As with all events, preparation began many months ago. One of my main responsibilities was collecting biographies from the juniors who would be participating alongside donors for this event. The players enjoyed reading the junior bios on our website and we were excited to highlight their accomplishments thus far. We also had quite a bit of work to do the day before the tournament as we loaded our company van with all kinds of supplies: tents, tablecloths, easels and on-course giveaways thanks to the U.S. Open.  

On the day of the Foundation Cup, July 24, staff arrived at 8 am for set-up. Between registration, giveaway holes, tournament info sheets and the tee gift tent there was a lot to do! Thankfully, our team, committee members and Mission Viejo CC staff executed efficiently, and we were fully organized by the time the first juniors arrived on-site.  

By 9 am, registration, the auction table and the Palm Golf Co. setup were ready to receive the attendees for the tournament, and everyone on staff was assigned to a specific role throughout the day. While some staff were taking care of different roles at registrations, others were making sure everything else on the course was ready for our shotgun start at 11 am. After everyone had picked up their amazing giveaways from the Palm Golf Co., which included gifts like polos, hats, towels and utility bags, they mostly headed to the range for warmup. 

At 11 am, everyone rolled out from the clubhouse towards the hole to which they were assigned, each foursome ready with their juniors to have a great day of golf in sunny SoCal. During the tournament, our staff was distributed in different roles, whether it was on the course or with other tasks, ensuring that the event ran smoothly. We had all kinds of different activities on the course, including closest to the pin, beat the scholar and a hole in one competition. From what I heard, most people had a lot of fun playing against our Assistant Director, Lauren Fesler, trying to beat her on a par-3. Additionally, players and juniors received some great giveaways, such as SCGA Foundation hats and U.S. Open memorabilia. Since I was mainly stationed at hole 16, giving out the U.S. Open giveaways, I heard how almost everyone was amazed by this giveaway and relieved they didn’t have to compete against someone for it. 

As the tournament wrapped up, all the players headed to our reception to enjoy great food and share their experiences throughout the day. During the reception, the staff helped get everything ready to wrap up the scoring for the tournament, announce the raffle and auction winners, and mainly recognize the Foundation Cup 2023 winners. 

 As the tournament finished, some of the staff started to do some course cleanup and gather all the material used throughout the day so we could all enjoy time at the reception with the players and juniors. Throughout the event, it was a great success thanks to all the staff involved, making the overall experience enjoyable for everyone attending. 

En cuanto me encontraba caminando hacia la entrada de Los Ángeles Country Club, mis nervios desaparecieron, solo para ser reemplazados por orgullo y entusiasmo por esta gran oportunidad, gracias a la Fundación de SCGA Junior Golf. Fui directamente a la carpa con productos en venta para obtener mi kit de voluntario y me sorprendió el tamaño de esta. Se encontraba llena de productos de más de 70 marcas. Después de explorar más a detalle y ver algunas de mis marcas favoritas, salí para buscar el lugar donde estaría apoyando. Logre de alguna manera encontrar mi camino a través del campo dónde se encontraba el range, los servicios para jugadores, los servicios de caddie, el gimnasio y otros servicios para el torneo.

Para mi primer rol, me asignaron ayudar con los registros de los caddies. Ayudamos a llenar una bolsa de marca con algunos obsequios como termos, estuches para puros, toallas de la USGA, la revista del U.S. Open y otros obsequios adicionales. Todo esto se hizo dentro de una carpa de hospitalidad designada para caddies, entrenadores, agentes o cualquier otro personal adicional de los jugadores. La carpa tenía un excelente ambiente con comida, bebidas, barber shop, mesa de ping pong y televisores que mostraban el Campeonato RBC Canadian Open.

También tuve la oportunidad de ir a buscar algunas credenciales en el área de recepción de jugadores y fue increíble ver toda lo que tenían para recibirlos. Más tarde ese mismo día, recibí una credencial para el área de recepción de jugadores y me aventuré a esa área privada. Cada jugador recibía una bolsa de marca con todo tipo de obsequios, incluida una selección de vinos para que los jugadores escogieran su preferencia. El área de recepción estaba muy interesante, además de una mesa de ping pong y una canasta de mini baloncesto, había un mago y una estación en el lugar donde los jugadores podían firmar carteles y otros recuerdos del Sur de California, como una tabla de surf. Mi parte favorita fue una pared que destacaba la cantidad de U.S. Open a los que ha asistido cada jugador que participa ese año; por supuesto, las 32 apariciones de Phil Mickelson estaban por arriba de todos.

