Announcement
Employee Volunteers Make the Travelers Championship a Success
Additional Information
Embrace the difference
Meet Our People
Meet some of our people to find out what life at Travelers is really like.
From June 22-28, 2009, world-class PGA TOUR professionals, approximately 200,000 spectators and more than 4,000 volunteers will gather in Cromwell, Conn., for the Travelers Championship. Travelers has been involved with the tournament since its inception in 1952 and became title sponsor in 2007. During its 57-year history, the tournament has donated in excess of $25 million to more than 120 local charities including primary beneficiaries, The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, a summer camp for children with serious illnesses, and the Greater Hartford Jaycees, an organization focused on leadership development through community service.
Our Employee Volunteers
In support of the Travelers Championship’s commitment to donating 100 percent of the net proceeds to charity, each year hundreds of employees, retirees, family and friends volunteer thousands of hours of time to make the event a success. In 2008, more than 800 Travelers employees and their families volunteered at the tournament in a number of ways – from corporate hospitality greeters to walking scorers and even gallery control hole marshalls.
One Travelers employee who has been volunteering for many years and has involved her family members is Cheryl Sullivan, Personal Insurance Operations. “It’s just something I like to do. I know very little about the game of golf, but enjoy the people that come to the event," she said.
As the volunteer liaison between Travelers and the Jaycees, Sullivan has the huge task of coordinating about 600 general volunteers, including her husband, daughter and brother-in-law. As a behind the scenes volunteer, she answers general questions from employees, assists with registration issues and coordinates employee volunteer shirt distribution. During the tournament, she works two days at the Volunteer Villa and five days at corporate hospitality venues.
Charles “Buddy” Buder, National Accounts Risk Management Information Services and a 37-year volunteer, likes golf and interacting with the players, so he volunteers in two ways. Before the tournament, he’s an airport concierge, providing directions and helping players find their luggage and courtesy cars. But his real passion is his 10-year commitment to the scoring committee and his work as a walking scorer.
After spending the six months before the tournament working logistics, Buder spends most of his 12- to 14-hour days following a group of players as walking scorer. But even though he’s walking with players, “we try not to speak to them unless they speak to us first," he said. "They may say a word or two,but when they’re inside the ropes, they’re in their business office. That’s their job and we need to respect that.”
A walking scorer records the unofficial score by entering players’ shots and data into ShotLink, an electronic system used by television and internet media to provide real-time tournament updates. It’s not until the day’s round is finished that he meets with the players to compare his ShotLink scoring with the players’ official scores.
Cindy Bergstrom, a software engineer who has volunteered for more than 20 years, is also out on the course each day. She volunteers because she enjoys “being around all of these altruistic people. They’re very positive.”
For the last 10 years, Bergstrom has been a hole captain and marshall for the Traveler-sponsored 1st, 16th and 17th holes. As a marshall, she coordinates the activities of approximately 225 gallery volunteers, who help the golfers get around the course, stop spectators from going under the ropes and stop movement and talking during play.
Bergstrom believes it’s her job to make it a good experience for everyone, which can sometimes require a delicate balance. “I make sure the volunteers are enjoying themselves so they come back next year, and I encourage the volunteers to treat the spectators well so they come back,” she said. “But on the other hand, if the golfers don’t feel protected, they aren’t going to come back.”
But luckily, the volunteers, spectators and players keep coming back. The PGA TOUR Tradition of Giving Back is successful only because of the hard working, dedicated volunteers. “If it wasn’t for the volunteers, this event couldn’t happen," Bergstrom said.
More about the Travelers Championship
The Travelers Championship has become a best-in-class PGA TOUR event through active and engaged leadership, a focused charitable vision, and by delivering a new well-rounded experience for all participants that is in-synch with Travelers’ values.
Some of this year’s PGA TOUR participants include defending champion, Stewart Cink; 2007 champion, Hunter Mahan; Sergio Garcia, the world’s No. 4 ranked player; and Vijay Singh, reigning FedExCup champion.
For more information about the Travelers Championship, visit www.TravelersChampionship.com.
