The First Tee Course Reporters

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The First Tee course reporters were able to attend defending champion Hunter Mahan's press conference on media day after which he stopped to take a picture with them.

Editor's note: Rachel Hiestand, Ben Cockerham and Austin Griffith will be serving as Course Reporters from the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational this week.

Day 2-Bridgestone Invitational by Austin Griffith

Today was yet another perfect day at the Bridgestone Invitational here at Firestone Country Club. The weather was sensational today and the players were as well. We didn't have quite as full of a schedule as yesterday, since the first round of the tournament began, but we still met several new people and did many exciting things.

One person we met was Laura Hill, Sr. Director of Communications for the PGA TOUR. She is in charge of the media center and getting publicity for each tournament. She travels a lot and her job seemed very hard yet interesting.

Sean Howland, with ShotLink also had an interesting job. His job is very important because he is in charge of monitoring the distance and speed of every golf ball in the tournament. We were able to go inside of his trailer and see all the technology that makes tracking the ball possible.

George Ameer, Director of International Broadcasting, was our last stop of the day. We were able to go inside the TV trailers and see how the tournament is broadcasted all over the world. It was pretty cool to see all the TV's in the trailer and how the tournament is sent out.

In between all of our interviews we went to the range to watch some of the players hit balls and also watched some of the pairings. This was my favorite part of this whole experience. Being so close to all the players and being able to watch Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson and several other great golfers. We witnessed some below par shots on the range but most of the time the players hit it pure. While on the range I did witness many of the spectators at the tournament following Tiger Woods. When he was teeing off there were so many people gathered around to watch him, it truly showed his popularity.

All in all this was a great experience and I really enjoyed it. I want to send a thank you to The First Tee of Akron, the PGA TOUR as well as Dan Chelel and Alexis Lahiff who made this experience possible.

Day 2-Bridgestone Invitational by Ben Cockerham

What another great day at the Bridgestone Invitational! Today we did a little less than yesterday but with just the same amount of excitement. We got to meet many more people that are very important to the TOUR, which I was excited about. I realized all these people are very important to putting on a PGA TOUR event.

We were introduced to Laura Hill who is the Senior Director of Communications. We had seen her working hard the past two days in the media center, but we really were able to learn about what her role with the TOUR was all about.

We also met Sean Howland and toured the ShotLink trailer. In the trailer we saw how ShotLink works, and how they can measure how far the ball travels and the speed it travels at.

George Ameer is the Director of International Broadcasting. His role is to make sure that the tournament is broadcast all over the world. When we visited him we were able to tour the TV trailers to see how everything works behind the scenes.

The best part of this experience was watching everyone else crowding around the gates at the range while we had the privilege of going inside the ropes and sitting pretty close to the players while they were warming up and getting ready for their round. We were able to see Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson, and Tiger Woods. The crowd around Tiger was huge! It seemed like everyone out at the tournament today was around that first tee box when he teed off. Overall this was a great opportunity that The First Tee has given me. These two days were amazing and I can't wait to go out the rest of this week to see how the tournament ends.

Day 2-Bridgestone Invitational by Rachel Hiestand

Wow! What a great way to conclude the experience of being a junior course reporter; this was the experience of a lifetime. The greatest part was being so close to some of my favorite golfers, such as Rickie Fowler, Tiger Woods, and Dustin Johnson on the range. Watching them getting ready for the first round of the Bridgestone invitational was a great experience.

Today we went over to ShotLink and met Sean Howland. I thought his job was very interesting. ShotLink watches the speed, distance, and location of the ball on the earth, and they monitor every shot taken in this tournament. This job was one of my favorite jobs that I have seen the past two days because it was so interesting to see the technology used.

George Ameer is the Director of International Broadcasting; he runs all of the national broadcasts for the TOUR. The truck that they work in is incredible! There are about fifty little television screens that only six people are in charge of. They pick up the broadcast, send it to Washington, D.C., where it is then sent out all over the world. Even though not a lot of people work in the truck, they do a wonderful job with making sure everything is working properly.

