It takes a veritable army of volunteers to host the Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid, and that army needs uniforms. Beginning today, those uniforms will be distributed to some 1,700 eager volunteers ready to take on the myriad duties they have signed up for less than six weeks from now for the 77th Senior PGA Championship at Harbor Shores of Benton Harbor.
Rachel Wright is Volunteer Operations Manager for the Championship and she and a small group of staff members will be joined by the first flight of those volunteers this evening, tomorrow and Sunday to distribute those uniforms and credentials to the volunteers who have been signing up for months now. Some literally signed up within days of the Championship's last visit here in 2014, and others continue to be recruited to this very day. The uniforms and credentials are packaged and cover nearly the entire floor of the St. Joe High Gym, awaiting pick up.
Wright said this morning that while most committees for the event have been staffed and ready with volunteers for some time, there is still a need for people to help on Leader-Boards and Thru-Boards on the Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course for the event returning to the community for the third time over the Memorial Day Holiday weekend next month.
Rachel says, "The logistics of distribution are pretty much down to a science, but each year we find ways to tweak the system to streamline the operation making it as smooth as process as possible for volunteers." Inasmuch as peak times can be crunch times for those matching the prepackaged uniform and credential sets with volunteers arriving at the same time, the staff and committee work diligently to speed the process and get folks on their way, especially since many are headed into brief training sessions concurrent with the time of their uniform pick up.
The UCD Days, as they call them (short for Uniform & Credential Distribution) are on tap this weekend with the following schedule:
- Friday, April 15, 2016 — 4pm until 8pm
- Saturday, April 16, 2016 — 8am until 4pm
- Sunday, April 17, 2016 — 12 Noon until 4pm
All distribution will take place at the St. Joseph High School Gymnasium located at 2521 Stadium Drive in St. Joseph. Volunteers who have already signed up can pick up their gear at any time during those periods. Anybody who has not signed up but would like to volunteer should contact Rachel Wright at 269-487-3200 to arrange for their role in the Championship.
Those volunteers who live within 75 miles of Harbor Shores who are unable to pick up uniforms during the assigned hours can arrange for a friend or family member to pick it up on your behalf. They just need to bring the e-mailed Pick-Up Confirmation, however credentials can only be picked up by those showing proper identification, and credentials for those volunteers who have a friend or family member pick up their uniform will have the credential mailed for delivery by May 2nd. If you are within the 75 mile zone and have no one to pick up on your behalf, you can pick them up at the Senior PGA Championship Office at Harbor Shores starting on Monday, April 18th.
Volunteers who live beyond the 75 mile zone unable to attend this weekend will have materials automatically mailed to you for receipt by Monday, May 2nd.
Concurrent with the uniform and credential distribution this weekend are multiple volunteer training sessions. Volunteers required at those sessions have been notified by the Championship office.
Volunteer work schedules are also being distributed with the credential packet, and each party should make sure that they have no conflicts with those schedules.
