U.S. Open victory from a marshal’s point of view

No. 18 during the final round of the 2022 U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, where George Bell acted as a marshal. Courtesy Jeff Haynes, USGA
The grandstand formed a towering horseshoe around the back of the 17th green. From my post on the 18th tee box, I had been staring at its backside – and the backsides of the 900 fans it held – most afternoons since the start of the championship.
Now, amid its scaffolding and ruined grass lay overturned coolers, some tied-off bags of trash and coiled lengths of TV cable. No need to pretty things up as the event was nearly over. Concession stands were closing. It was a cold June day, more Buffalo than Boston. Many of the 27,000 fans had left or were walking quietly toward the exit points.
George Bell Courtesy George Bell
Everywhere the vast network of temporary ropes – the ropes that restrained spectators and defined the fairway crosswalks and created two-way rivers of compliant fans – now lay in the grass. But in my little corner of the course things were very much alive, ...