Islanders help out at Chambers Bay
Published 11:41 am Friday, June 19, 2015
UNIVERSITY PLACE – Seventy-two Bainbridge Island golf enthusiasts from the Wing Point Golf & Country Club will have made the pre-dawn run to Chambers Bay by the end of the U.S. Open Sunday, a small segment of the large corps of volunteers staffing the historic event.
Led by PGA General Manager Jeff D’Amico, Bob Valentine and PGA golf pro Neal White, shifts of 12 to 16 volunteers will marshal the sixth hole in both morning and afternoon shifts for all seven days of the event, as well as the three initial practice round days.
Marshals will be responsible for tee access, fairway shot locations, patron crosswalks and green assignments.
Hole six, otherwise known as “Deception Point,” will play as a 500-yard par-4, with fescue surrounding a skinny fairway and green complex.
The PGA enlists more than 5,000 volunteers to help run the national championship, with most volunteers having their backs to the action taking care of large crowds.
Volunteering is far from an easy front row seat, White said. Event marshals are each required to pay $165 for two staff shirts and hat as well as commit to four six-hour shifts, with the early shift starting at 7:45 a.m.
So what drives the Islanders to commit to the punishing week of work?
“This is the event that puts the Pacific Northwest on the golfing map,” White said. “The state of Washington has some amazing golf courses that people need to come and play, including here on Bainbridge Island at Wing Point.”
Wing Point is the best maintained golf course in the county and gaining state recognition as well, he added.
“It’s an interesting layout with club history dating back to 1903 [and] the Open gives our members a chance to get away from the club while our clubhouse remodel project is in full gear,” White said.
