Today we had another great day…
We also had some challenges, but again, they were all handled with little or no knowledge by the general public.
The volunteers and vendors reacted well to the change in schedule regarding tee times and everyone mobilized to make the proper changes to accommodate a split tee start, including shuttle drivers to the 10th tee, scoring volunteers, etc…. Tomorrow we will be back on our regular schedule with tee times off of number 1 from 7:21am – 1pm.
We had a big crowd today and there was a great energy throughout the day. The hospitality venues were rocking and we had lots of people just out watching golf! The competition was compelling, as our 17 year old sponsor’s exemptions from Highland Park HS made a hole in one on the second hole today en route to a 69, placing him in the top 40 coming into the final round. British Open Champion and South African Louis Oosthuizen and American Brendon Todd are tied for the lead at ten under par. Morgan Hoffman, a true young, up and coming like many of our recent champions was tied for the lead before double bogeying the last hole to fall to 8 under. It’s going to be a heck of a ride to see who wins tomorrow as 12 people are within 3 shots of the lead!
We toasted our tournament namesake tonight as we honored the five winners of the Byron Nelson International Junior Golf Awards. This is always an inspirational night as these kids are not only great golfers, but they are so well spoken and quite frankly, they get it! Let’s just say that they are very well balanced in the social emotional health department!
Brad, of course, is still working as I type this, as we needed to do some work behind 17 before we open tomorrow morning as we prepare for the final day.
I continue to be proud of everyone as we enter the final stretch and race towards the finish line. A specific talent that I respect is people who can continue to do their job with the same level of enthusiasm on the final day as they do on the first day. I know that everyone is tired, I know you’ve been working late and getting up early, but again, as we always stress, we are the only ones that need to know it! To the customer, they are the most important thing we are doing at that time, and we are just as enthusiastic to work with them as we were the first person we dealt with when we weren’t so worn down! The culture of work ethic that we live by every day is inspiring.
Tonight’s quote focuses on just that… on that sprint to the finish line. On the importance of “finishing strong,” on the importance of “not letting up.” Let’s run this thing all the way through the finish line, for that is the only way we can reach our full potential.
I hope everyone gets some sleep, and I hope you all get a chance to enjoy the tournament in some way tomorrow (whether here or on television) because you should all take pride in the part you’ve played (whether big or small) to put on such a big event, and by doing so, think about the role you’ve played in changing the world.
“It’s not how you start that’s important, but how well you finish!” –― Jim George
Let’s finish this!!!
JD
Jon Drago
Tournament Director
