Tiger Sighting

Today started off like a normal day at work. Loaded merchandise onto a trailer at the warehouse, then stocked it inside the satellite tent (Its the merchandise tent next to the 15th hole). It was a little more crowded than usual at the course, so I thought something unusual was going on. Then I found out from one of the interns that Tiger Woods was playing a practice round today. That explains the mass of media people around the course. I guess it was on Sportscenter or something that he was indeed playing at Bethpage today, but I hadn't heard until mid-morning. So on my way back to lunch with a couple other guys, we drove down Round Swamp Rd. from the satellite tent and saw a bunch of cars pulled over on the side of the road. We looked over and there was Elderick finishing up at the 16th hole. I couldn't believe it. How lucky were we to be driving by at that time. I was even more lucky to have my camera with me. I hardly ever have it. Anyway, we drove down a little more and pulled over to see if we could catch him teeing off on the par 3 17th hole. Soon Tiger was walking over to the teebox and I lept out of the truck with my camera. Surprisingly there were only about 50 people, mostly media, at the fence watching. So I got as close as I could and started snapping pictures. Hank Haney was with him, but Steve Williams wasn't caddying for him today. He hit his shot about 20 feet from the hole on the green. No easy task since the hole is surrounded by bunkers and high fescue grass. But this is Tiger Woods so you couldn't expect anything less. So that was my encounter with Tiger today. Justin Timberlake was also at the course but I never saw him. We think we saw his Audi with a TDI logo on the side, but we could have been wrong. He had three Audi's at the course today for him and his family. So I have a feeling of accomplishment today after seeing Tiger, but the guys and I got a lecture not to do it again for security reasons. So I learned my lesson and here are the pics.

Trip to the Ahead Warehouse by Ferry- New Bedford, MA

Man. The past week has been super busy. Everything is starting to pick up quickly in the merchandise world here at Bethpage. I am now working every day of the week from 7:30 to 6 o'clock, and the days will only get longer until the tournament is over. For the past few days we have been working in the merchandise pavilion helping vendors set up their product all over the tent. I got to work with Ahead, Nike, and Ashworth representatives which was pretty cool. The coolest part was setting up the Nike shirts that Tiger would be wearing the four days of the tournament. I'm sure those will sell pretty quick. Looking at the tent at the end of today, I was amazed at how much merchandise we have finished setting up. It's only been about a week since we started moving product off of the trailers behind the tent, and we are approaching the end. It's not easy to fill up about two football fields worth of stuff in that time. My boss, Mary, said she has never seen the setup process be done so quickly, and she has been working for the USGA for 15 years.

Last Tuesday I had the opportunity to travel to New Bedford, Massachusetts to help one of the vendors, Ahead, pack up a truck that was coming to Bethpage. I went up there with two other guys, Nick and Kyle, and we had the pleasure of riding on a ferry from Orient Point, NY to New London, Connecticut. It was pretty cool. The ferry could hold around 80 cars, so it was convenient that we didn't have to bother renting a car later. When we got to Massachusetts after an hour and a half ferry ride and hour car ride, the trip got even better after we saw the house we were staying for the night. We arrived at the Bay Club in Mattapoisett, MA and were greeted by the security guard who took our names and said we were good to go. Driving down the windy road through the golf course, we came to our destination. The company, Ahead, let us stay at their not-too-shabby house that borders one of the holes on the course. We felt pretty spoiled from the get go, not to mention we had gotten paid for the time we were traveling. Easiest money I've ever made. Another bonus that we discovered in the house was a guest book that had the names and comments of people who had stayed at the house. After reading a couple, I looked at one of the names and saw that Retief Goosen had stayed here with his family back in December. I guess I could have expected that since he is sponsored by Ahead and the whole house was covered with pictures of him. I thought it was kinda neat. To end the night, we all went to a little Irish restaurant on the ocean called the Kensale Inn. I ordered a Goo Burger, which consisted of cheese, jalapenos, bacon, and PEANUT BUTTER. I am a risk taker to an extent when it comes to food and I had my doubts about this order. But man was I lucky to find the Goo to be quite delicious. The jalapenos and peanut butter balance each other out nicely. I recommend it to anyone. The next day was the day we actually worked and loaded hundreds of boxes of hats into a UPS trailer. Looking at the pile of boxes when I first entered the warehouse, I thought it would take all day to load. Luckily Ahead had a few helpers of their own to help us inventory and pack the truck to the brim in about 5 hours. We had 3 boxes leftover that couldn't fit into the truck, though we tried the best we could. Another drive and ferry ride ended our day of work. This time we didn't leave the Tahoe and take pictures on the deck of the ferry. We had a nice slumber in the truck while the ferry carried us back to Orient Point. Another highlight of the week was going to an air show at Jones Beach and seeing an F-18 Super Hornet break the sound barrier. I have some videos, but unfortunately I wasn't quick enough to record the sound barrier being broken.

Next week will provide an even more exciting atmosphere at Bethpage as the pre-tournament events begin. Not only does the pre-tournament merchandise sale open to the public on Thursday, the Golf Digest U.S. Open Challenge will also take place on Friday. I'll have my eyes peeled to see Michael Jordan, Justin Timberlake, and Ben Roethlisberger. Not gonna get my hopes up though.