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They've seen it all

The strangest things directors have dealt with during tournament week

— Getting a player out of a fishing area after the gates had been locked at the end of the day. No one knew he was there.

— At a Coke-sponsored event, a spectator said in front of a large crowd: “You don’t want to drink that stuff, it will kill you.”

— Dealing with an earthquake and approaching hurricane in the same week.

— Volunteer drove off a cart path and flipped a golf cart which was being used for shuttling

players, destroying the cart and injuring himself. Thankfully, the cart was empty, other than the driver.

— Rescuing a baby owl that fell from a tree in the middle of play, and getting it over to the local zoo.

— Sixty people being pulled off the course for heat stroke. I thought I was in an episode of “M*A*S*H.”

— Dog-sitting by player services while the player played a practice round.

Photo by: Getty Images
— Eight inches of rain in one day.

— We had a hospitality sponsor’s brother-in-law get caught stealing salt and pepper shakers at the club. That certainly made for good conversation at the family Thanksgiving table later that year.

— An ill-scheduled “controlled burn” that rained ashes over tournament grounds, affecting broadcast clarity and irritating the eyes of players and patrons.

— First job as a tournament director was the week of 9/11, which occurred on Tuesday of tournament week. First time in 52 years a PGA Tour event was canceled, so going through that decision-making process was quite challenging and strange, all at the same time.

— Monster leaderboard collapsed.

— A golf cart on fire.

— Snow in the middle of summer.

— A woman claiming the dog she was carrying in her purse was in fact a service dog and should be permitted on the course.

— Bear running in the fairway.

— Saturday rain delay: Two girls jump in our pond and start swimming around, much to the delight of our male fans. They (the females) had to be handcuffed and taken away six minutes later.

— Snakes.

Source: Survey of PGA Tour tournament directors


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