Last week while I was on vacation, Monday and Tuesday, I was busy doing yard work at home to get our house ready for the Dicks Open. We live within walking distance of En-Joie and we have fellow volunteers, co-workers, and close friends park at our house all during the week.

Wednesday and Thursday I volunteered as a Walking Scorer for the Pro-Am. On Wednesday I had Larry Mize as my professional. I know his caddy Chris personally. His team of amateurs worked for Toyota in New Jersey and came up to play in the event. They played well finishing in about the middle of the pack.

L.M. Team
Larry Mize's Pro Am Team. 2017 Dick's Sporting Goods Open. Photo Jim Free
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Thursday ahead Esteban Toledo as my Pro. His amateurs were made up of one of the representatives of the Maine's food company, a local restaurant owner, and two Maine's customers that work for some of the national restaurant chains. Those guys played extremely well and finished in first place on Thursday. One team did top their score on Wednesday. so they didn't win the whole thing. My team finished 17 under par.

Esteban Toledo's Team, 2017 Dicks' Sporting Goods Open. Photo, Jim Free.
Esteban Toledo's Team, 2017 Dicks' Sporting Goods Open. Photo, Jim Free.
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A walking scorer walks with the pros and keeps track of their shots. Every shot, as soon as the golfer makes contact, gets entered into a phone. We push a button on the software that says he made the shot and then whether or not it went in the hole. We have to keep track of penalties, drops, provisionals, and where the pro is hitting his shot from. Every time we register a shot it goes directly to the scoreboard, the television crew, and to the PGA website. It's a cool job because you get to walk right with the players and watch them up close and personal. I think it's one of the coolest things to volunteer for at the Dick's Sporting Goods Open.

I also kept score for two players Sunday during the final round and I'll blog about that tomorrow.

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