El lunes comencé mi primer rol de tres como ‘marshall’ en el hoyo 5. El trayecto para llegar al hoyo 5 fue toda una aventura en sí misma. Primero, tomé un servicio de transporte desde un estacionamiento cercano a UCLA y luego comencé a caminar ya que el hoyo 5 era el más alejado de la entrada. Una vez que llegué a la mesa de salida, me encontré con mis compañeros de SCGA y nuestro capitán de hoyo, quienes nos explicó las diferentes estaciones a lo largo del hoyo y el horario para las rotaciones durante el día.

Como ‘marshall’, nuestro rol era rastrear y marcar las bolas mientras se aseguraba de que los espectadores estuvieran detrás de las cuerdas en los momentos de juego. El rol más importante en ese hoyo era sostener las paletas detrás de la mesa de salida. Con el hoyo a casi 500 yardas, pude presenciar muchos drives de más de 300 yardas de cerca, mientras que aquellos con las paletas observaban a los jugadores salir e indicaban hacia dónde se dirigía la pelota para que otros ‘marshalls a lo largo del hoyo pudieran marcar dónde aterrizaba si salía del fairway.

Muchos jugadores tuvieron problemas en este hoyo durante las rondas de práctica. De hecho, una historia que circuló durante el torneo fue sobre cuando Ben Hogan estaba dando el primer golpe en la mesa de salida y su caddie señaló hacia las cuatro palmeras que se encuentran al final del hoyo y dijo que se apuntara hacia ellas. La respuesta de Hogan fue “¿A cuál?”. A los fans les encanta esa historia, y debo haber escuchado versiones de esa historia al menos veinte veces durante mis tres días en ese hoyo.

Mis tres días en el hoyo 5 fueron únicos y diferentes cada uno, el miércoles tuvo la menor cantidad de jugadores en el campo, ya que asumo que se lo tomaban más con calma antes del comienzo del torneo. Fue increíble estar tan cerca de algunos de los mejores golfistas del mundo. Algunos de los jugadores más importantes que vi fueron Brooks Koepka y Dustin Johnson saliendo del hoyo 8, Matt Fitzpatrick (Campeón U.S. Open 2022.) golpeando desde el rough (marqué su bola) y Rory jugando con su grupo de 20 o más siguiéndolo.

Algo adicional a la experiencia de estar en el campo fue hablar con los fans y otros voluntarios, de quienes me contaron muchos datos divertidos sobre LACC, desde el rumor de la enorme casa de Lionel Richie junto al green en el hoyo 4 hasta los sonidos de pavorreales y monos que provienen de lo que era la mansión Playboy detrás del hoyo 13. También hubo mucha gente hablando sobre el rough y la controvertida configuración del campo de LACC para este U.S. Open. Muchos fans pensaron que el campo parecía fácil; otros predijeron que sería muy complicado a medida que avanzaba el torneo.

Todos tenían su propia opinión sobre qué palo usar en cada hoyo y parecían tener mucha confianza en sus habilidades. En general, la mayoría de la gente quedó especialmente impresionada con el hecho de que un campo tan prestigioso como LACC podría estar en medio de una ciudad como Los Ángeles. Al ser originario de la Ciudad de México, estoy acostumbrado a tener un par de campos de golf en áreas urbanas y no lo había pensado tanto, pero asistió gente de todo el mundo para ver este torneo y muchos nunca habían visto este contraste tan increíble.

Throughout the entire week, the SCGA Junior Golf Foundation made a concerted effort to be active in and around Los Angeles to share information about its important work and the FORE YOUTH 2023 U.S. Open Community Legacy Campaign. With that in mind, I spent Friday morning at U.S. Open Showcase, an interactive fan experience hosted at the Century City Mall. This was a fantastic space with different amenities such as a pop-up merch tent, a golf simulator, celebrity appearances, live music, the EA Sports PGA tour experience, and a screen to watch the tournament live. Fans could even take photos with the trophy!  

