volunteers | heritage
Harrison Hayes: Age is just a number Before anyone suggests Harrison Hayes is getting too old to be on his feet for hours at a time as a golf marshal, consider the fact that he didn’t even start volunteering until a decade ago, when he was already in his 70s. “I still feel pretty good,” said Hayes, who turns 82 right before this year’s tournament starts. “Sure we have to stand the four or five hours we’re out there. But I like it so much I’d just rather marshal (than do something else).” A golf marshal’s job is largely one of crowd control, and it’s no secret that the Heritage crowd is a lively one. Luckily for Hayes, it’s also a polite gathering of tourists and locals that know the ropes and mostly respect the rules. “You get to talk to folks from all around and share our joy at living in paradise,” he said of the easy camaraderie found among strangers during that magical week at Sea Pines. And when Hayes calls Hilton Head Island paradise, he should know. The retired procurement specialist has lived in 10 different states.
“ You get to talk to folks from all around and share our joy at living in paradise”
“I lived in 22 different homes before I graduated from high school,” said Hayes, who moved to Hilton Head with his wife, Nancy, in 2002. The very next year he started volunteering at The Heritage as a marshal on the ninth hole. For a fan of the game—“I’ve been a golf fan for many, many years, way back when Arnold Palmer was on the tour,” he said—being that close to big-name players is a thrill. “You get to see all of the pros up real close, particularly when you’re working on the tee, because they come right by you when they’re crossing from the eighth,” he said. “It’s just really fun to see the top producers.” Beyond the excitement of exchanging a few words with Davis Love III, Hayes says the most memorable moment from his time marshalling came a few years ago, when high winds during the tournament caused a tree limb to fall on a fellow marshal nearby. Hayes helped to clear the area and play was postponed until the next day. He remembers the golfers having quite a time that day: “You hit the ball and it could have ended up on Daufuskie,” he said. But before the accident, he and the rest of the crowd hardly noticed the wind. “It just seemed a little breezy,” he said. Sounds about right: It’s never windy in paradise.
April 2012
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3/23/12 4:42:19 PM