Thursday, June 19, 2014

Tourney time

In my opinion, tournament preparation is one of the most exciting experiences in our business. Whether it's this year's member-guest invitational or the PGA Championship, nothing is better than dialing-in the golf course and displaying a product you can be proud of. Although tournament prep always starts with early mornings and ends with late evenings, constant adrenaline makes those long days seem like an afterthought.

Being part of such a large event is only part of the satisfaction, however. The camaraderie gained through these week-long working benders always adds to the enjoyment. It's almost a love-hate relationship in some ways. Nobody (at least not me) enjoys waking up at 3 a.m., but everyone is agonizing together. After that first cup of coffee is down the hatch, and the doughnut spread is before you, the excitement of the day ahead overcomes the nerves and wipes out the drowsiness. 

In retrospect, when a team of 40, 60, even a hundred guys are all swarming back to the shop after a successful morning shift, it's such a gratifying feeling. A feeling of accomplishment. A feeling of fluidity. A feeling of teamwork. It's a large group of guys working in remarkable harmony to accomplish a single goal: championship caliber golf. Teamwork is probably one of the main reasons many of us got into this business to begin with. It's funny how much camaraderie is built among a staff in a single golf season, or even a single golf tournament. You meet someone Monday morning, you spend the next seven days with them mowing tees, eating meals and waking up far before the crack of dawn, and all of a sudden you feel like you've known the person for years. Pretty cool.

For these reasons and others, I'm very much looking forward to working the Quicken Loans National at Congressional Country Club next week. I'm excited to get out on the golf course; I'm excited to meet new people; I'm excited to display a product we can be proud of; and I'm excited to develop new friendships. If you have never been involved in a large tournament prep, I encourage you to add it to your list of career goals. Not only do you broaden your network and meet new people, but you get to see how the hosting organization, agronomy and hundreds of workers come together to accomplish one of golf's greatest spectacles. 

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