We usually have Tournament Golf on Mondays at the Golf Academy, but occasionally, there are opportunities to work at events not necessarily affiliated with the school. Because Campus Director Tim Eberlein is such a well-connected member of the PGA’s Southwest Section and currently serves as one of its Directors, he’s always volunteering at tournaments across the state of Arizona.
And whenever he needs an extra hand or too, he only has to pop his head into one of the classrooms down the hall and ask.
Today was a perfect example. Every four years, the Boys and Girls Division II State High School Golf Championships are contested down in Tucson. This morning, Tim and 4th Semester student Shane McGowen drove down to the Randolph Golf Complex from Phoenix, and because I was already in town for the weekend I got to join them for class credit.
Shane and I started 24 foursomes off the 1st Tee beginning at 8:00a. We announced every competitor by name and school (including my alma mater Sabino)… and we didn’t get off our feet until we sat down for lunch nearly four hours later. It was a blast.
A kid from Salpointe Catholic in Tucson shot a five-under par 67. Through the use of a desktop and mobile app called iWanamaker, parents and spectators could also view a live, hole-by-hole leaderboard of nearly every foursome. I wish that kind of technology was available back in my day!
From there, Shane and I went into the scoring area to welcome back every one of the groups we had started, tally their scores, and answer any Rules questions the players had.
It takes a lot of men and women (and a lot of volunteers) to put on an event of this magnitude, and I have to say, the Arizona Interscholastic Association does a great job. They’re only halfway home though. The tournament doesn’t wrap up until tomorrow.