To end my time being a course reporter I would like to thank The First Tee of Canton and the staff, Doug Mills, Terry Taylor, Guy Bertman, and Katie Kohut for helping me with golf and life skills. Also, I'd like to thank the PGA TOUR for having this program be available to us and the amazing staff that makes this tournament possible every year. Finally, I would like to thank Dan Chelel and Alexis Lahiff for picking me to be a junior course reporter. I'm glad I had this experience and hope that anyone who is offered this opportunity should take it because it is definitely worth it.

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Day 1-Bridgestone Invitational by Rachel Hiestand

Being a junior course reporter at the 2011 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational is one of the most interesting opportunities I've had. I was very nervous, and yet excited, to have this opportunity. I've met many people that I never knew were part of the tour. After meeting them, I saw how this tournament could not be played without them. Stewart Williams, Jeff Hendra, and Helen Ross are only a few of these people.

Stewart Williams is the chief meteorologist of the PGA TOUR. In my opinion, I think Stewart has one of the coolest jobs in the whole tournament. He is in charge of making sure the weather is safe for the players and spectators. He told us about the program that he uses to track lightning strikes; the strike is located and then sent off to a computer in Arizona then sent to his computer in fifteen seconds. I found out that he only looks at the area around the golf course for the weather, not all of Ohio. Stewart Williams is definitely one of the most important people working on this TOUR.

Another very interesting person I met today was Helen Ross. Helen is Chief of Correspondents for PGATOUR.COM. Helen attends many of the tournaments and writes blogs about the different players and what is going on at the tournament. Her job seemed stressful with the website and media, but she also gets very cool opportunities like getting to meet the players and getting one-on-one time with them. Helen is someone that I would want to talk to again and ask questions to about her experience and all the different people she gets to meet.

Jeff Hendra is another person that a lot of people don't get to meet, except for the players. Jeff is a physical therapist for the PGA TOUR players. He works in a huge bus that consists of a gym and medical office in one. Jeff helps stretch out the players before they play and helps them get over an injury. He also informed us that he is on the road more than half the year! Jeff inspired me because I wish to go into the medical field when I'm older.

I am so glad I got this experience and excited for day two of my adventure at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

Day 1-Bridgestone Invitational by Ben Cockerham

What a day at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. First, I'd like to thank Dan Chelel and Alexis Lahiff with the Community Outreach program for showing us the "ins and outs" of putting on a PGA TOUR event. Our day was pretty packed with a lot of exciting things that not many people get to see, and we met a lot of important people that make these tournaments run smoothly.

We started off our day at the media center where we saw all the reporters and writers from all over the world who come to watch the tournament on a giant screen and report about the players and the course. We also were able to sit in the interview room where we had inside access to Hunter Mahan's and Rory McIlroy's press conferences. We even had the opportunity to take a picture and shake hands with the defending champ, Hunter Mahan.

Traveling inside the ropes on the driving range is where we saw all the players practice. This was a great opportunity to see the way they hit the ball and how much work it is to get to the level where they are. When we were at the range, we were fortunate enough to watch Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson, Jhonnatan Vegas, and many other of the great players on TOUR hit balls.

My personal favorite opportunity of today was visiting the TaylorMade equipment truck and meeting Wade Liles! Oh man, that truck was the craziest thing I've ever seen. It is a golfer's perfect hang out. Inside the truck, they have all the things you would ever need to build your perfect set of golf clubs, with cabinets full of shafts, driver heads, irons, wedges and putters; they even have a big TV and a PlayStation. The fact that these players could go there for anything they could possibly need and get it for free is unbelievable. Everyone that works in the van can put together a driver in five minutes and a set of irons in 30. I wish I had the access to that everyday!

Overall, my first day at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational is one I will never forget and I would advise all of you to come out to the tournament this week and watch these players play their game. It will be fun to see how Tiger does and even how the rest of the field does. It's sure going to be a great week for golf!

