LIKE IT IS

‘Y'all-come-back’ mood pervades Alotian

Sunrise was just starting to sparkle off Lake Maumelle on Monday morning when the shuttle buses began to roll from The Ranch to Roland.

The school buses were taking volunteers to the Western Amateur, and the early hour, usually a good one for rolling over, was forgotten.

Talk was energetic, positive and downright happy.

Everyone was glad to be a part of something as prestigious as the Western Amateur.

When Warren Stephens announced The Alotian Club would host this tournament, first played in 1899, one of the concerns was getting the required 750 to 800 volunteers.

Within 24 hours of the announcement, the Western Golf Association website had more than 2,000 who had registered to pay $100 to volunteer for a minimum of two four-hour shifts this week.

Mine is in the locker room, reporting to Mark Dutton and Kenny Gunderman, but Monday it quickly expanded by an hour to help three very nice (and young) ladies prepare the gift bags.

When a golfer entered the clubhouse’s front door, he was greeted by a smiling member, walked to the registration desk where a picture was made for an ID badge, and the player received a gift bag. Players were then escorted by the member to the locker room.

Inside the locker room, there were more volunteers to help players get settled into one of the member’s lockers, which were adorned, for this week, with the nameplate of the player. The Alotian members were not only interested in hosting this tournament, but excited about it. And most of them, at least those who live in the area, volunteered.

It didn’t stop there. Doctors, attorneys and people from all walks of life were here to work any number of odd jobs, from shuttling volunteers and fans to the course, transporting players to the driving range, to acting as spotters on the course.

Monday was a practice round for the 156 golfers, but for the volunteers and Alotian staff, it was an opportunity to show that southern hospitality is alive and well in Arkansas.

Anywhere else, pleasantries such as please, thank you and nice to meet you would have been worn out by 8 a.m.

Every person working was taking pride in representing Arkansas, and the golfers not only embraced the positive attitudes but relaxed to them. The Western Golf Association staff worked quietly in the background, obviously impressed.

These golfers are from all over the world, and they are chasing their dream of some day playing on the PGA Tour. Winning the Western is a major resume builder.

Ask Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, to name just a couple of past winners, what this means.

Ask Cory Whitsett, Michael Kim, Justin Thomas, Bobby Wyatt or Patrick Rodgers, the top five ranked amateurs in the country. The list of ranked players includes 54 of the top 100, many who are making their first trip to the Natural State. And make no mistake, after playing Alotian, they will come away impressed.

Alotian personifies natural. Warren Stephens even spent extra millions to make sure the course’s water system does not drain into Maumelle.

If any questions lingered about the volunteers helping host an event at one of the most esteemed private courses in the country, they were answered long before the first golfer stepped foot on the spectacular facility.

Every volunteer had the same goal: make the 111th Western Amateur Championship the most successful everheld, and for every golfer to know he was an invited guest.

For everyone to know, “Ya’ll come back,” is not a slogan but a heartfelt message to every visitor, ranked or otherwise.

Numerous people took a week’s vacation to volunteer and others are squeezing it in. Without them, and the golfers, this week wouldn’t be happening.

Stephens is known as a community man, and he had faith in his community and state. Monday, they proved him right.

The Western Amateur couldn’t have gotten off to a smoother beginning, even at 6 a.m.

Sports, Pages 15 on 07/30/2013

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