announce the next player.
There is a standard way to announce but each announcer may
have a slightly different way to start the announcement. I would start by saying…..”Ladies and Gentlemen,
this is the 1:55 starting time; please welcome from Hobe Sound, FL the 1999,
2000, 2006 & 2007 PGA Champion, TIGER WOODS!!
When I announced this group starting with
Davis Love III, then Keegan and finally Tiger the crowd roars got larger and
larger until it erupted with Tigers announcement. You really have to project your voice as loud
as possible for all the spectators as they are literally on your left, behind
you & on the right in the large grandstand.
What a rush! Loved it! Was so honored to be able to have TNT
announce my name on national television as the announcer and be able to do
this.
Following my duties at the first tee I shot a brief video
for the PGA of America for a National Committee that I chair for marketing and
member benefits. The video will be
placed on our website and be an introduction to some new, free marketing
materials that we have developed that will assist PGA members in promoting and
creating new players to their business.
I have had a great time being able to chair this committee that really
has done some great things to help professionals across the country to make
their job easier when creating flyers and promotional material for Print, web
and email. One of the things that we are
about ready to roll out is a customized weekly newsletter that PGA members can
use by inserting their own club information, tournament results, club news, etc
along with new weekly content from PGA.com.
You will begin to see this from our golf staff at Wilderness very soon.
Channel 10/11 did a quick remote interview regarding the
championship and I did my weekly radio program with 93.7 The Ticket where I
talked with Mike Welch about what’s been going on at the Championship.
Needless to say a very busy day and lots of fun for my
entire family as they got to watch some great golf, especially from the 18th
Hole grandstand behind the green. The 18th
hole very well could decide this tournament just from the sheer difficulty of
the hole!
Oh…..if you didn’t take notice, Jason Dufner lit it up all
day and had a putt for a course record 62 on the 18th hole. He unfortunately left it about a foot short
but the gallery was cheering hard for him to make it.
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