Women’s Golf Blog: A “Team” Event

If you have ever hosted a big party, or been part of planning a big event, you know there are many steps to the process. All that happens behind the scenes leading up to the big day can sometimes get overlooked or in some cases when the event is over, can feel like it happened so fast. Indeed, it did happen fast in comparison to the time it took to pull off all the moving parts.

A successful event is never done without several people adding their talents, time, and expertise to the specific areas. It starts with securing the day, inviting the guests, and creating the lists of tasks to be done. If you are fortunate, you have a well-organized point person to guide the process. I must begin by thanking Andy Breon, my former assistant coach and now Tournament Coordinator and Event Manager for the Penn State Golf Courses. He provided the foundation to build a successful weekend for my team and Penn State, as we hosted fifteen additional teams to compete in the Nittany Lion Invitational. There is a reason some programs never host a home tournament because of the amount of time and work involved in making it happen.

My newly hired assistant coach, Carrie Sexton jumped in after only three weeks on the job and quickly provided the support I as well as our team needed, to operate the weekend without stress. I knew things would get done and done well. The support that we receive from the many volunteers that help with live scoring, setting up our hospitality tent, serving food and ice cream, picking up our lunches and just being there for our hundred and twenty-five guests, does not go unnoticed. That support would not happen without Traci Richardson and former golf coach, Mary Kennedy Zierke, coordinating and recruiting the help we needed.

It is a huge job that I am so thankful they have been willing to do for us. The golf course was looking “top notch” under the guidance of our superintendents Rick Pagent, Gabe Menna, and Scot Martell. We had a shotgun start each day and that is a big job to get the entire course ready prior to the early start. We are so thankful to them and their entire staff, not just for the weekend but also for the weeks leading up to our tournament and the extra effort it took to have the course in the best shape possible.

We also thank Dana a member of the staff that had the grounds looking exceptional by taking…