BEHIND THE SCENES

Mathis Winkler

* NAME: Dick Clark

* HOME: Yorba Linda

* JOB TITLE: Chairman of marshals

* HE IS: In charge of keeping the noise down on the greens

* DAILY DUTIES: Clark oversees about 310 volunteers. At any given

time, about 200 marshals place themselves all over the course to create a

quiet environment so that players can concentrate on their game.

“We work from o’ dark thirty to o’ dark thirty,” Clark said,

explaining that his crew keeps things under control from sunrise to

sunset.

He walks the course and checks that the ropes are put in place.

“We do a variety of jobs,” Clark said. “We help in many ways.”

When it’s time for a player to hit the ball, Clark raises his hand to

signal to the spectators that they’re expected to keep still. At some

events, the marshals use quiet paddles, but the senior tour pros look

down on the paddles, saying they distract them during the game.

And still, when players make a bad shot, it’s the marshals who get to

bear the brunt, Clark said.

“The first thing they do is, ‘Where’s the marshal that I can blame?”’

Clark said, laughing. “We get chewed out by the caddie or the golfer.

We’re his scapegoat. It’s not the most pleasant part of the job, but it’s

all right.”

Clark, who began volunteering at tournaments some 20 years ago, has

done some leisure-time golfing himself. Unfortunately, there’s no one to

yell at when things go wrong, he said.

“I have to worry about that myself,” he said.

* DID YOU KNOW: Generally speaking, the fans on the green tend to be

those of the calmer kind, Clark said. But when the occasional heckler

starts getting out of hand, the marshals politely try to restore some

order. If that doesn’t work, there’s a team of security guards on hand

who will take over and escort the noisemaker off the course.