This weekend is the FedEx Cup Playoffs in golf beginning with The Northern Trust at Liberty National Golf Club in New Jersey, followed by the BMW Championship back in my home state of Maryland at Caves Valley Country Club and then culminating with the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia. Golfers had to qualify for these playoffs and the last regular season event was the Wyndham Championship, in which Kevin Kisner got 500 FedEx points for his win after a sudden death playoff between six golfers, the largest in PGA history.
I was lucky enough to be part of the action at the 2021 Wyndham Championship. I volunteered as a Standard Bearer all five days and it was an amazing experience. I am very excited to see how this weekend plays out!
As a Standard Bearer, you get to walk behind the pros keeping score of their plays. You get a front row seat to the best in golf! In total, I walked 90 holes over the 5 days and the temperatures were in the 90s. I carried a four-pound sign for the full 18 holes each day, keeping track and updating the scores and making sure that the sign was visible for the fans to see. It was definitely a great workout! It was a hilly course, especially on the back nine. Growing up as a butterflier in swimming and a cross country runner gave me a great foundation of endurance and strength, that’s for sure! As a Standard Bearer, it is definitely important to know the rules of the game, which goes without saying.
The first day of the tournament is usually called Pro-Am. A day where every single player entered in the tournament is put into a "team." My first team was with golfer Kyle Stanley.
Th colors on the sign are significant. The color RED means under par, BLACK means above par, and GREEN is always even.
The next 4 days, the number of players were reduced to three and then two per day due to those who qualified. Although on Sunday, due to weather, we were back up to three. On Thursday, I was the Standard Bearer for Sean O'Hair, Harry Higgs, and Robert Macintyre. A solid day for these players even though we got caught in a massive rainstorm and had to evacuate the course immediately. On Friday, I was the Standard Bearer for Camilo Villegas, Sam Ryder, and Will Zalatoris. Another solid day with all of them making the cut for the weekend. On Saturday, I was the Standard Bearer for Kang Sung-hoon and Sebastian Munoz, both ending 9 under par. For the last round and final day, times were moved up due to possible weather, and I was the Standard Bearer for Matt Kuchar (from one of my favorite places, Sea Island), Alex Smalley (who was playing on his home course), and Johnson Wagner. It was a great day for them, ending 10 under par for Kuchar and Smalley.
After my last group finished, I was able to grab a front row seat on the 18th hole to watch the Wyndham Championship play out. For the first time in PGA Tour history, we had 6 players 15 under par—Grace, Kim, Kisner, Na, Scott and Sloan! Kisner won the tournament with a birdie putt.
Thank you to EVERYONE at the Wyndham Championship and Sedgefield Country Club, especially Frank Hughes, Kellie Rhoney and Lee for selecting me for this volunteer position. I absolutely loved it! It built an even bigger passion for the game for me and I can’t wait to be back again next summer!
Now let's watch John Rahm, Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka, and Jordan Spieth, and more rock the FedEx Cup Playoffs this weekend!!
Who will win the coveted FedEx Cup?
Comments