Across the road from the clubhouse shuttle bus stop, the ninth hole on the Travis Pointe golf course is distinguished in important ways worth highlighting this weekend. [1]
Grand stands designated for the military have been erected here for the third year in a row now, at the 2018 LPGA Volvik Championship. Thoughtfully positioned and facing due east, they provide an ideal, unobstructed view of play from right off the tee on this par 4 challenge. Even more significantly, the flag of the United States of America marks the hole. [2]
Throughout the tournament, active members of the US Navy take possession of that flag each time it is removed from the hole for final putts. Today those duties were performed by Lieutenant Keith D Williams out of Detroit and Aviation Boatswain’s Mates-Handler Justin Hanrahan out of Ann Arbor. These men had been detached from local recruitment.
“We’re here to respect those who’ve come before us, those who paid the ultimate sacrifice,” Petty Officer Hanrahan told Saline Journal between pairing appearances. [3,4]
“We don’t forget those great heroes.”
Reflecting back on upfront plans for the first LPGA Volvik Championship here in 2016, Bruce Madej, tournament Public Relations Director, added that such arrangements have always been a priority for the organizers. “It’s Memorial Day weekend,” he noted with regard to tournament timing.
“We couldn’t be here to do any of this without the dedication of our military personnel. We approached them to be here.”
Over 1.3 million men and women are currently deployed on active duty as part of the US armed forces. Of that, 450,000 are stationed overseas. What risks are they facing? If past is prologue, stop to think about the total number of lives lost since those first lost in the American Revolution for just such perspective. [5,6]
Jimmy Dee Dowsett served in the United States Air Force on Okinawa Japan from 1993 to 1997, contributing to squadron maintenance on sixty-four F15 fighters. Today he has a booth as founder of Moving Day for MS (that can be found near the Travis Pointe clubhouse, not far from the spot staffed by representatives of Saline Area Chamber of Commerce); he was himself an extremely accomplished golfer before he became afflicted. [7,8,9]
And today he was pleased by the ninth hole setup for attendees from the military.
“It keeps getting better,” he emphasized. “It’s easier to get into, they’ve made it easier to get where you need to go. It’s a spotlight. I like that.”
Throughout this week, Saline Journal followed rounds on the ninth hole green and spent several more hours there today. One of the unscripted moments that followed each round, without fanfare, was the subtle approach by players and caddies to positively acknowledge either Petty Office Hanrahan or Lt Williams as she left the green.
Notably, this has happened without fail.
One can only hope that this is viewed as symbolic for the appreciation of all who are connected to the military — not just on Memorial Day weekend, but every day.
References
- “Hole Nine” Travis Pointe Country Club.
- Volvik Championship (home page).
- Department of the Navy (home page).
- “Aviation Boatswain’s Mates-Handlers” United States Navy.
- “The US has 1.3 million troops stationed around the world — here are the major hotspots” Daniel Brown and Skye Gould (August 31, 2017) Business Insider.
- “America’s Wars” US Department of Veterans Affairs.
- Moving Day for MS (home page).
- US Air Force (home page).
- “F-15 Eagle” Boeing. https://www.boeing.com/defense/f-15-eagle/
