Tiger Woods has made it abundantly clear that the week of the AT&T National Golf Tournament will provide members of the military and their families a chance to be recognized through various events.
Tournament officials distributed 30,000 complimentary tickets to members of the military. During the course of the week, spectators were given the opportunity to build a care package for troops overseas courtesy of the USO.
Servicemembers were also treated to a VIP experience at the Lockheed Martin Military Pavilion and given a discount on all merchandise at all locations on the course.
Sixteen members of the military also held the honor of serving as starters and announcers on the first and tenth tees during play.
The highlight of the event for Sgt. 1st Class Kevin Brown and Sgt. 1st Class Matt Hinckley occurred at the seventh hole during the Earl Woods Memorial Pro-Am July 1.
Wearing special camouflage caddie bibs, Brown and Hinckley, residents of Vernondale Village and George Washington Village respectively, were able to meet the golf pros and carry their bags up the fairway on seven.
Both Brown and Hinckley caddied for two different pros during the course of the day.
Brown caddied for Jim Furyk and Nicholas Thompson, and Hinckley for Stuart Appleby and Mike Weir.
"This is great. I love to play and it is great to get to meet them and see how they go about completing each hole," Brown said. "I enjoy playing the game, just not very well."
After walking the hole with Furyk, Brown received a signed ball and Furyk signed his caddy bib as well.
"He asked me what I did and how long I have been in the military," Brown said. "With me being from Vermont, he wanted to know where a good place to take his kids skiing would be, so I recommended a few places. It was nice."
Hinckley had a similar experience with Appleby.
"We talked about what I do, how many kids I have, and how I like the area," Hinckley said. "I was on the golf team at my high school, so we played a lot of country clubs and he asked about some of the courses I have played.
"I talked with his real caddy some too, because he was from New Jersey and I am from New York," Hinckley said. "He also asked me about the military and where I had been stationed and it turns out he played a tournament right down the street from where I lived when I was in Georgia."
Hinckley enjoyed the experience and said it was even better than he thought.
"He was really down to earth and it was a really cool experience," Hinckley said.
Appleby also signed Hinckley's caddy bib, writing "Good job. See you on the course soon."
In addition to his experience with Appleby, Hinckley got to caddy for Weir, whose foursome included a few more celebrities.
Partnered with Weir were Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell, wide receiver Antwaan Randle El and Washington Capitals head coach Bruce Boudreau.
"It was a good time with Weir. His brother-in-law is in the Army and just deployed to Iraq, so we had that in common," Hinckley said. "Weir asked a lot of the same questions Appleby did and I was stationed in Korea and he had played in tournament over there, so we talked about that too.
"I also got to talk to Boudreau and Campbell, which was cool. Randle El, I think, was lost looking for his ball," Hinckley said with a laugh.
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