Friday, May 31, 2013

Day 12: Posted up in HQ

Through the green on No. 15
We got to sleep in today! We didn't have to leave the hotel until 9 a.m. Then we got a text saying to leave at 9:30, so it was a really relaxing morning! When we got to the course, we prepared more of the documents for the qualifier and tournament. I went out and rode the course again to take more photos for the Facebook. It was really nice to be outside and to be able to see the layout of the course again so that I will actually know where I am for the tournament.

I did some more laundry throughout the day, but I got a golf cart today instead of driving the truck back and forth from the Pro Shop.  It was much faster! I also set up the tournament for the Junior-Am tournament, which is where companies can sponsor a round of golf for four of their employers who are then paired with a junior golfer. It was nice to be able to get working on something.

For dinner, we went to Cracker Barrell. Greenie somehow got Golden Tickets, which are pretty much coupons for free meals, so we all ate for free. Greenie was super excited and he starting singing the golden ticket song from Willie Wanka. It was hilarious!

Greenie was super excited about the Cracker
Barrell Golden Tickets!
This is our HQ room in the clubhouse.



Thursday, May 30, 2013

Day 11: Laundry day

I feel like today was my first official day as an AJGA Intern. We woke up later than we will this summer, but we began working on all of the tournament documents for the upcoming week. It felt great to finally execute the tasks that we have been simulating and talking about for over a week!

We jumped right in this morning by making cart signs and stuffing volunteer packets while the ops crew was marking the qualifier course. I also snuck out and did come course photography, which I posted on the tournament website. We set up HQ yesterday in the Steelwood clubhouse and it is spectacular  It sits to the right of the 18th green and overlooks the lake. There is an outdoor covered patio with tied white curtains between every pillar. It is southern charm at its finest!

The Steelwood clubhouse where we set-up HQ.
It was also laundry day today. Since the hotel doesn't have guest laundry, we took our laundry to the golf course and used the machines that they normally wash the club towels in. After I switched the guy's shorts loud into the dryer--well, half of their load went in the dryer, because the goobers didn't want some of their shorts dried. Divas!--I threw my laundry into the washer. With 30 minutes before we left for the day, I went to throw my stuff in the dryer. Well the washer had backed up and wouldn't drain, so the head pro had to come and help me. Although we got the water to drain out of the washer, I still had to wring out my clothes before putting them in the dryer. The washer malfunction put me behind schedule, so my clothes didn't have time to dry all the way. Therefore all of my laundry is draped around my hotel room! Never a dull moment! :)

We got a little time off before dinner and we all headed to Ross. I had wanted to get a sleeveless polo for set-up days, but I somehow ended up finding and buying a blue and white striped polo. I actually really like it. All of these preppy clothes were throwing me off and now I'm starting to like them! What?! I think that part of it is that I don't have to think about what to wear the next day... the answer for the next two months will always be a polo and long shorts or a skort. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy!

While we were able to take care of some house keeping tasks, tomorrow will be the big task day as we dive head first into the tournament pairings and logistics. I'm so excited!

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Day 10: On the road!

Tschida got his breakfast to-go at the
hotel this morning.
We finally got on the road today and started this crazy adventure! We drove to Loxley, Alabama in a little over six hours and just two stops. There was a decent amount of sleeping and singing in the car, but we also just talked and got to know each other more. We had a history lessen on MLK (don't ask me how that came up), conspiracies and the Illuminati. It was a fun car ride and passed really quickly.

When we got to Steelwood Country Club, we were greeted by the view in the picture below... Just wow! It is absolutely beautiful! To enter, you drive through a gate and over a levy and are greeted by the 15th green, with the 18th hole in the distance. We set up headquarters (HQ) in the club house there and drove around the course to get aquatinted with it. There are so many hazards on the course and it's a very windy course, but it's an amazing place!

