Continuing my posts on the upcoming McGladrey Classic golf tournament….it’s time to feature the ladies who work behind the scenes to make it all happen!
From left to right: Sara Richardson, Courtney Stiles, Lexie Love, Melanie Trotter, Pat Shelnutt, Nancy Hildebrand
I met with Courtney Stiles, Tournament Manager, to talk about the amazing task these ladies take on, the months and months of planning and effort involved in making this event a success.
Courtney is in charge of overseeing everything from volunteers to table placements and linens. The paperwork and worksheets are endless as she goes about her job to make sure everything is in place.
Lexie Love is Tournament Coordinator and works with volunteers, who give so freely of their time, to see that all of the bases are covered. From security, to childcare for the tour player’s families, to garbage patrol…Lexie will see that it happens and in a timely fashion. Volunteers are in place to cover all of the bases, many having served since the first tournament in 2010.
Sara Richardson joins the group each year as assistant to Tony Schuster who I’ll be posting about in two weeks. If you need to know where a table will be, what will be on it, where the hospitality sites are and what will be found there, Sara is the one to know. She works closely with Courtney to see to the day to day movement of the entire tournament. The table you see for registration of players one day will moved to an entirely different spot on the course the next day and these ladies make it happen without a glitch!
I’ll be interviewing Nancy Hildebrand in a future post along with a new intern in a couple of weeks to discuss everything she is involved with. But as Tournament Assistant, her plate is full of details, details and more details. Everything must run smoothly.
Pat Shelnutt, Financial Manager for Davis Love III is on top of all things related to money and flow. She oversees the operation of the McGladrey in such a way that there do not seem to be any bumps or unknown curves thrown in at the last minute. Her attention to the financial management that this event demands is amazing to me!
Last, but certainly not least, is Melanie Trotter. Melanie is Media Director for the event and oversees everything having to do with everything from printed tickets to inserts showing each days scores and standings. She interacts with the press, see to the tiniest details of making all things printed just so and, at the end of the day, her most important task is seeing that the importance of this tournament to the area and the impact on local charities be recognized. Her job as head of Media entails public relations, marketing and a finely tuned ability to anticipate anything that can and will happen as the tournament makes its way through each day.
Youth Day
Each of these lovely ladies brings a special skill to the playing table. The more I get to know, the more I appreciate what it takes to make the McGladrey Classic a success. How they keep it all flowing and coordinated is nothing short of a miracle. Hats off to each of you and your team of volunteers! The real countdown has begun, the Corn Barn ad The Lodge is bustling with activity and everyone is on their toes! The McGladrey Classic gives back to this community is no many ways, the more I learn, the more impressed I am. It’s not JUST a golf tournament!
