The players shook their heads and yelled at the ball. Their caddies chewed nervously on pencils and chased down eight-inch divots. The fans ate it up. And the greenskeepers watched it all with a smirk.
With its man-eating rough and treacherous greens, Shinnecock Hills, the site of last week's U.S. Open, made the world's best golfers look wonderfully human. Among the 80 or so volunteers from all over the world who joined the grounds crew was Chris Colton, a Penn State turfgrass management student who spent the week living out a dream and helping to create nightmarish conditions for the players.
"People don't understand the significance of this tournament," said Colton, a 27-year-old Smithville native.
"You tell people what you're doing, and they have no idea, but it's one of the most important tournaments of the year. It was just an honor and a privilege just to be there and do what I did."
Colton is currently working a six-month internship at the Eastward Ho Country Club in Chatham, Mass. The new golf course superintendent there, Frank Hancock, was previously an assistant superintendent at Shinnecock Hills. Colton gave Hancock a call, simply out of curiosity, to see if he needed any help. Someone had dropped out, so Colton headed to Southampton, N.Y., for America's biggest week of golf.
Colton worked with Hancock, Shinnecock superintendent Mark Michaud and of course, USGA officials, to provide the tournament field with a challenging yet playable course.
"They really firmed that place up," Colton said. "It was interesting; when we got there, the course was nice and lush and green. Toward the end of the week it was like a tabletop."
Colton spent the mornings and evenings mowing tees and occasionally helping to double-cut the slippery Shinnecock greens, which were the main reason not a single player broke par during Sunday's final round.
"It was kind of neat to see (the players) struggle like that," Colton said. "It brought a smile to our faces to see them chip up and watch the ball roll down again. I guess we're sick, twisted individuals. Nobody wants to see all the golfers hit 10- or 15-under par. That's not fun in our eyes. We do what we can to make it more interesting and difficult."
No hole was more interesting or difficult than No. 7, a 189-yard par-3 that players and broadcasters continually refered to as "impossible." The green was rolled (flattened) before Saturday's third round, supposedly after the crew had been instructed not to roll any of the greens, which were hard enough to hold already.
"I don't know if it was mistake or not," said Colton, allowing himself a chuckle. "They said it was a mistake, but I think it was kind of planned out myself."
Besides gleefully watching three-putts and approaches that trickled back off the green, Colton got the chance to share knowledge with colleagues from South Africa, New Zealand, Scotland and elsewhere. The volunteers stayed in dorm rooms at nearby Southampton College and, although they worked for free, received three meals a day, shirts, hats, a windbreaker and noticeable appreciation. Just being there was enough for Colton.
"For us, that was the World Series," Colton said. "It was very exciting just to go out, especially in the afternoon, and cut tees and have people ask you questions like what mower you were using, what are you doing ... you enjoy that. The experience was very informative for us. I learned more last week than I have in a while."
Source: Centre Daily Times (State College, Pa.)
