Wednesday - Pro-Am Competition

Today was Day 3 of the Open - the regular pro-am competition.

I was stationed at the 9th hole access - a gateway from the street to the ninth hole so that foursomes could be transported either from the clubhouse or from the driving range to the course where they would begin their round.

It was a great location for a golf fan. It was fairly quiet in terms of crowds, you could see the players tee off for a par 5 (lots of drivers out), watch the players come in from hole 8 (a par 3) and great access to players for photos!

I started my shift at 6:00 am (which meant a 4:00 am wake up - ugh!). The morning went by pretty quick - as soon as we got all of our groups started, the groups beginning on hole 1 started to come through.

The drawback of the hole and of being on security is having the fans wanting the rules bent "just for me"... so many would come to the gate and want to be given entry when they knew they didn't have the passes that allowed them entry. I get that everyone wants to see golf but arguing for 1/2 an hour to get something I can't give is truly annoying ... had this issue yesterday too... I only wish people would remember we are just volunteers - we don't make the rules and if we don't honour the rules, we are no longer volunteers and lose our own passes to see golf... but enough of my pet peeve...

The photos below are a sampling of the ones I took today....



John Daly - it's amazing how much energy and excitement that his presence generates (and it's not just the clothes)... many of the pro-am teams showed up early or hung around knowing that his tee time was coming up just so they could see him hit... and wow can he hit a golf ball... I'm glad he's still coming to Canada - here's hoping his golf game comes along



Fred Couples - sorry Colin but he's Mr. Cool... his easy swagger and confident gaze bring a hush to the crowd... he used his 3 iron on the par 5 and outhit many of the pros using their drivers... I finally got his autograph on my hat :-)



Ricky Fowler - he's one of the taller guys on the tour (it's amazing how small so many of the golfers are) but from the photo you can see just how agile he is ... kind of like a spinning top...



Luke Donald - "Little Luke" - one of the nicer players on tour - signs autographs until no one is left asking for more... - nice to the kids too

Celebrity Pro-Am

Slow day on the course today... it was the celebrity pro-am - $40 000 and your foursome gets to golf with a pro or a celebrity and the money goes to charity...

Didn't get to see a whole lot of golfers - the practice range is off-site so if the golfers were not in the pro-am they didn't make it to the course (or at least not until later in the day once the pro-am was finished...)

Did see Ponch (aka Erik Estrada)... tried to get a photo with him but the lady taking the picture was pushing the wrong button and by the time I was able to check it, he was gone... He was quite friendly - maybe a little too friendly though - felt like I needed a shower after his mauling...

Here are some photos though that I did take...


Martin Brodeur (in the purple shirt)


Dion Phaneuf (notice he's already embraced the blue and white... GO LEAFS GO!)


Rocco Mediate


Samuel L Jackson

Tomorrow should be a better day for photos... it is practice rounds all day - a little less hectic with the media and the golfers are roaming on the course at their own pace...

The course though is absolutely beautiful - at 6:30 in the morning it is so peaceful and lush with the morning dew... Even with the hustle and bustle of the grooming equipment in the background, the quiet of the course is amazing. It's hard to believe the course is surrounded by city...

On the eve of the Canadian Open

Hello all

An so begins the Canadian Open tomorrow... I have my stuff ready to go to return once again to "Security" detail as my volunteer position. I begin my schedule tomorrow with a 7:00 am start on the putting green/first hole station.

The Canadian Open this year is being held at St. Georges Golf and Country Club, a very private and exclusive course. Yesterday, Colin and I went the course to pick up an extra shirt and we walked some of it to get to the volunteer pavillion. It is quite a beautiful course, very lush and green with HUGE trees. It seems much more compact than Glen Abbey or Angus Glen - maybe because it is located in the midst of a mature community.

The course was bustling though with last minute details and "construction".

It has long been announced that Samuel L Jackson will be participating in the Mike Weir Charity tournament - it will be exciting to see him. Last year the "big" celebrity was Kevin Costner. I had him sign my "Tin Cup" DVD.

On Friday they announced the field for the tournament. There are some big names coming - including Sean O’Hair, Camilo Villegas, Luke Donald, Tim Clark, John Daly, Hunter Mahan, Paul Casey, Fred Couples, Trevor Imelman, David Duval, Paul Azinger and Retief Goosen as well as Canadian PGA TOUR star Mike Weir. The players I am looking forward to seeing are John Daly (love the Loud Mouth clothes), Retief Goosen, Fred Couples, Woody Austin and Rocco Mediate. Hopefully the other big names will make it over from St. Andrews in order to play.

My schedule this year is all mornings - which means 4:00 am wake-ups in order to get to the course on time. So much for summer holidays :-)

I will try to take pictures over the first three days - once Thursday comes around there will be no cameras... guess as part of the security group I had better follow the rules...

Here are some photos from last year's Open:








I hope to have some new photos to post tomorrow!

Better go - the end of "THE OPEN" at St. Andrews is approaching... need to know who to congratulate and who to avoid tomorrow :-)