Next, we went to TimerCreek, which is the course where the Qualifier round will be played on Sunday. Then it was dinner at Mellow Mushroom and now it's bed time! Getting ready for a great couple of days, even if we are in Bama... Go dawgs!
Steelwood Country Club

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Day 9: Packing up

Bridget and Landon packing up the trailer.
Today was our last day at HQ! We packed up the trailer and miraculously still had room to spar! I never thought we could fit all of our equipment in our 16 foot trailer, but we did! It took us about 3 hours to account for all of it and load it, but we are now ready to go! All of the equipment we will need this summer, including rope, banners, golf bags and tools are all in that trailer.

My parents came to see me! 
After lunch, we went through a CPR certification class that was a good refresher for me. Afterwards, we had about an hour and a half left before dinner so we took the car and trailer out to practice driving with the trailer completely full! When we practiced driving last week, the trailer was empty. The truck drove so differently with the trailer packed up! We took the car and trailer on a loop around Braselton with one of the roads being a small two-lane road and the highway. The highway was a breeze! The small road was so scary! There was probably a few inches on either side of the trailer when we were driving. We passed an 18-wheeler and I about had a panic attack! I slowed down like crazy, but we made it though!

After dinner and repacking my suitcase, my parents drove up to Braselton to bring me a few things that I forgot and to take somethings that I didn't need... and to see me of course! We talked for about an hour and it was so good to see them! It was weird just sitting in the hotel lobby catching up, but I loved being able to tell them all about my experience so far in person!

Day 8: First Rulings

The sunrise over the golf course this morning before we
took the carts out for the round.
Today was the second day of the tournament at Chateau Elan. It was a shotgun style round, so all of the golfers started on different holes at 8 a.m. My group today was so sweet, but we did have a couple rulings, which I had to handle. Besides calling a ground under repair a water hazard and almost giving the wrong ruling, it was a pretty successful day. I got to talk with all of the parents of the girls in my group which was wonderful as well!

I also worked on the tournament story that would normally be posted to the tournament website. The story I wrote today was just for practice, but I needed to work on my golf lingo and writing style  Michael and I were the first comms team done again today, which was exciting! Hopefully we can keep getting our work done quickly and getting off at a decent hour. Once our comms work was completed, we went ahead and packed our equipment into two large birds, or tubes, in preparation for our departure on Wednesday.

Before we left HQ, Katie, the Tournament Director, did a small trivia game and the people who got the questions correct got a golf club towel from the tournament today. She had four towels to give away and all four towels went to my team! Looks like we can expect great things from Team 3 this summer! We also got to go to dinner on our own as a team tonight. We went to O'Charley's and had a great time. I laughed so hard that I cried at one point, which seems to be becoming a trend with my group! We were still in our uniforms when we went to dinner and got more than one strange look from others. We also went to Target to get a few things before we leave and then headed to a small bar to hang out with some of the other interns. It was a nice and relaxing way to end the day and get to know some of the other interns that are not in my group!
Tori and Brett with Ox, one of our trucks.
Pat, Tschida and Brett walking into Target in our uniforms.

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Day 7: First tournament

Today was the first day of the preseason tournament at Chateau Elan, which is where the AJGA headquarters is located. Today was also the earliest that we had to report to HQ: 6 a.m.! We got to HQ this morning and went straight into morning assignments. Michael and I were with two other intern teams and we set up the a-frames on the first tee. All interns acted as walking rules officials today, so Michael and I started the 7:50 a.m. group and walked all 18 holes with them. Today was my first time walking a course and I am exhausted! I didn't even have a golf bag to carry! I didn't have to give any rulings, which I'm a little disappointed about since I am still uncomfortable with that aspect. However, I did get a bad time warning, so I at least got to go through the motions of talking to the players.

After my group finished, I went to 18 green and took some action photos, which came out really well! I also took photos of the BBQ and Care for the Course party, edited all of those photos and uploaded one to the website and one to Twitter. There were a few other little tasks that I completed and we finished the day with a meeting. Comm interns had to stay after (which will be the norm for the summer) for an additional meeting. From the time I got to HQ this morning to the time I left, I worked a 15 hour day. That's just a small taste of what will be a regular day this summer! Now, time for bed... It's 10:15 p.m., which is now considered late! Night!

The sun rising over the Pro Shop this morning (left) and the
sun setting as I left HQ tonight (right). It was a long day!

