AT&T National: Report #1

I mentioned awhile back that I was on the volunteer committee for the upcoming AT&T National (what was known a month ago as the "Tiger Woods" Tournament... before he broke his leg and tore his ACL)... working the driving range... well, today was my first day "on the job".. here's the scoop:

I got to the range at 6 am and met my team. It's me... a 32 year old guy and a bunch of retired 65+ year old men. Which is cool... me and old dudes get along famously. I guess it's because I'm a bit of a throwback... happily married, go to church, wife stays at home with the kids, I'm respectful, yet self-effacing... oh.. and I can talk politics with the best of 'em. So... old guys love me... never had any issues there.

OK... so the cool part about working the range is that you get to see a pretty unique view of the players. Today was just a practice day and the first guy on the practice tee was Ben Crane at about 6:15. Never heard of him... right? Well, the dude has won $1.2 million for 6 months of work thus far this year (and $8 million over the past 4 or 5)... not too shabby. And that's what you learn quickly, these guys are ridiculously good at what they do... they are incredible at golf... every last one of them.

Then over the course of the day, essentially everyone came out... I'm only a casual golf fan, but I recognized Corey Pavin, Fred Funk, Jesper Parnevik, KJ Choi, Billy Mayfair, Stuart Appleby, (current Masters Champ) Trevor Immelman and (former Masters Champ) Mike Weir. Fred Couples, Jim Furyk, Rocco Mediate and a bunch of others are supposed to be there... but haven't seem them yet.

Here's the deal with the players... they all seemed pretty cool and signed lots of autographs for the kids. Their caddies seemed like a lot of fun, too. But the cockiest dudes out there are the manufacturer reps. What happens is that the golf equipment companies are there all pimping their products to the golfers.... Titleist, Adams, Callaway, Ping, etc, etc, etc. Well... those dudes' heads are so ginormous... I don't know how they hold them up. I had to ask one dude a question... and...wow... he was just so arrogant.... I think it's because I didn't follow "procedure".. with "procedure" of course meaning a slight genuflection and kissing of his 'ring' before speaking. There's a word for guys like this... but I'm not about to put it in writing. I can't wait to ask him another question tomorrow.

Anyway... more to report tomorrow. Kelly is going to be bored by these posts. But guys will like these... guaranteed.