Luverne's Betty and Don Cashin display the volunteer uniforms they will be required to wear when they work at the Professional Golf Association Championship at Hazeltine National Country Club near Chaska next week. The Cashins will sell journals Monday through Wednesday and take in golf's fourth major tournament of the season as spectators Thursday through Sunday.
By John Rittenhouse
The month of August historically is tournament time at the Luverne Country Club, but two of the course's three major upcoming events will be played without a pair of regular participants.
Luverne's Don and Betty Cashin are two of the LCC's most active members. Betty graces the course at least two times a week, and it's not uncommon for Don to be on the links three or four times a week.
Don has played in the Seniors' Club Tournament faithfully for the past 21 years, while Betty has been a fixture in the Women's Club Tournament field during the same time span.
The 2002 version of the LCC's Senior and Women's Club Tournaments are slated for Aug. 11 and Aug 17 respectively, but a commitment made a year ago will keep the Cashins off the links for those outings.
Instead of playing golf, the Cashins will be working at and watching the 2002 Professional Golf Association Championship that will be played at Hazeltine National Country Club near Chaska.
"It hurts," said Don Cashin, when asked about missing the Seniors' event. "I've never missed one since in the 21 years I've been in town, and I feel bad about it. Betty always plays in the Women's tournament, and she'll miss it this year, too. At the same time, we both are very excited about going to the PGA Championship."
The Cashins aren't the only Minnesota residents excited about taking in professional golfÕs fourth and final major tournament of the 2002 season.
The event is billed as Minnesota's tournament, and a good share of the 3,500 volunteers who will work at PGA Championship reside inside the state's borders.
The tournament week begins with Professional-Amateur play Monday through Wednesday, Aug. 12-14. The actual four-day major runs Thursday through Sunday, Aug. 15-18.
This will be the second time the Cashins have worked as volunteers at a major tournament at the same site. When the 1991 U.S. Open was Hazeltine National, Don and Betty offered their services to work the event.
"We wrote a letter to the PGA saying we were avid golfers that would like to work at the event as volunteers. They accepted us, and we ended up selling script (books of tickets for the four-day event) right in the club house. That was the year (the late) Payne Stewart won an 18-hole playoff on the Monday after regulation play," Don said.
The Cashins wrote a similar letter to PGA officials stating their interest in volunteering their services for next weekÕs PGA Championship, and they received a letter of acceptance last summer.
Instead of selling script in the club house, the Cashins will working outdoors next week. Don's brother and his wife (Woodbury's John and Wilma Cashin) will join the Luverne couple in a tent near the No. 1 tee box, where they will be selling journals made up especially for the event to spectators.
"The journals basically indicate where the spectators can find the different vendors around the course. They also include some information on the tournament and the players," Don said.
The Cashins will be selling the journals, in the $150 uniforms they were required to purchase, from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Wednesday. In exchange for their labor, PGA officials have given them tickets to take in the four days of the PGA Championship as spectators.
The only thing that would make the PGA week more exciting for the Cashins will not happen.
Both Don and Betty were pulling for Tiger Woods to win the British Open two weeks ago, which would have given Woods the titles of all three major tournaments staged in 2002.
No golfer has won all of the PGAÕs four major tournaments in one season, and Woods would have had the opportunity to accomplish it before falling out of contention during the third round of the British Open.
"We sure were hoping he (Woods) would win," Don said. "Having him going for the whole thing (golf's version of the grand-slam) would have been a historical thing to see. He still might win the PGA Championship, but it won't be the four-in-a-row we were hoping for."
The fact that Woods didn't get it done in Scotland will not spoil the experience for the Cashins at Hazeltine National. A major golf tournament is a major golf tournament, and the Luverne couple are honored serving as volunteers at an event that will attract the multi-national spotlight just the same.