Day 1-Bridgestone Invitational by Austin Griffith

Today our group of The First Tee did many activities that most people never get to experience. We were led behind the scenes of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational by Dan Chelel and Alexis Lahiff. They are with Community Outreach with the PGA TOUR. Some of the notable people we met include Billy Schroder, VP of Player Relations, Wade Liles, the head of TaylorMade club fitting, Helen Ross, Chief of Correspondents for PGATOUR.COM, Stuart Williams, tournament weather forecaster, John Lillvis, Head Rules Official, and Jeff Hendra, a physical therapist for the PGA TOUR. All of them discussed what their job entails and all the traveling they do. We also got to attend two press conferences, one being with defending champion Hunter Mahan and the other with Rory McIlroy. We also got to walk on the putting green and driving range while the players were there. All of the visits were exciting, but my favorite one was seeing the TayloMade truck - the number one driver in golf for twelve years running.

The bus was incredible! They had every shaft, head and grip a player could ever want in one room. This is how the bus functions: Say a player doesn't like the way they are hitting their sand wedge. They, or their caddie, goes to the bus and says what's wrong and Wade Liles gives them a new one to try. The player then goes back the range and tests the new wedge. Now let's say he wants the club cut down a little. The player takes it back and has Wade do just that. This process of tweaking continues until the club is just right. And did I mention this is all free?

We also learned some interesting facts in the truck. One is that it takes Wade about five minutes to make a driver and about thirty to make a set of irons. Another is that Jim Furyk is a big-time "tinkerer." He had ten drivers, give or take, on the bus and Wade said that was just half of them. I also learned that the drivers TaylorMade puts on the shelf for us amateurs to play with are actually the same as the ones the players use. I was still wondering why they sounded different, but, sure enough, Mr. Liles explained that too.

He said that some players like their drivers loud while others like it to have more of a dead sound. Wade told us that John Daly is one of the few players that like it LOUD while most of the others like that lower sound. Wade told us the way they adjust the sound is by using what looked like hot glue out of a hot glue gun on the inside of the face, thus dampening the sound. The material is actually called hot metal and comes out of the gun at four hundred degrees! I tried to get some free clubs from Mr. Liles but was unfortunately not successful. I really enjoyed myself today by meeting all the new people and can't wait for tomorrow!

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REPORTER BIOGRAPHIES

RACHEL HIESTAND
First Tee of Canton
Fourteen-year-old Rachel Hiestand is excited to be a freshman in high school. She resides in Canton, Ohio with her parents and two younger siblings. Her interests include piano, clarinet, spending time with friends, softball, volleyball, basketball and of course golf! She has been an active participant of The First Tee of Canton for the past four years and is looking forward to her experience as a junior course reporter.

BEN COCKERHAM
First Tee of Akron
Benjamin Cockerham is a six-year participant in the First Tee of Akron. He is 15 years old and a sophomore at Ellet High School, focusing on business. He is on the varsity golf team, having lettered in golf as a freshman and making First Team All-City as well as playing in the state competition. He also lettered in tennis and made First Team All-City, though between the two sports, golf is his favorite. The two PGA TOUR players he looks up to the most are Rickie Fowler and Rory McIlroy. Cockerham is certified at the Eagle Level in The First Tee program and credits it for awarding him many opportunities to learn and grow. His other interests are visiting the library, hanging out with friends, playing basketball, swimming and any crazy games he and his friends come up with.

AUSTIN GRIFFITH
First Tee of Akron
Austin Griffith has been a member of The First Tee of Akron for six years, during which time he has represented Akron in many different events. He is currently a junior at Barberton High School and has played varsity golf and tennis for two years. He has been MVP for the golf team both years and received scholastic awards and a Suburban League Honorable Mention, in addition to the First Tee Integrity Award last year. He has volunteered at the Bridgestone Invitational for the past four years.