The ORC had a fantastic presence at the RBC Canadian Open from July 24th to 30th, 2017!
Over 20 members Marshaled the 9th hole, aka “The Grassy Knoll”, at Glen Abbey. The 9th hole, normally the second for non-tournament play, is the #1 handicap hole on the championship course. The Open was exciting, featuring Fed-ex cup leader Dustin Johnson and other notables such as Bubba Watson, Adam Hadwin and Ian Poulter competing against one another.
In the end defending champion Jhonattan Vegas prevailed in a one hole playoff against Charlie Hoffman. As Marshalls, ORC members had a front row seat, inside the ropes!
In the words of ORC members:
“Volunteering on Hole 9 was hard work and great fun.” - Laurie L
“Thanks for the great week. Golf was outstanding. When they say "these guys are good"..... they really understate how amazing they really are.... I think that final bunker shot in the playoff...summarized the week.. ... Amazing” - Jim W
"This was my first year volunteering and I really enjoyed myself, even though I am not a golfer, as I confessed to many of you. It was my pleasure to meet and to get to know most of the "Grassy Knoll Gang". Thank you for your friendly conversations and for your patience with my numerous golfing questions, I learned a lot." - Valri F
“I chose to participate in the Marshalling experience as a way to support the ORC and push myself outside of my comfort zone. I was very nervous to give it a try and was surprised by the routines of the 'work' day. I enjoyed being "chute-girl" and have a new appreciation for the role of Hole Captain. I was very excited to hear that the Canadian Open will be held at Glen Abbey again next year and am seriously considering volunteering again, especially if I get to work with Co-captains Doug & Wei, and it helps support ORC.” - Janet G
“I thought I would share with you my autographed cap by Johnny Vegas during the Pro-Am. Who knew that he would make it into the playoff Sunday with Hoffman?!” - Mary C
Marshaling begins three days before the tournament officially starts with practice rounds and the Pro-am. This gives Marshals an opportunity to learn and practice routines, become familiar with the layout of the hole and get to know the 30 other Marshals working the hole. The tournament starts Thursday and the golfers turn serious. With Hole Captains Doug Mills and Wei Chin coaching, our Marshals were ready and performed admirably.
Our efforts did not go unnoticed by Golf Canada and the Marshal Committee Chair, Colleen Neil-Dal Bello: “This team on Hole 9 did an amazing job. You had to manage three different chutes from the green and crowds that love to see the action on the green and then 'run' over to #10 to see the Tee shot. Your collaboration with both #8 and #10 was excellent and you handled not one but two Crosswalks!”
Hole Captain and ORC member, Doug Mills is proud of the effort put forth by the volunteers: “Most of the members of the ORC are professionals or entrepreneurs and it shows. They are quick learners, critical thinkers and independent problem solvers. So given such good resources, it was inevitable we could accomplish great things.”
One of our marshals, Laurie Lynett has a souvenir ball from the final round. While marshaling on the green she was hit by an approach shot from Kramer Hickok. In her own words; “It was a lucky shot on several levels though. I was standing in front of two little boys on their knees and if I didn’t block-save that shot in the rear, rebound free I might add, it very likely would have hit one of those two little kids in the head. In fact, their Dad thanked me for "taking one for the team". Kramer was also grateful that I improved his lie and was really very warm and wanted to hug me and apologize. The crowd loved the whole situation and when he sunk the put, he turned back to me. I gave him two thumbs up to let him know that all was good and he handed me the ball. It was a nice gesture.”
ORC makes history. Never in the history of the tournament have tennis racquets (painted neon orange) been used to signal ball direction from the tee. We received many comments on the creativity from the PGA Tour players.
All in all it was a good week meeting new people, working hard and watching incredible golf. ORC CEO Jeff McCarroll says, “This makes the ORC experience more robust. Let’s do it again next year!”