Tournaments Daily

So this is what exhaustion feels like? I have experienced a new type of tired... you know the kind where suddenly every word you speak becomes one, every thing your coworkers say becomes hilarious, and your body parts seem to serve various functions at whatever order they prefer. This was my second week on the road and after 7 events I could not be more thankful for the experience yet so even more thankful that its over!
It started Monday with a three hour drive to Bayville, VA for our second Drive, Chip, and Putt at an impeccable private club called Bayville Golf Club. We stayed busy and in the shade because of how stupid hot it got. But it was a fun day working with Liz at the driving range. It was also a super fun dinner at this bar and grill where I learned that Memphis bbq sauce equals vinegar. Yuck.

One of the most incredible clubhouses I've ever seen at Bayville!

I was stationed under that tent recording the scores that people out on the range in carts was reporting in to us. There's a grid we follow to see however far they drive the bar determines how many points they add up.

The next day we were up and out of the hotel before they were serving breakfast to get started another tournament at Northwest Golf Club.  But this wasn't just any tournament, this also had a DCP to follow. Every staffers nightmare, just as soon as you think you're done dealing with all of the kids you have to deal with twice as many for five more hours. But I got to work chipping this time and we almost made it through every single kid until the storm we had been holding out for all day finally rolled in and kept five girls from participating. Definitely frustrating but I'm glad we got to keep everyone safe. And I thought I was tired that night when I went to bed at 9:30... trust me it gets worse.

My station on the 10th tee at Northwest, where I got to see a mom and baby deer dart across the fairway!

Some of our tour usual's watching their friends compete at the chipping station.

Here was where players would have 3 chances to chip a ball onto our target like circles of points. We only had three golfers chip them in and we were surprised at the culprits that accomplished this!

We had another early riser at Laytonsville Golf Club, but we zipped right through this tournament. I don't know if I should give Slavy and all of our volunteers all the credit, but the day did go very well. We got to cruise right through the tournament and even got to play 9 holes that afternoon.

At this tournament I was able to register everyone for the day while watching everyone tee off of the first and tenth tee.

My job usually consists of me getting hit at. For the majority of tournaments I'm stationed on a hole watching where the golfers drive their golf ball. I'm usually on a hole where there is trouble and I'm there to help them find their ball and let them know how to go about playing their ball.

Wednesday was a perfect 75 degrees and sunny, it was hard not to be playing golf.

 

That night Clare and I were able to enjoy ourselves and go see the movie "Spy" right next to University of Maryland's campus. Which I have to say College Park is pretty neat, but they're definitely UofM crazy! The next day we had another early start and had a full field of golfers filling the course. This course had a really neat atmosphere: upbeat and ready to serve all of the junior golfers that made the course go round. A part of my job is being the person to announce the names of the juniors before they tee off. This is one of my favorite things to do because of the challenge of saying some very tricky names, and getting to interact with every player before they take on the course. It's pretty funny when you siblings playing together and they would rather beat each other up rather than the course. But again we had very difficult day of a tournament and then a DCP on top of that. It was a frustrating day to say the least, but it was one of those days that you can't say you didn't sign up for it. I got to work chipping again but this time it was with our Communications Director Eric. We scared off the rain again and got every players scorecard filled in and had to fight the temptation of stealing a few of those kids and taking them home with me because of how sweet they are.

This was the cute movie theatre we found in the heart of UofM.

University of Maryland Golf Course

The fist hole from the second tee. If you look in the background you can see the clubhouse.

Eric and one of our many Rickie Fowler look-a-like golfers.

Finally it was Friday in the office. It was a day where we all realized how tired we were and let it get the best of us. Bob wore a bee keeper bucket hat, Clare's advisor came into the office and thought my last name was Gouda, and no one could focus to save their life. But we got to try out some really great BBQ for a good cause at Mission BBQ. It's pretty big out here on the East Coast and I hope it makes its way to the Midwest. But I'm pretty sure I was more excited for the Cheerwine I found! Well it's finally the weekend and I'm recuperating and doing laundry. And I hate to admit it but I'm looking forward to a week in the office.

 

Sincerely,

Michelle