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Day 6: Cross Training

I had to snap a picture on No. 12 green. It
was too pretty to resist!
Today was all about learning what the operations interns have done this week and will do for a normal tournament. There is a preseason tournament this weekend at Chateau Elan that we will be working, so all of the work we did today actually went towards the tournament preparations. Since today was the practice round for that tournament, ops were in charge of checking hole locations. So, I went out on the course with the ops on my team and watched them check the holes and mark the teeing grounds. It was really cool to be out on the course and see how the paperwork/computer work that I have done all week coincides with the work done on the course.

We then moved to another area of the course and walked through many different rulings. We went step-by-step through each ruling while using the walkie talkie. It was so helpful! I think I am most nervous about giving a ruling, so it was good to go over all of those again.

Brittany finally hit her limit!
After lunch, it was back to comm stuff. We set up the headquarters for the tournament this weekend and went through many different steps, programs and procedures for what we would normally do during a practice round. It was so nice to be able to get on the computers and play around with the programs again! They are starting to make sense, which feels really good! I was going to take a picture of HQ, but then I saw Brittany and had to take a picture... I think it explains how we are all feeling this week: tired, overwhelmed and ready to work a tournament. We have learned so much, so now I think that we are all antsy to get to a course and start working. During our break in HQ, I got to practice starting a group of players from the first tee, which I hadn't done yet so that was really helpful as well.

During dinner we had a team meeting and went over assignments for the first round of the tournament tomorrow. We then headed over to the Parents and Players Meetings where we completed player registration and got to sit in on the Players Meeting. It was nice to hear the Tournament Directors talk to the players about Pace of Play and certain course markings. I doubt the players were actually paying attention, but they were given the same information that the interns have been working on all week. Hopefully, with they information, they will get in some great rounds of golf tomorrow!

On the way back to the hotel, I asked my car to stop by Publix because I wanted krokies for the tournament tomorrow and the rest of the summer. We were searching for awhile and just dying laughing the whole time. Our version of "fun" is walking around Publix... do what you got to do! I don't think anything was actually funny; we were all just so tired!

Friday, May 24, 2013

Day 5: Holes can be moved...?

Our custom pin flags from Leupold!
This is going to be a pretty quick post since we have a preseason tournament to run at Chateau Elan this weekend and I have to be up at 5:45 tomorrow morning. Today was our last full day of training and we actually ended up reviewing a lot of material in the afternoon. We learned a few more computer programs that we'll be using as well as a few other random bits of information, like what copies we'll need of which papers.

Debbi, Brittany and I on the driving range. 
For lunch we had Chick-fil-a! It was really funny because there were a lot of interns from the North who had never had Chick-fil-a, so we had to explain all the different sauces and the company philosophy. Everyone loved it and it made me realize how thankful I am that my team is staying in the south! We'll still be in Chick-fil-a region! During lunch we had a representative from Leupold, the official rangefinder of the AJGA, come and speak to us about the different types of rangefinders so that we could identify legal and illegal finders on the course. It was really helpful because I would have no clue what to look for and it was interesting to see the science behind the devices. They also gave each intern a pin flag with the AJGA logo and his/her name on it!

After lunch we got to go outside! It was a GORGEOUS day! We learned about the videography role of the comms internship at the driving range. We practiced interview set-up and swing videos. Once we learned how to upload the videos to the computers we learned about hole locations.

AJGA tournaments are unique in that the hole location is moved every round, so the hole location sheets must be updated each day. While the operations internship actually decide on and mark hole locations (holos), comms interns are responsible for creating the printed sheets for the players. We actually use an intense formulas sheet in Microsoft Excel to create the sheets. There are probably close to 20 different spreadsheets in the document. It was a really impressive document! While we were talking about holos, it occurred to me that we were making sheets for each round meaning that the hole location was moving... It had never even occurred to me that the hole could moved. My mind was blown! Golf is a pretty cool sport! There is a lot of cutting edge technology that is being used and some really smart people in the industry!

