Canyon Lakers serve as marshals at Pro-Am

Four members of the Canyon Lake Men’s Golf Club members, Phil Lerch, Bob Scott, Steve McCain and Fred Finger, served as marshals at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am Golf Championship in February. This year marks Fred’s 11th year serving as a marshal at the event. Bob returned for the third year and Steve for the second year. Phil  joined the men this year after hearing of their exploits last year.

The AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am Golf Championship is said to be one of the most exciting events on the PGA Tour. It’s contested annually in front of thousands of spectators and millions of television viewers on three of the Monterey Peninsula’s premier golf courses: Pebble Beach Golf Links, Spyglass Hill Golf Course, and Monterey Peninsula Country Club Shore Course.

The duties of a marshal generally focus on helping manage the flow around the golf course. Marshals are responsible for crowd control, locating errant played golf balls, telling the crowd to be quiet when a player is about to hit and interacting with spectators, whether its to answer questions or just chat. “As a marshal, you are also a goodwill ambassador for not only AT&T but the PGA as well,” said Fred.

This year, the weather brought rain, wind, chilling temperatures and mud galore. A hail storm on Sunday halted play while groundskeepers used leaf blowers and squeegees to clear the greens.

The entertainers who participated in the tournament put on a show on Friday evening for the 2748 volunteers. According to Fred, “It was one of the best shows yet.”

Hosted by Clint Eastwood, the show featured entertainers Andy Garcia, Clay Walker, Toby Keith, Darius Rucker, Huey Lewis, Larry the Cable Guy, Alfonso Ribeiro, Tom Dreesen and Ray Romano.

“We will do it again next year,” said Fred. “What an experience.”

Fred and Bob will be returning to the Pebble Beach in June to marshal the U.S. Open.