This year will be the fifth time the US Open golf championship is played at Pebble Beach, and I have been at all five. In 1972 I was in high school just up the hill from the course and we could just go down the hill and walk onto the course. That's not true anymore! Like all major sports championships since 9/11, security is high. Everyone will have to go through an airport-like metal detector to get onto the course, and the list of prohibited items is extensive—everything from any food or beverage to all cell phones and electronic devices. They fully expect many people will attempt to sneak things in (especially cell phones) but they will confiscate them and hold them—but not guarantee the security of the holding area... In the 1972 and 1982 Opens here cell phones were science fiction. In 1992 they were a rare curiosity. In 2000 they were still a luxury, and now many think of them as a necessity, and will scream as they are taken away.
In 2000 I also volunteered to work in merchandising for the school my sister works at, but things were much more casual. You showed up and they told you what to do. This year things are much more formal, and I had to go through a training session and read a 12 page volunteer handbook today. On the other hand, they also gave us wardrobes of US Open gear: 2 bright red shirts, a jacket that converts into a fanny pack, a hat and a water bottle (which must enter the course empty). They will also feed us and bus us to the course. At the prices we will be charging that's over $200 worth of swag, by the way!
There are over 6,000 volunteers, but the 'prestige jobs'—marshals, scorers, and other outside jobs (4,000 of the 6,000+ total) have to buy their own uniforms... The 2,400 who volunteer for charitable groups get the harder jobs (merchandise and concessions, trash control) and the free stuff...
The pictures are inside and outside the 30,000-square-foot merchandise tent... note the view in the background.
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