Tschida might love his BBQ a little too much.
 Tonight for dinner we got to go out to eat for the first time! We went to a local BBQ place. As you can tell from the picture, Tschida really liked it and made a mess. We ran to Target afterwards where I bought a larger suitcase. I thought I was good on packing space, but now with our uniforms, I am all out of room! Also, I have been having to iron everything... I am so bad at it! I've always just used the dryer to get out wrinkles  so I have been trying to learn how to iron. I feel like a kid again!

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Day 4: Team Assignments

Trying to sort through all of our equipment.
First day of driving to headquarters on our own and we were on time! It was my first glimpse into what the rest of the summer will be like and I am so insanely excited! Doing it all on our own was so strange since we're used to having a full-time staffer with us constantly.

When we got to HQ, we rotated around stations were we learned about different equipment, set-up procedures and tournament stations. For the most part, it was all fairly easy for me to grasp. Again, my tournament volunteering helped me greatly today! We also learned about our different team roles and how to complete those. I am comms equipment, so I'm in charge of keeping track of all of the comms equipment. Since we already went over most of the equipment I will be responsible for, I helped the inventory captains start counting the equipment that will be in our trailer. We must count every single item in our trailer at the end of every tournament. For example, it's not good enough to say that we have a box of towels. We have to open the box and count the number of towels and identify what type of towels they are. By the way, we had 100 towels.

After lunch we went to more stations where we learned how to announce and start groups at the first tee, work timing stations and speaking with players. Before dinner, we put on our uniforms and took intern staff and team photos. It's going to take me a little while to get used to putting on a nice polo and shorts to go running around the golf course and work hard. My team is still just as awesome and hilarious as the first day we all met with even more inside jokes and laugh about!


Team 3 in our uniforms!

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Day 3: Driver Training

Landon and Bridget in their respective chairs working on
a few different word puzzles in the newspaper.
Good news! Even though we were picked up earlier today, I wasn't as tired when I woke up. My body is starting to realize that it will be getting up before 6 a.m. (usually before 5:30 a.m.) each morning. We are all falling into a routine, especially Landon and Bridget, who sit in the exact same chairs each
morning... Cute, right?

Today was the same format as the past two days: seminars in the morning and split up in the afternoon. This morning we covered the Pace of Play proceeders. Pace of Play is a policy/philosophy/rule that creates an overall time par for the course, meaning that a time is set in which all players and groups try to compete the course within that designated time. The policy is groundbreaking! It helps to speed up the playing time so that no player has an advantage (by taking a longer amount of time to evaluate a shot) and allows the tournament round to end in a timely fashion. The inner workings of the policy can be a little confusing at first, but thankfully I was able to volunteer at a tournament two months ago and see Pace of Play first hand. For the first time all week, I understood something and was able to help those around me. It was a good feeling even if it did just last for a few minutes. Next we moved into stroke penalties... I'm starting to get the hang of it. I'll just leave it at that.

This is Ox, one of my groups GMC trucks.
Stephan Hamblin, the executive director, came to speak to the interns during lunch. He's a really cool guy. He speaks so passionately about the organization that you know he cares about it so deeply. It makes me even more determined to do my job effectively and efficiently this summer. Once lunch was over we moved into the fun part: driver training! Finally outdoors, we moved through five different stations to learn how to drive with a trailer, take care of the vehicles, hitch a trailer and park a trailer, drive a Yukon, and change a tire on a trailer. We were learning all of this for 7.5 hours today, but it flew by!

Driving with a trailer was different, but not too bad. The hardest part of the day was backing up the trailer  Michael was my spotter and coached me into the spot after a few tries. I always overturned the wheel and just messed it up. When I was the spotter, I was able to cox Michael into the spot the first time. It somehow just clicked. Needless to say, I will be the spotter for the summer! The exciting part of the day was that after dinner each team actually got to drive their vehicles back to the hotel. We aren't allowed to run errands or anything, but it is still nice because no one will have to wait to be picked up, which means more sleep and less waiting around for everyone! Who doesn't love that?

Checking the oil.
Changing a tire on the trailer.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Day 2: Computer Training

Made it to day 2 and I got to sleep in... until 5:45 a.m! It's really fun right now though getting to see all of the interns during breakfast and talking to them about their perspective of the internship so far. Every time I turn around, I feel like I am getting to know someone new and learning more about golf (thank goodness) and my tasks for the summer. It's wonderful!

