THE MEMORIAL:
DAY 2
There’s no name
too big or too tough
As golfers
address ball, announcers address crowd
By
Jeffrey Sheban
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Gentlemen,
start your golfers. From the exalted to the obscure, no one begins
play at the Memorial Tournament without a proper introduction at the
first tee.
Sergio Garcia and Phil Mickelson might need no introduction, but
Kevin Na and Y.E. Yang?
The job of announcing the pros to the patrons belongs to a
select few members of Muirfield Village Golf Club. Requirements
include a booming voice and a bucketful of composure. Dark slacks
and a gray club blazer help, too.
“As long as you don’t mess up the names on a regular basis, you
get to do it again next year,” said Dr. Sam Smiley, a Dublin dentist
who has been sounding out names and hometowns for a dozen years.
This year, Smiley shared opening-round honors at hole No. 1 with
another circuit veteran, fellow Dublin resident Tim Doran, a trade
association president.
Although they’re not hosting Saturday Night Live or addressing
the United Nations, they feel pressure to get things right.
Both were outwardly calm as the gallery crowd swelled, but
Smiley was obsessing over this unfortunate collection of syllables:
Mark Cal-cavecch-i-a from Te-que-sta, Flo-ri-da.
Where’s Ben Hogan when you need him?
Golf-tournament introductions are nothing like their
head-knocking counterparts in the NBA or NHL. There are no flashing
lights, no publicaddress system, no pulsating music. Just a man amid
nature reading off cue cards.
“Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the 2008 Memorial
Tournament,” Doran said, starting the competition. “First from the
tee, from Buffalo, New York: Dudley Hart.”
Rounding out the first group were Bubba Watson of Bagdad, Fla.,
and John Mallinger of Long Beach, Calif.
Game on.
The announcing task is deceptively simple given the stakes: Come
Sunday, one name from the field of 120 will be on a $1.1 million
winner’s check.
“We’re off like a herd of turtles,” said Paul Long, 67, who
selects and supervises the announcers.
For the next hour and 39 minutes, groups of three were launched
from the first and 10th holes at precise 11-minute intervals. The
process repeated at 12:30 p.m.
Unless someone arrives late to the tee — or a player’s name is
mangled — little can go wrong. But you never know.
One year, Dr. Ray Tesner slowed the process a bit by waiting to
introduce Larry Mize, famous for a 140-foot chip shot to win the
1987 Masters Tournament in sudden death.
Tesner was playing the dramatic shot in his head.
“He had to clear his throat to get my attention,” the former
announcer recalled of Mize.
Several years ago, former Ohio State running back Jeff Logan
introduced a group that included Fred Couples, a fan favorite, and
the lessoutgoing David Toms, who must have considered his
introduction subpar.
“He mumbled under his breath that the inflection in my voice was
more positive for Fred Couples,” Logan said.
Later that round, Logan recalled, the golfer got in a shouting
match with a fan.
“My guess is David Toms was just having a bad day.”
Player introductions are far too tame for television, all the
more reason for Tom Ball of Syracuse, Ohio, to see the tournament in
person.
He and cousin Richard Mayer of southeastern Columbus make a
point of planting their chairs directly behind the first tee on the
first day of play.
“It’s a tradition for us,” said Ball, 53. “What I like to hear
is, ‘Welcome to the Memorial Tournament’ on that first day.
“I wouldn’t be anywhere else.”
jsheban@dispatch.com
KYLE ROBERTSON DISPATCH
Ernie Els makes his approach shot on the seventh hole before
quite a following, but his performance wasn’t enough to make the
cut.
NEAL C. LAURON DISPATCH
Tournament announcer Tim Doran introduces the first golfers
to tee off at the Memorial.
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