This Week Would Have Been Dick’s Sporting Goods Open

Every year I look forward to the Dick's Sporting Goods Open at En-joie Golf Club in Endicott. Chris and I volunteer at the event every year and we both truly enjoy it.

The Friday before the event, I usually take a vacation day from work and volunteer to drive rental cars down from the Binghamton Airport for the players to use the week they are here.

This past weekend would have been the weekend that I spend getting my house and yard ready for our visitors that week. We line the backyard like a parking lot and can hold 15 cars back there. We don't charge people to park there because everyone that parks at our house is either a fellow volunteer that we know really well, co-workers, or friends.

Yesterday would have been the first round of the Pro-Am. I've actually played in the Dick's Sporting Goods Open Pro-Am four times and each time it was a blast. When I'm not playing in the Pro-Am, I'm volunteering by keeping scores for one of the teams playing in the Pro-Am. Today would have been round two of the Pro-Am and the tournament itself would have started tomorrow.

Usually during the week of the Dick's Open, I take vacation Monday through Thursday, and work on Friday. Then Saturday and Sunday I'm volunteering as a walking scorer for the pros. We are the people that walk inside the rope with the golfers and the caddies. We use cell phones that are provided by the PGA that have the scoring system built into them.

The second a player hits the ball, we have to hit a button that says "shot shot" to keep track of the players scores. Then we have to click on whether or not the ball went in the hole. We also have to indicate where the player is hitting from, whether it's from the fairway, sand trap, the rough, the green, and so on. It's one scorer per group of pros, and usually they go out in threesomes so it's a lot to keep track of.

As soon as we register that a player hit his shot, that goes to the PGA, the scoreboards, the websites, and the television crews covering the event. So you don't want to mess up.

After play is over on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, our friends that park at our house usually stick around for some food and beverages around a fire on our patio. Each of them brings a dish to pass and we all have a great time. A couple of nights during the week, some of the PGA employees that we've gotten to know over the years, will join us at our house too.

As you know the Dick's Sporting Goods Open was canceled months ago, but I am definitely missing it this week.