Pablo Lizano and Victor Wood, colleagues from the AEdG, and Elso Ayala, talk about their experience as volunteers in the PGA Tour championship, The players, who finally could not get to play this year due to the threat of the Covid-19.
Thank you for sharing your experience with everyone.
PABLO LIZANO
For me it was a short but incredible experience, both from the Greenkeeper and the player point of view. Having the possibility of being in one of the best tournaments of the year was amazing. I was impressed by the magnificent organization, putting the work of some 100 people into operation, including 60 volunteers. of different nationalities.
The work was distributed in pairs. During the week, the work I did in the morning was the blowing of the greens 10 to 18 before the mowing, and at the end, going back to the 10th hole for the blowing of antegreens after the mowing. In the afternoon shift I did the work of running the flymow mower on the slopes of the small greens bunkers.
The atmosphere with the field staff was great, it shows that every year they receive volunteers for the tournament, this is reflected in the fact that from your arrival on the field they make you feel like one of the staff, and both the superintendents and the assistants they are very close and you have direct contact with them.
It was a shame that the tournament had to be suspended, but the way in which the organization acted was very successful. With the first problems with the Covid-19, on Wednesday the 4th, they understood the situation and offered to come back earlier without any problem. After communication, on Thursday night, when the tournament was suspended, we received an email from the assistant, quoting us at 5 am on Friday, as any day of the week.
At that meeting we were thanked for the commitment we had with the organization and with the field. In addition, the superintendents stopped by to speak one by one and see what solutions we had to return to our countries as soon as possible, as well as the possibility of taking us to the airport to change tickets, or to keep our accommodation for as long as we needed.
As an extraordinary thanks they gave us the direct option to return next year, so without hesitation I accepted it and they confirmed my assitance, so I will attend The players 2021 to live the full experience of such a magnificent tournament.
Victor Wood
Participating in one of the best golf tournaments that exists today was a fabulous opportunity. Since we arrived the first day in Jacksonville, Florida, the hospitality for all the volunteers from the Agronomy Staff of TPC Sawgrass was great.
It is impressive when you put together a great maintenance team to carry out a tournament like this, with the only objective of preparing the course in the best possible conditions, for the best golf players in the world. We were about 60 volunteers who came from all over the world, many of them were in previous editions.
The field (Stadium Course) was in spectacular conditions, the weather was quite good throughout the week with temperatures hovering around 24 degrees, but with very humid mornings. My job during the week was cleaning the bunkers on the first nine holes and then raking them.
It was a huge shame that the tournament was canceled since we know that to prepare for a tournament, it is not only the maintenance of that specific week, but the planning of work and actions from previous months that have been developed so that the golf course arrive in these conditions.
Elso Ayala Cabrera
During the week of the tournament my first job of the day was to make a turn to the ring of the first 9 holes green and the putting green, in the afternoon I would repair chops in the fairways of the first round. The experience of sitting behind a Tee to see the players walking and chatting with their caddies during the practice rounds or being able to take a photo with some of the great golf stars was amazing.
Thank this incredible opportunity to the TPC Sawgrass Agronomy Team and, of course, to the Bellavista Huelva Club. And the greatest merit to my wife and family, for supporting me at all times in this dream.
Next year they will surely enjoy such a magnificent experience and they will share it with everyone again.
