RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. — In 2005, Mark Whichard and his wife, Susan, were attending the final round of the Office Depot Championship, an LPGA event in Los Angeles.
There was a fog delay that Sunday, and the final seven holes of the tournament had to be completed on Monday. As Whichard was leaving the spectator area, he overheard a tournament organizer saying they were going to need to find some people to be scorers on Monday. Whichard volunteered.
“I happened to have that Monday off, and they needed someone to be a scorer, and I had no clue what that meant,” Whichard said. “I ended up scoring for Annika Sorenstam that day. It was only seven holes, but she was the No. 1 golfer at the time, and that was it. That was history. I was hooked.”
Whichard, a retired 911 dispatcher with the California Highway Patrol, has been volunteering at golf tournaments ever since. When he retired 12 years ago, he took it to another level. He and his wife bought an RV, and they now travel up and down the West Coast with their dog Tessa in their 36-foot Winnebago, volunteering at golf tournaments.
And they’re not alone. Whichard said there is a contingent of maybe 25 people in seven or eight motorhomes that travel around as a merry band of volunteers from event to event.
The group is in the desert this week working at the ANA Inspiration and staying at the Indian Waters RV Resort in Indio. Many of them also volunteered at the Kia Classic in Carlsbad last week.
“This is a labor of love. It’s something you really have to love to do, because they don’t pay us to be here; we pay them to be here,” said the 67-year-old Whichard, who lives just outside of Pasadena. “Typically, every event is going to cost you around $1,000 to volunteer by the time you factor in gas for the RV, or hotels or restaurants. But we love to do it. The one thing I’ve discovered being an old man now is you have to dedicate yourself to something to keep you young. You have to find something that piques your interest and keeps you energized. For us, it’s golf and volunteering.”
Walking scorer Mark Whichard walks with Ariya Jutanugarn during the ANA Inspiration at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, April 2, 2021. (Jose Calderon/Desert Sun)
Road trip: Rancho Mirage to Monterey, to Napa
He said a typical yearly travel plan includes between five and nine events, a mix of LPGA, PGA and Champions Tour stops. The itinerary goes something like this:
- January: The American Express (PGA) in La Quinta
- February: The AT&T Pebble Beach (PGA) in Monterey
- March: The Kia Classic (LPGA) in Carlsbad
- April: The ANA Inspiration (LPGA) in Rancho Mirage
- April: The Hugel-Air Premia LA Open at Wilshire Country Club (LPGA)
- May-August: Take the summer off
- September: PURE Insurance Championship (Champions Tour) at Pebble Beach in Monterey
- September: Safeway Open (PGA) in Napa
“We meet a whole bunch of really neat people along the way, and not only on the volunteer side, but the caddies and the moms and dads of players,” Whichard said. “One time (PGA star) Rickie Fowler’s mom and dad camped next to us. It’s just an amazing community.”
A tradition among golfers is to sign a golf ball and give it to their group’s official scorer at the end of the round. Whichard said he and his wife have three big display cases with signed golf balls from players they’ve volunteered for. He said it’s well over 200 balls and they don’t have any more room. Now they just put the new ones — like the Yani Tseng autographed ball he got Thursday — in coffee cans.
Whichard takes a lot of pride in his work during the day, but he said it’s the camaraderie of the nights that really make it worth the effort and cost. Whichard said a typical night at the RV park usually involves everyone sitting around some propane fire pits, having drinks, playing games and telling stories.
Need some food? That’s where Scott Berlin comes in.
“I travel with my pizza oven, so I make pizza for everybody,” said Berlin, who has been traveling with the group for about six years. “It’s a blast. It’s a great little community and it’s just like Kumbaya.”
‘Like a big family reunion’
The volunteer community, both this dedicated group and the once-a-year volunteers, is a vital part of putting on a golf tournament. In fact, it wouldn’t be possible without them.
Like most professional golf tournaments in the past year, this year’s ANA Inspiration does not have fans in attendance. No fans means a lot fewer volunteers.
The tournament’s volunteer coordinator, Dianne McPherson, said a typical ANA Inspiration would require 650 to 700 volunteers over the course of four days. She said this year’s she’s using 250 to 300.
“We definitely had to turn people away that were interested this year,” McPherson said. “With no fans, you have no hospitality work, no merchandise, no admissions people. When you start taking those pieces away, that’s a lot of people.”
McPherson, who helps organize volunteers for other tournaments, said the ANA Inspiration is special when it comes to the volunteer group for several reasons.
For one, this tournament is a major, which means there’s a pridefulness that goes into volunteering for it. Also, the fact that this event has been at the same location for 50 years means a lot of stability in return volunteers.
“We have a base that comes back year after year after year, and we’re blessed in that regard because it’s not like starting over from scratch every year,” she said. “It really is like a big family. If you were here this morning on opening day when the volunteers got here, it was a like big family reunion. Especially this year with people not seeing other people as much. So many laughs and people saying, ‘So glad you’re back!’ It was nice.”
Another benefit to having a reliable returning core is that the players themselves recognize the volunteers who are often holding down the same post every year. It’s something that does not go unnoticed.
In fact, Michelle Wie West brought that up during her post-match interview on Thursday when she was asked what it is about this tournament that seems to suit her.
“I always think the tradition here … and honestly, it’s the volunteers that make it special to me,” said Wie West, who has played in this event since 2003. “I recognize a lot of faces over the years. Just being able to see them year after year and just the vibe here is great. The people are great here. They’re always so welcoming to all of us, so excited to have us here. I think I can feel that, and I definitely play off of that.”
Volunteer Denny Parra, left, of El Cerrito gestures to a fellow volunteer near the 18th green during round one of the ANA Inspiration at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif., on April 1, 2021. (Taya Gray/Desert Sun)
A volunteer voice: Rich Gilgallon
One of those familiar faces is desert radio personality Rich Gilgallon, who is in his 22nd straight year as the official starter, announcing the players’ names on the first tee. It’s a volunteer gig that he cherishes and considers an honor.
As each player steps up to the first tee, he will say something like: “Now on the tee, from Delray Beach, Florida, Lexi Thompson.”
And normally the crowd will erupt with applause. Of course, this year, there is no crowd, so the golfer’s playing partners and their caddies give a courtesy round of claps.
“I miss the fans, of course, and I can tell you the players really miss the fans,” Gilgallon said after calling his last name of the day Thursday, Ayako Uehara of Japan. “It really is heartbreaking to have a major championship without fans, but even still, this tournament is special. There’s a historic feel to the whole thing and I am grateful to be a part of it.”
He excitedly lists off the names of the game’s greats that he’s been able to call since he became the official starter in 2000: JoAnne Carner, Nancy Lopez, Pat Bradley, Annika Sorenstam, Lorena Ochoa.
Gilgallon, 66, who lives in the desert and works for Q102.3 The Desert’s Classic Rock, echoed the sentiment that the volunteer group at an event like this is like a family. He said in a normal year, many of the volunteers are snowbirds from the Pacific Northwest, but with travel restrictions, there are fewer this year.
“It’s fabulous, people come from all over the country — Seattle, Salt Lake or what have you, and we have so many veteran volunteers,” he said. “You can’t run a tournament like this without volunteers, and I’m proud to be part of that. It’s part of my life’s story for sure.”
Shad Powers is a sports columnist for The Desert Sun. Reach him at shad.powers@desertsun.com.