The First Tee Course Reporters

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Editor's note: Herbert Lee Woods, Sachi Hamada and Matthew Kopstein will be serving as Course Reporters from the Northern Trust Open on Wednesday and Thursday. For their bios, click here.

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PREDICTING THE WEATHER ON TOUR
Herbert Lee Woods III

Today I had the chance to talk to Stewart Williams, one of the chief meteorologists' of The PGA TOUR. He comes to TOUR tournaments to mainly focus on the weather and how it will affect the golf course. His job is to inform tournament officials when the weather could change or when enough electricity is built to create a lightning bolt and where it could possibly touch down. He also works in close partnership with the PGA TOUR Rules Officials. The meteorologist tells the officials what the weather is going to be like and how the wind will be blowing at any particular time. This helps them decide where to place the tees and the position the pins. For example, if the wind is going to be blowing in favor of the players, they will move the tees back. If it's blowing against the players, they will move them up.

It was interesting to learn that Stewart works 26 weeks out of the year and goes to half of the TOUR tournaments. When you watch a golf tournament, you are never really thinking about behind the scenes and that there is actually a weather department onsite! When I first walked in the trailer, I was not sure what to expect, but Stewart was the only one there. I thought the Meteorologist Trailer stood out because although he was the only one in there, he had three computers set up. He was constantly watching the radar while simultaneously talking to us and explaining his role. There were global satellites setup to show where there was rain and when we could possibly see it. Another memorable part of my day was the chance to sit in on Corey Pavin's interview in the afternoon, and someone asked what he does year-round to stay focused. He stated that he probably just uses his years of training, and never tries to get ahead of himself.

"It's human nature to get ahead of yourself, but you just have to be aware of it and realize that you can't do that," he said. That question really stood out to me because a lot of amateur golfers like me tend to get ahead of ourselves. I also believe that we sometimes forget that the TOUR players make the same mistakes we make, but don't make them as often as we do. When I walked into the interview room I saw a lot of people and a lot of cameras. I liked the interview room because I had the chance to see the real background behind what the room is made of and who it consists of. There were people from Golf Channel, local news and radio stations, and other national media. It was much different than viewing a press conference on television and I will always think of that the next time I see one! All in all my first day at the golf course was great and I look forward to what tomorrow has in store for us. .

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INSIDE THE MILTARY CADDIE PROGRAM
Sachi Hamada
My experience as a Junior Course Reporter started off wonderfully as we jumped right in and met with David Pillsbury, the executive vice president of Championship Management and president of PGA TOUR Golf Course Properties. We sat by a fireplace as Mr. Pillsbury answered our questions about golf tournaments. We asked if the economy had affected the tournaments at all and he explained that they have been affected like everyone else through this time, but that it is well on its way back to normal. He believes that 2011 is going to be a fantastic year for charity.

Throughout the rest of the day we visited many interesting places, but the most fascinating to me were the TaylorMade and Titleist trucks. We were given a tour around the Titleist truck and I was amazed by all the different sizes, shapes, colors and types of clubs there were locked away in little drawers. The different smells of the solutions made for building a club with a mix of Chick-fil-A sandwiches filled the crowded work area. We were luckily given souvenirs from both of the companies and left to continue our day.

As we marched through the muddy walkways into the cold wind, the greatest spot of all to me on the golf course was the Birdies for the Brave Patriots' Outpost presented by the Annenberg Foundation. This is a military hospitality tent set up as a thank you to the military for their hard work and sacrifice for our country. It was so interesting to me because it is not what I expected to find at the golf course! Annie Ascioti from the PGA TOUR's Community Outreach department was our tour guide for the day and took us by the tent to share with us information on the different charitable programs the PGA TOUR is involved in.

Once at the Patriots' Outpost, we met John Flaschner, the PGA TOUR's director of public relations and community outreach, and he took some time to explain the different programs they have in place for the military, including free tournament admission for all active, retired and Reserve military and their families. Another neat program we saw in action is the Military Caddy Program. Military members have the chance to caddy for one of the TOUR players in the tournament. We had lunch with one of these lucky caddies - Johnny Harper AWR1 U.S. Navy, who caddied for Corey Pavin.

Mr. Harper is a naval officer who flies helicopters for search and rescue. He said he had a blast spending time with Mr. Pavin as they walked the moist fairways of Riviera Country Club. I think that this program is really important because it is recognizing the military for their dedication and giving them a chance to experience a once-in-a-life time opportunity to meet with the TOUR players. I believe they deserve to enjoy a day on the beautiful Riviera Country Club and have fun watching the intense game of golf.

After scurrying from place to place, I really enjoyed having the time to meet all these great contributors to the game of golf. I learned that it takes a lot of time and effort to plan a tournament like the Northern Trust Open. The greatest thing is that the proceeds are all donated to charity and makes changes to other people's lives. This experience has expanded my knowledge of golf and I have learned so much. I can't wait until tomorrow.

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HARD WORK IN THE EQUIPMENT TRAILER
Matthew Kopstein

The Northern Trust Open on Wednesday was filled with rain, mud and wind, but it was all worth it. When I walked up to the huge trailer with TaylorMade on the side, I really didn't know what to expect when I walked in. The stairs to the trailer lined with brand new golf clubs was a really good sign that I was about to see something really spectacular.

When I walked in I was greeted by two gentlemen eating at a little table, but as I turned I saw that this was no ordinary trailer. Tall golf bags full of newly built drivers were the only things standing in my way of basically one of the coolest golf club assembly rooms I have ever seen. There were gripping machines, glue machines, shaft cutters; anything you need to make a golf club was there. But when he started opening the drawers, my jaw dropped to the ground in amazement. Drawer after drawer filled with shaft, driver heads, iron heads, hybrids, I felt like a kid in a candy shop, except it wasn't candy, it was $1,000 dollar golf clubs.

Wade Liles was the TaylorMade Rep who showed me everything they have to offer. But the thing I took in the most was the hard work it took Wade to get to where he is today. Wade started out as just another guy working on the assembly line making clubs, but after many years, he worked his way to the top and now travels all over the country building clubs for the pros. He really showed us that patience and hard work really does pay off in the end. I didn't walk out of there empty handed, though; I got a very nice hat from Wade and then let him get back to work. To see what they do in there was great and hopefully I can find myself back in one of those trailers again one day.