Whether golf fans love or hate Tiger Woods, there’s no disputing that he’s a very compelling figure.
If he’s playing great or lousy, and if you’re rooting for him or against him, it’s fun to watch him on the course. The size of galleries and the TV ratings confirm as much.
But it’s been a long time since Colorado golf fans have gotten a chance to see Woods compete in the state. In fact, he hasn’t played a tournament in Colorado in the new millennium. The last time he teed it up “for real” in the Centennial State was at the 1999 International in Castle Rock.
But, barring injury or a major breakdown in Woods’ golf game, what will then be a 15-year Mile High drought for Tiger will end next September.
With the top 70 players in the 2014 FedEx Cup playoff standings advancing to the BMW Championship, there should be a Tiger sighting about 17 months from now at Cherry Hills Country Club.
The buildup to the first PGA Tour event to be held in Colorado since 2006 ratchets up another notch in April as volunteer opportunities for the tournament open up. The event at Cherry Hills will need more than 2,500 volunteers for the Sept. 1-7, 2014 tournament, the third stop in the four-event Tour playoffs.
Volunteer positions open to the general public on April 15, but interested CGA and CWGA members can get a two-week head start, helping early birds land spots on the most desirable volunteer committees.
Volunteer spots will be open to CGA and CWGA members beginning on April 1. Those wishing to sign up then can register by CLICKING HERE.
The only people who have had earlier access to volunteer opportunities are Cherry Hills Country Club members.
There are 27 volunteer committees for the 2014 BMW Championship. Here’s the rundown alphabetically: access control, admissions, caddie hospitality, child care, corporate hospitality and operations, construction and signage, information centers, marshals, marshal rovers, media center, member hospitality operations, merchandise, Monday corporate outing operations, office staffing, player hospitality, practice area and set-up operations, pro-am operations, product delivery, scoreboards, ShotLink, standard bearers, TV spotters, VIP player transportation, volunteer headquarters, volunteer party, volunteer orientation/training and uniforms, and walking scorers.
Volunteers are required to purchase the 2014 BMW Championship volunteer package, which runs $145. They will need to be available to work various shifts throughout tournament week, depending on which committee he/she is on.
Included in the volunteer package are two golf shirts, a wind jacket, a hat or visor, a commemorative pin, a water bottle, a volunteer credential valid for entry all week, an invitation to the volunteer appreciation party, and food and beverages on days the volunteer works.
But the biggest attraction at Cherry Hills will be watching a 70-player field which will include most of the top golfers in the world.
The top 15 players on the final leaderboard at the 2012 BMW Championship looked like this: Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood, Tiger Woods, Robert Garrigus, Adam Scott, Dustin Johnson, Vijay Singh, Jim Furyk, Ryan Moore, Bo Van Pelt, Bubba Watson, Ian Poulter, Chris Kirk and Zach Johnson.
Can you say “all-star tournament”?
It’s little wonder why the 2012 BMW was named the Tournament of the Year by the PGA Tour.
It could be argued that the BMW will mark the top assemblage of golfers in Colorado since Cherry Hills hosted the 1985 PGA Championship. The International PGA Tour event at Castle Pines had some great fields in its run from 1986 through 2006, but it missed out on some big names. Woods, for instance, only competed in the tournament twice, in 1998 and ’99.
Besides what the BMW Championship offers field-wise, its proceeds also go to a good cause: the Evans Caddie Scholarship. The full tuition and housing scholarship has sent more than 10,000 caddies to school over the last 83 years. A local Evans Scholarship house, at the University of Colorado, has more than 410 alums.
Overall, tournament organizers expect the 2014 BMW Championship to have a $35 million economic impact on the area.
For more information about the tournament, CLICK HERE.
