The 2011 PLAYERS came with sadness in the volunteer community as Ted Dill and Jimmy Davis had passed since the last Players. There are thousands of volunteers and likely others who had passed that year but both of these guys were part of the tightly knitted Course Prep crew as were their widows Chris and Miss Marion respectively. Ted was the quiet yet extremely creative one and Jimmy the outgoing and funny one, at least to me.
The crafty Ted Dill wrote daily clues in prose that would lead volunteer seekers to a hidden treasure and was the expert BBQ man for the after Players cleanup day. Or as Chris would say, he was a Wiley Coyote!
I remember the day after I told Jimmy that I was interested in the history of the Players he brought in a bunch of old Players books, including the 25th Anniversary one, for me.
Rain delayed the third round on Saturday afternoon for 4-1/2 hours. At the end of the third round on Sunday K.J. Choi trailed Graeme McDowell by one stroke. GMac would falter with a final round 79 while Choi and David Toms would both shoot 70 to force a playoff. The playoff was short lived with K.J. winning the tournament with a par on the first extra hole.
This year marked my first Players Facebook post as follows:
PLAYERS week is here! World Golf Hall of Fame Inductions tonight! TROML Baby! (Facebook Link, May 9th, 2011, Andy Reistetter)