Our Ox and Tank vehicle binders.
Today was a long one; we were at headquarters for 13 hours. The day started with our vehicle assignments. We were the only team who get two trucks instead of a truck and a Yukon. It kind of stinks because it's going to be a tight fit on travel days with all eight team members. We won't have any room to spread out, but thankfully we have the shortest driving distance of all the teams. Plus, the vehicles are very, very nice!

We went over the driving rules and all of the paper work involved and then we had 18-wheeler truck drivers come talk to us about how to maneuver the trucks with the 16ft. trailer attached.

After lunch we split up again and the comm interns spent the entire afternoon and into the evening--I'm talking noon to 7:30 p.m.--learning more about the computer programs, how to write in AP for tournaments and more about photography. Yesterday was nothing compared to the amount of information that we received today. Overwhelmed is again an understatement.

At one point, we were asked to write a typical news story we'll write every day during a tournament. I had to ask my other comms intern, Michael, to help me understand scoring, how to distinguish the different numbers on the scorecard and the different terminology when talking about scores. I even had to ask him to remind me about the difference between a birdie and a bogey--my dad would be so disappointed. I am so thankful though that we're paired together! He was super patient and helped me finally start to understand the jargon that I had been reading the past few weeks!

When we got to go eat dinner--by the way, they have some really good food! Lots of steamed veggies!--the conversation was dominated by stories from our teams operations interns. While we did the computer stuff, they were actually in the cares learning how to drive with a trailer attached to them. Tomorrow, it's our turn for driving school, which I'm so excited about! Just to be outside for a day is going to be wonderful!

On our ride back to the hotel (full-time staffers take turns driving us in the Yukons), we all started talking about how our generation says "like" so much. It was such a random topic and there were members from different teams in the car that I didn't know, yet we were all dying laughing by the time we got to the hotel. I couldn't help but realize what an amazing group of people I am surrounded by, both the interns and full-time staffers. The fact that we all still had a smile on our face after an exhausting 13 hour day says a lot about this company and the people that make up the organization. I feel so privileged to be a part of this group and have this experience! It makes me even more determined to fully understand the golf terminology and computer programs! Tomorrow is another day... I'm ready to go!

Monday, May 20, 2013

Internship Day 1: Learning the Ropes

Wow! What a day! My alarm went off at 5am and I am just now ready to turn out the lights. I got up extra early because the hotel ran out of hot water during our recruitment weekend, so I decided to play it safe. Therefore I got down to breakfast super early and got to meet a few more people and get 3 cups of coffee in my system before we headed to headquarters (HQ). While we were waiting to be picked up, my entire team was able to group-up and talk for a little bit. If this morning was any indication, my team is going to have an amazing summer. We were all very upbeat and joking around, which, if you know me, humor is a key component in my life.

When we got to HQ, we dove straight into training materials and golf. Training materials: check! Golf and rules officiating: I have a lot to learn! While most interns were laughing at the "basic" definitions of golf terms, I was frantically writing down all of the jargon that will make up my next two and a half months. From how to take relief from a cart path versus a water hazard to the 4 parts of a golf course, the more I wrote down, the more I realized how in-over-my-head I truly was. Everyone told me that as long as I have an open mind and am willing to learn, I'll have no problem. Gosh, I hope they're right, because I am already rereading my notes!

After lunch, the communications interns split off from the group and learned some basic InDesign (so glad I took a class on it last semester) and photography skills and learned how to set up a tournament in the software on the computer. The tournament software is a little confusing, but I'm hoping by week three we're able to buzz through it! I feel better knowing that I mastered Meet Manager and Team Manager (the programs used by swim teams and just about the most difficult software to understand), so I'm determined and confident that I'll get the hang of this new one. After the computer work, we went outside and practiced shooting golfers in motion. I am SO excited because we are using Canon Rebel T3i's and I am hoping to buy a Rebel T5i in the fall, so this will be crash course on the camera brand and its functions!
All of the clothes we received today. I forgot to include my
 sunglasses, but I'll be wearing those every day too!

