First, we offer a big Congratulations to Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele on winning this year's Zurich Classic of New Orleans in record fashion. The pair played some great golf together to take home the Fleur Dis Lis and Silver Belt.
Zurich and the Fore Kids foundation put on a fantastic event this year. The increased fan experience was amazing, especially the new grandstands on the par-3 17th hole. As always some of the best food in the world was available in many different locations as well as many concession stands making it easy for spectators to get a beverage.
There was also some great golf being played by some of the top players in the world as well as some fan favorites, like Louisiana native and former LSU player, Sam Burns. At least 3 players, Justin Rose, Collin Morikawa, and Billy Horschel, are Zurich Golf ambassadors and make a point to be in New Orleans every year. We also had the number one player in the world and current Masters Champion, Scottie Scheffler, in the field.
The TPC of Louisiana agronomy crew did a fabulous job on the course conditions. The golf course looked so beautiful and was playing firm and fast. Comments from players that have been here in the past were very positive with some saying they have never seen the course in better condition. Many were surprised to see it so good after what the course went through during Hurricane Ida last year. A few caddies even mentioned how if you have never been to TPC of Louisiana before you would never know a large Cypress tree used to be in the fairway on the par-5, 11th hole.
All the volunteers, security, police, shuttle drivers, and everyone else involved behind the scenes did a fantastic job making sure the event was a smooth operation all week. Without all these people none of this would be possible.
The one disappointment we saw came from a few volunteers. At least 4x times this we noticed a caddie that had to ask several times for a volunteer to stop talking. At one point a caddie actually yelled "hey volunteer that means you". On another two occasions, a caddie had to ask a volunteer to stop walking and those volunteers were actually on the tee box with the players. This last part falls on to the tournament organizers but we did not see one "quiet please" sign with any volunteers. Holding hands up is not seen especially when a volunteer is shorter than the gallery standing behind them. We even commented, how is anyone to know a player is about to hit if they don't see a volunteer holding up the sign to signal the gallery to be quiet and stop moving.
We are looking forward to next year's event already and we can't wait to see what upgrades the tournament may get.
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