Utah Open 2012

What a week.... A lot of people ask me... What do you do for the PGA? The Utah Open is the biggest project of the year for me. There are so many people involved. I am there to make sure they are all doing it right. I coordinate with everyone, and I supervise to make sure the week is pulled off without a hitch. And if  for some reason there is a hitch, it's my job to make it goes away and not let anyone know there was ever a problem. Smile, stay calm and fix it. My motto when I'm running an event (and what I tell all of my employees) is "If there is an issue ACT, don't React. Just fix it" So, here is a little look at what I "do" 

 

I don't have any awesome pictures of us setting up. But that in itself is a huge project.

 

We kick the week off with a lone bag piper walking up the number one hole. Then the national anthem. It's so awesome.

 

The layout:

We had more media coverage this year than ever. I was interviewed by every TV Station at least once. Most of the newspapers came to report. We even had a few radio stations come.

Seriously, Mike Weir playing in our event??? So rad I can't even tell you.

The Utah Open raises over $32,000 for the Special Olympics. A lot of their athletes and parents come to volunteer during the week. We couldn't do it without the hundreds of them that come. The thousands of hours they put in. And the countless hugs these special kids give us! I can't believe what troopers hey are.

 

Past Champion, Pete Stone got a hole in one!

 

 Super Staff

The Jazz Dancers come to the Utah Open to promote the Hole-In-One car giveaway.
They are darling.

Approximately 10,000 beverages are given away during the Utah Open.

1,000 Autographed copies of Billy Casper's book given away.



Me, laying the smack down. Get 'er done.

I went out to hang with the grounds crew.....They let me roll one of the greens. Those little machines seriously FLY. They are so fast. It was so much fun.

We have massage therapists come in to get the golfers loose. I have to admit,
I sat down a time or two to get a massage. Great addition to the Utah Open!



I adore our interns. Aren't they cute? They tease me and say I'm the meanest boss ever,
but they appreciate it because they've learned a lot. We have a great relationship.
Yes, I'm hard on them when they need it. But I'm super nice to them when they deserve it.
I'll miss them terribly already. I can't wait for school to be over and get them back.



We have a lot of celebrities play in the Pro-Ams. This is Lavell Edwards,
past BYU Football Coach. Some other names we had were Chad Lewis,
Bruce Brockbank, Bobby Casper, Ron Boone, Mike Weir. We had a lot of
them wear a hat in memory of a dear friend that passed away this year, Pat Dehlin.

Super Warren came to help set-up. Everyone up there thought he was such an awesome kid.
They love him. Who doesn't though?

Taking a break after a long day of sneaking out to hit balls on the range. I LOVE this picture.

 

Having past Master's Champion, Mike Weir play was AWESOME!

Seriously, my kids love the Jazz girls. And the Jazz girls love my boys. The girls asked if we'd bring
Warren to a game or two so they can see him again. They brought him a poster and Warren said "oh
this is great. Now I can hang it in my room and look at these lovely ladies every single day!"

The boys came to visit a few times. We loved taking a drive on the course after all the
players were done. We found a few ducks, frogs and even a platypus.
(At least Warren swears it was a platypus)

This is one of the guys that plays on the PGA Tour that also plays in the Utah Open
every year because he's a past champion. Boyd Summerhays. We caught him giving one of
our Special Olympians a lesson. It was so darn cute.

My favorite part of the Utah Open was getting visits from my man.
He puts a lot of miles on his car coming to see me that week.

We dress up on the last day. Our staff looks so good on the final Sunday.

This is the view from the table I sit at about 3 times a day for 8 days.
I eat breakfast, lunch and dinner here and LOVE the view.

This is Oakridge CC's Superintendent, Jason Moon. He makes my life so mch
easier during the Utah Open. His staff takes on a lot of the heavy lifting,
set up and take down. They're awesome.

My sib's and Andrew were with me Sunday. It was super fun to have them there.

Here are a few stats:
-1,400 rounds of golf played in one week

-10,000 drinks given away

-1,500 meals served

-Thousands of hours worked in one week.... I did 112 in 7 days. Yes, That's possible.

-An average of 4-5 hours of sleep per night for me.

-Hundreds of volunteers.

-7 PGA Staff

-3 interns

-Over 4,000 pictures taken by our photographer

-$200,000 worth of Nike product given away/sold

-$32,500 given to charity

-$115,000 given away to the top players in the pay off

-I have 13 bruises, 4 blisters and 14 mosquito bites.

-Hundreds of miles and a lot of hours that Andrew spends visiting.

-2 super neighbors (Jeni and Aly) who babysat A LOT

-A super mom and super mother-in-law that helped with the boys.

ALL WORTH IT

 

I'll be honest, when I was driving away from Oakridge Country Club Sunday night when it was all said and done, I started crying hysterically. I was so sad it was over and that I wouldn't be going back for another year. I was excited to see my boys, and probably overcome with exhaustion..... But I love Utah Open week.

 

So, until next year. Sniff, Sniff.