A lo largo de toda la semana, la Fundación SCGA Junior Golf hizo un esfuerzo de toda la organización para estar involucrados a través de Los Ángeles y sus alrededores para compartir información sobre su importante trabajo y la campaña FORE YOUTH 2023 U.S. Open Community Legacy. Con eso en mente, pasé la mañana del viernes en el U.S. Open Showcase, una experiencia interactiva para fans organizada en el Century City Mall. Este fue un espacio con diferentes activaciones, como una pop-up shop con productos del torneo, un simulador de golf, algunas celebridades, música en vivo, la experiencia del EA Sports PGA Tour y una pantalla para ver el torneo en vivo. Los fanáticos incluso podrían tomarse fotos con el trofeo del U.S. Open 

La mañana fue un poco lenta ya que la mayoría de la gente estaba más interesada en llegar al campo de golf, pero más tarde platicamos con mucha gente en el stand de la SCGA. Compartimos los beneficios de una membresía con la SCGA y cómo los padres pueden inscribir a sus hijos en nuestras sesiones de golf en verano que comienzan el 9 de julio. ¡También tuvimos una interacción divertida al ser entrevistados por algunos pasantes de FOX Sports! 

Mi última asignación fue el domingo del cierre de Campeonato, estaba emocionado de ser parte de este día. Aunque originalmente estaba programado para el seguimiento de jugadores, terminé en las gradas entre los hoyos 9 y 18 para ayudar con el control de fans. Los fans comenzaron a reservar asientos a las 2 p.m., aunque el torneo no terminó hasta las 7 p.m. Fue realmente especial escuchar los aplausos a cada jugador en el hoyo 18, independientemente de su posición en la tabla. Todos los jugadores estaban muy agradecidos por el apoyo, a pesar de no obtener los resultados que esperaban. Ver un torneo tan grande en la recta final fue una experiencia increíble. La energía de los fanáticos era palpable, especialmente al ver cómo cerraba el torneo y la gente estaba tan emocionada apoyando a Rory y Wyndham para tener un final de torneo emocionante. 

En general, tuve una gran experiencia durante la semana del U.S. Open 123, algo con lo que probablemente solo soñaba antes de formar parte del equipo de la Fundación SCGA Junior Golf. Poder trabajar como un evento importante como lo es un Superbowl, una Serie Mundial o cualquier otro evento deportivo importante fue una experiencia única en la vida. Ser voluntario y hablar con personas de diferentes orígenes que tienen un interés común en el golf fue una experiencia muy interesante y de aprendizaje. Recomiendo involucrarse en un evento de esta magnitud ya que es algo que nunca olvidaras.  

I received my shift assignments, and began researching; caddie services, player tracking, to what it might entail for a U.S. Open Championship, as I only knew what the ‘Marshal’ role was. My first shift was on Sunday, June 11th and I was scheduled to support caddie registration.

But as I walked towards The Los Angeles Country Club entrance, my nerves disappeared, only to be replaced with pride and enthusiasm for this great opportunity, thanks to the SCGA Junior Golf Foundation. I went straight to the Merch tent to get my Volunteer apparel and I was amazed by the massive merchandise tent filled with product from 70+ companies. After scoping out locations for some of my favorite brands, I was able to find my way through the course to find where the range, player services, caddie services, fitness center and other services were set up for the tournament.

For my first shift, I was tasked to help with caddie services. We helped fill up a nice, branded bag with some goodies like water bottles, cigar holders, USGA branded towels, U.S. Open magazine and other additional giveaways. All of this was done inside a hospitality tent designated for caddies, coaches, agents or any other additional staff from the players. The tent had a great setup with food, drinks, a barber, ping pong table, and TV’s showing the RBC Canadian Open Championship.

I also had the opportunity to go get some credentials from the player reception area and it was great to see all the setup they had. Later in the day, I received a credential for the player reception area and ventured over to that private area. Each player was gifted an upgraded bag with all kinds of giveaways, including a selection of wines for the players to choose from. The reception area was incredible. In addition to a ping pong table and mini basketball hoop, there was an on-site magician and station where players could sign posters and other SoCal memorabilia such as a surfboard. My favorite component was a wall that highlighted the number of U.S. Open Championships attended by each player who was part of this year’s tournament- of course Phil Mickelson’s 32 appearances were at the top.

