Keeping things up to par
NAME: Gordie Fitzel
HOME: Huntington Beach
TITLE: Standard bearers co-chairman
HE IS
A major score for volunteer standard bearers
DAILY DUTIES: Fitzel and co-chairman Randy Loats are often the first
volunteers to arrive at the Newport Beach Country Club and usually,
they’re among the last to leave. Long before the standard bearers hit the
green with their score signs, Fitzel is working to make sure they’re
equipped and that they report to the right place on the golf course.
Every day, each of the 26 volunteer standard bearers must have their
standard -- a sign mounted on a pole -- a shoulder harness in which they
mount the standard and a bib containing plastic numbers to announce the
scores. And it’s Fitzel’s job to make sure it all comes off without a
hitch.
“After the volunteers finish their assignments, we have to take apart
all the signs,” he said. “Then, when we find out what the next day’s
pairings are, we have to get all their names on the signs for the next
day.”
Fitzel considers his behind-the-scenes work to be supporting the
standard bearers who, he says, have the really tough jobs.
“They have probably the most physically demanding duties,” Fitzel
said. “In the wind and the rain and any conditions they have to be out
there walking the fairway. It’s hard work, but they got into it because
they wanted to.”
When Fitzel’s job is done right, it makes it easier for the standard
bearers to do their job in full public view. An official scorer who
follows them around takes the heat off the standard bearers by making
sure the scores are right.
“I’ve heard of standard bearers having wrong scores before,” he said,
“But not this tournament, not this year.”
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