Thousands of golf swings are taken throughout the week at En-Joie Colf Course during the week of the Dick's Sporting Goods Open, and every single one of them needs to be accounted for.

My wife, Chris, is the head of the walking scorers for the Dick's Sporting Goods Open. She schedules the scorers at certain times and assigns them the pros they will be keeping score of. She's been doing that job for years and she recruited me to become a walking scorer six or seven years ago.

How could I say no to keeping score for some of the greatest golfers of all time?

The walking scorer is the person walking inside the ropes next to the kid carrying the scoreboard for those three pros in each grouping during play.

We are issued a phone that has an app on it to keep track of every shot the pros make. Each threesome requires it's own personal walking scorer.

Every time a player hits a shot, the walking scorer records that on the phone. We also have to  report where the pro is hitting his shot from, whether it's the fairway, the rough, the bunker, and so on.

WATCH BELOW: Jim Free Keeps Score For PGA Champions Tour Pro at DSGO

When the player puts the ball in the hole, we enter that and the device will send the player's score for that hole to the scoreboards on the course, the PGA website, the television network that's covering the tournament, and to television networks around the world.

We are also the go-between for the players to reach the rule officials. If a player needs a ruling during their round, they will come to us and ask us to have a scoring official meet them at their ball. Also, if there is an emergency on the course, we use our two-way radios to notify emergency responders.

Jim Free keeps score for PGA Champions Tour Pro David Toms (David Hermanovitch/WAAL File)
Jim Free keeps score for PGA Champions Tour Pro David Toms
(David Hermanovitch/WAAL File)
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After the group of players finish their round, the walking scorer goes in the scorers' tent with the players. We are in there in case the players want to verify their scorecard before they sign it. If a player signs an incorrect scorecard, they are disqualified from the tournament.

This year there is a total of 37 volunteer walking scorers. If you understand the rules of golf and you want to watch some of the best players to ever play the game up close, you can't get any closer then being a walking scorer.

If this sounds like something you would like to do for next year's Dick's Sporting Goods Open, make sure you sign up to volunteer for a couple of months before the event. They will train you on how to use the scoring device and they could definitely use more help.

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