On Monday I began my first of three shifts as a marshal on Hole No. 5. The journey to arrive at Hole #5 was an adventure in itself! First, I took a shuttle from a nearby UCLA parking lot and then began to hike as Hole #5 was the farthest from the entrance. Once I arrived at the tee box, I connected with my SCGA colleagues and our hole captain who explained the different stations throughout the hole and the timing of our rotation schedule.

As marshals, our team was responsible for tracking and marking balls all while ensuring spectators were behind the ropes at the appropriate times. The most important role on that hole was holding the paddles behind the tee box. With the hole playing at nearly 500 yards, I got to witness a lot 300+ yard drives up close, while those with the paddles would watch players tee off and indicated where the ball was headed so other marshals up the hill could mark where it landed if it went into the rough.

Many players struggled on this hole during the practice rounds. In fact, one funny story that circulated through the tournament took place when Ben Hogan was teeing off. His caddie pointed towards four palm trees towards the end of the hole and said to hit to towards them. Hogan’s response? “Which one?” Fans loved that story, and I must have heard versions of that story at least twenty times throughout my Marshal shifts.

My three shifts on Hole No. 5 were all unique, with Wednesday having the least number of players on the course as I assume they were taking it easy before the start of the tournament. It was amazing to be so close to some of the best golfers in the world. Some of the most memorable shots I watched were Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson teeing off from Hole No. 8, Matt Fitzpatrick (2022 US Open Champion) hitting it into the rough (I marked his ball) and Rory playing with his gallery of 20+ behind him.  

Another awesome component of being on the course was talking to fans and other volunteers, who were quick to tell me so many fun facts about LACC, from the rumor of Lionel Richie’s enormous house next to the green on Hole No. 4 to the sounds of peacocks and monkeys from the Playboy Mansion behind Hole No. 13. There were also a lot of people talking about the thick rough and LACC’s controversial course set-up for this championship. Many spectators thought the course looked easy; others predicted it would be very tricky as the tournament progressed.  

Everyone had their own take on which clubs to hit on each hole and seemed very confident in their abilities. Overall, most folks were especially impressed with how a course as lush as LACC could be in between a city like Los Angeles. Being from Mexico City, I am used to having a couple of golf courses in more urban areas, so I haven’t really thought about it much, but people came from all over the world to watch this tournament and many had never seen such a beautiful juxtaposition!  

Throughout the entire week, the SCGA Junior Golf Foundation made a concerted effort to be active in and around Los Angeles to share information about its important work and the FORE YOUTH 2023 U.S. Open Community Legacy Campaign. With that in mind, I spent Friday morning at U.S. Open Showcase, an interactive fan experience hosted at the Century City Mall. This was a fantastic space with different amenities such as a pop-up merch tent, a golf simulator, celebrity appearances, live music, the EA Sports PGA tour experience, and a screen to watch the tournament live. Fans could even take photos with the trophy! 

The morning was a bit slow as most people were more interested in finding their way to the golf course but in the afternoon, we chatted with tons of folks at the SCGA’s booth. We shared the benefits of an SCGA Membership and how parents could sign their junior to our golf programming offerings for our Summer Session which begins on July 9th.  We also had a fun interaction by being interviewed by some FOX Sports interns!  

My final shift was on Championship Sunday, I was thrilled to be a part of this important day. Although I was originally slated for player tracking, I ended up in the grandstands between the 9th and 18th holes to assist with crowd control. Fans began reserving seats at 2pm although the tournament didn’t wrap up until about 7pm. It was really special to hear the cheers for each player on the 18th, despite where they landed in the standings. All of the pros were very grateful for the love, despite not getting the results they expected. Watching such a big tournament coming down the home stretch was an amazing experience. The energy from the fans was palpable, especially to see how the tournament was closing and people were so excited rooting for Rory and Wyndham to have an exciting end to the round.  

Overall, I had a great experience throughout the 123rd U.S. Open week, something I probably only dreamt of before being part of the SCGA Junior Golf Foundation team. To be able to work as an important event as it is a Super Bowl, a World Series, or any other major sport event was a once–in–a–lifetime experience. Volunteering and talking with people from all different backgrounds who have a common interest in golf was such an interesting and learning experience. I recommend getting involved in an event of this magnitude as it is something you will never forget!   

This story has been translated to Spanish and can be accessed here.

View photos from U.S. Open week here.