After dinner, it was Christmas in Braselton! We got all of our clothing that we'll wear for the internship. We even got a rain suit, which isn't pictured. It was hard to get everything from HQ back to the hotel, but we somehow managed. Now the question is how to squeeze it into my suitcase!

Even with the long hours today, I managed to get a full workout in! I'm feeling good, yet, with the amount of things jumbled in my mind right now, I can't believe that I don't have more to say. I am really overwhelmed right now, but tomorrow is another day! I'm just so glad that this adventure is finally underway! It's going to be a great summer!

Starting the Process

I pack my suitcase (very last minute and packed tight, might I add), said my goodbyes to my family and friends and moved into the Country Inn and Suites this afternoon. It's the night before my first official day of training. As I sit here in my hotel room after mingling with the other interns in the lobby for a few hours, the anxiety that I have felt over the past few months is at a simmer--it was at a boiling point while I was packing.

I've been so nervous about pretty much everything that this internship entailed. Would I get along with my teammates? Would I be able to keep up with golf jargon since I have no previous knowledge of the sport? Would I be able to keep up with all of the publications? Even the smaller, non-internship things had crossed my mind. Would I be able to make it to church each week? Would I have time to workout?

When I got to the hotel this afternoon, I immediately saw a girl that I met at the Intern Recruiting Weekend (IRW) and we fell into an easy conversation. My nerves were slightly eased as I settled into my room and headed back down to the lobby to wait for more interns to arrive and hopefully find my teammates that I will be working with for the next two and a half months.

When my first teammate, Michael, got to the hotel we started talking about the summer and what we were expecting. Michael is the other Communications Intern on Team 3 so he and I will be tag-teaming on everything for the summer. I asked what one of his concerns for the summer was and he said he was worried about having time to go to church. I asked, he's catholic. Having someone else that hoped and wanted to go to church: mark that part off my anxiety list. 

When I finally made my way up to my room, I met my roommate, Bridget, who is also on my team. We started talking and she explained that she just finished the spring internship--in my mind that meant that I could get the inside scoop from someone who just experienced all of this! Bridget finally said that she needed to go workout before it got any later. Having someone else that wanted to stay in shape and workout with me: anxiety levels keep going down!

After ironing my clothes for tomorrow and figuring out when to wake up--my alarm is going off at 5 a.m. tomorrow--I think I am finally realizing that I can do this. These next few days and weeks are going to be tough! I have a lot to learn, but I can tell just from the two of my teammates that this is going to be an amazing summer and that God is definitely looking out for me! Not only were my prayers were answered about having someone on my team to go to church and workout with, but I was lucky enough to get this internship! I was given a once in a lifetime opportunity to work as a summer intern and I am so excited to get this summer underway!

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Adventure is Out There

Tomorrow I move into my first hotel to start my summer long internship. I can't believe this opportunity is finally here; it's been a long time coming. I first learned of the company at UGA's career fair in September, I turned in my application and had my first round interview in January and participated in the weekend long second round interview in March. Now, eight months later, I can't help but think of all the experiences that have lead me to this moment. From the people that I've spoken with and the dedication of every employee, I know that I found a company whose values align with my own.

While the excitement and honor of receiving this internship have me ready to get on the road, I can't help but think of all that I am giving up to have this experience. I'm giving up attending my friend's wedding, my best friend's 21st birthday celebration and all of the wedding showers for my only sibling. That last point really has me second guessing if I made the right decision to accept a traveling internship for the entire summer. My brother will only get married once and I'm going to miss all of the last minute planning, taste testing and shower. It's a hard thing to come to terms with since I am close to his fiance and am in the wedding party.

I took this internship as a way to expend my personal knowledge, meet new people and travel to some amazing golf courses. It's hard to choose which thing outweighs the other, but I know that God has led me to this moment. He has a plan and somehow, I know it will all work out. So, I am choosing to go to sleep early tonight and get ready for a long summer of early mornings, golf terminology and building some amazing relationships! Here goes nothing!