My first stop of the day was at the first tee box where I watched a few groups start their rounds, including the three groups from the Greats of Golf Challenge. I was only a couple feet away from Arnold Palmer in his white “Gilligan” hat. He was standing by his cart with his wife (I’m assuming); he gave her a quick peck on the lips.
The little hill off the first tee was filled with standing spectators, all wanting to get a glimpse of the great Arnie, and the rest of the greats including Lee Trevino and Chi Chi Rodriguez.
The old-timers are definitely a huge draw for the tournament. I’m sure a lot of patrons spend the afternoon following the greats around the golf course, even though they are the tournament-within-a-tournament and not the main event.
I went outside the media tent for a bit to see if I could mingle with any of the fans. As I was working up the courage to introduce myself to someone, a man standing at the fencing off the 18th green asked if I was a reporter.
We exchanged pleasantries and he introduced himself as Jimmy Glass; his company Page & Tuttle provided the uniforms (shirts and hats) for the tournament staff. We discussed the tournament, good weather, the turnout, etc. And I gave him my background as a member of the media.
He was very nice and told me to send him my story, and in exchange he would send me a free shirt from his company. He came back a few minutes later with a ticket for me to enter the Executive Skybox, with free food and beverages.
I thanked him as he walked away and went up to the box. I stayed to watch a couple of groups finish their rounds on the 18th before heading back down.
I still wanted to try and talk to a fan, if I could ever stop being lame and just learn to approach someone. So I finally went up to a couple of guys seated at a table near the concession stand, asked how they were, introduced myself from the magazine and then said I wondered if I could ask them a couple questions.
They both turned me down. I walked away with less self esteem and thinking to myself that what had just happened was exactly the reason I was so shy about approaching people.
I decided to give up on finding a fan for the day, so I headed down to the 18th green. As per the last couple of years, the Star Tribune’s very own Patrick Reusse came out to the tournament during the middle day, and he happened to be down by the final green as well.
As he talked with someone, I debated what I should say to him. Luckily, he made the first move, something I like much better than trying to get myself to do it. He walked over and said “So who are you with, media person?” Introductions happened, and I mentioned how I listened to him on the radio that morning.
He asked if I had heard his rant about Michael Cuddyer’s base running mistake from the previous night. I said no, I had missed it. We then chatted a little more, about my company, where I got my degree from. It was very nice to talk with him and not have my heart pounding out of my chest. The vibe he gave me helped because it seemed much more casual.
It was a little mini roller coaster out there as far as my self-confidence was concerned, but at the end of the day, I was glad to have made another networking venture. I was proud of myself for acting as professional as I could muster, as I tried to forget about the lows of the day.
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