Volunteers key to Toshiba

June Casagrande

It takes a village to pull off an event like the Toshiba Senior

Classic -- a village of about 1,000.

They carry the scoreboards. They marshal the crowds. They check

credentials.

Every year, these legions of tournament volunteers do anything and

everything they can to help pull off the biggest local sporting event

of the year.

“It’s amazing how well it all comes together; all the volunteers

do their jobs so well,” said Lloyd Hardee, chairman of volunteer

management for the tournament. “There’s never any chaos. It all

works.”

From a trailer in the sprawling Volunteer Village at the Newport

Beach Country Club, Hardee’s job is to manage the human resources of

about 1,000 others who volunteer at the tournament.

“Everyone who wants to volunteer for the tournament comes through

us,” Hardee said.

Hardee starts by gathering information about the skills, interests

and availability of each prospective volunteer. With that

information, he decides which of the three dozen volunteer committees

at the tournament would be the best fit. For example, those who like

to be out on the golf course and are good at interacting with the

public often get assigned to crowd control as a volunteer marshal.

Marshals represent the biggest volunteer group, with more than 300

marshals working the tournament this year.

Hardee’s first volunteer experiences for Toshiba were in a marshal

position -- a job that earned him some amazing memories, such as

seeing pro John Jacobs hit a hole in one.

“I’ve been a golfer for about 50 years, so I just love being

around it,” he said.

Volunteers who eschew on-the-course action for human interaction

end up in jobs such as uniform distribution. From yet another trailer

in volunteer village, a rotating staff of 10 volunteers distributes

shirts, vests, caps and credentials to every volunteer.

“One of the great things about my committee is we see all of the

volunteers,” said Ron Singer, chairman of uniform distribution. “All

the volunteers have to come through my trailer. ... And I can say

that, almost to a person, they’re some of the most interesting people

you ever want to meet. They’re people you’d want to sit down and talk

to even if you weren’t part of the tournament.”

Volunteering for the tournament is such a fun and rewarding job,

Singer said, that people don’t mind paying for the privilege: All

volunteers must pay for their uniforms and other costs; $59 for

first-time volunteers, $39 for those returning.

“It’s really a great time,” said Singer, a Mission Viejo resident

who has volunteered for 10 years in a row. “There are so many

reasons. The fact that it benefits Hoag Hospital is so important. My

family has loved Hoag Hospital since we’ve been here. It’s exciting

to see who the new players are. Obviously, having Jack Nicklaus here

is exciting. I look forward to this every year.”

* JUNE CASAGRANDE covers Newport Beach and John Wayne Airport. She

may be reached at (949) 574-4232 or by e-mail at

june.casagrande@latimes.com.