A Visit To The Barclays By a Nongolfer

A Visit To The Barclays By a Nongolfer Opening day may have been good for Tiger Woods, but was kind of a snafu day for this reporter.

Having passed up an online press application as too complicated, an invitation to Meet and Greet with Kenny Perry’s Coaching Staff at the Barclays was eagerly accepted. An offer of a Gate Pass and entry to the Media Center for credentials was forthcoming. An update about parking and transportation listed Lot # 5 at the Westfield Garden State Plaza Shopping Center.

To ascertain where the lot was located, a call to the GSP office informed me that they didn’t have a Lot #5, but to go to the bus terminal, Lot # 45, in the west area. I quickly notified the PR firm in Pittsburgh of the supposed gaffe and gave them the office number. They called and confirmed.

After an hour’s wait at the public bus terminal, I called the contact number given and learned that the information was erroneous and that I was in the wrong area. It seems that the Barclays people had set up a Special Lot # 5 with signs for volunteer and media people within the shopping center. The PR people even came out on the shuttle bus to escort me onto the grounds of the Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus. They quickly managed to get my credentials and then we set out on a long long winding walk over the golf course grounds.

Having gone by the subject title, I was expecting to meet a golfing staff in action; I was wrong! My companions, Rachel Hopkins and Freeman Miller did escort me to the Transitions in Spectator Village where they introduced me to the Transition eye team including Dr. Larry Lampert www.Drlampert.com, Connie Falvo, Transition Director and VSP’s Vision Care eyecare trailer. Having passed up the opportunity to practice on the short putting area within the Transition trailer, I never did get to meet the Kenny Perry staff. Not wearing sunglasses or, for that matter, glasses, Transitions had a poor candidate to appreciate their helpful goods. www.tranistionschampionship.com

While I did not meet anyone at the tournament with whom I was acquainted, later that evening, I learned that Councilwoman Maureen O’Brien had been there. Maureen was nice enough to purchase a Westfield Garden State Plaza Fashion’s Night Out ticket for September 10th being offered by the Paramus Sunrise Rotary Club as a fundraiser.

On the return trip, our shuttle bus passed by the Paramus Police Department headquarters area on the country club grounds where they had assembled for their yeoman job of traffic, security and emergency during the Barclays Tournament.