A gaggle of young fans gather alongside a temporary rope line as Rory McIlroy makes his way to the tee box for a Monday practice round at this week’s U.S. Open. Some call for autographs, others extend their hands in hopes of a fist bump, but most seem content to merely catch an up-close glimpse of one of the world’s most popular players.

Up on the tee, amid the caddies and swing coaches, tournament officials and hole marshals, Charlie, a 14-year old USGA volunteer tasked with carrying the over size sign that bears the names of McIlroy and his practice partners, is in position to get a bit more quality time with the career Grand Slam winner.

A front-row seat to golf history

“He asked about my game,” Charlie recalls while sitting with a friend in the volunteer tent at Shinnecock Hills on Tuesday. “And about winning the Masters and the Grand Slam. It was pretty awesome.”

Charlie and his friend, Carter, rising high school freshman from New York City who asked not to share their last names, are among the more than 3,400 volunteers serving as standard bearers, hole marshals, ticket takers, merchandise sellers, ball spotters and walking scorers throughout this year’s U.S. Open Championship.

Representing five countries and hailing from 42 U.S. states, the small army of volunteers are an integral part of the week-long event. And the task of juggling all those moving parts stretches back far longer than that.

Trip O’Neill photos

The volunteer army behind the Open

Colleen Fink, an assistant manager of this year’s tournament, moved to the East End two years ago to help kick off the preparations. Originally from Westchester, Fink has worked for the USGA for five years and has been part of the event-planning team at a dozen tournaments. Working closely with local stakeholders and Shinnecock Hills club members, Fink has served as the golf governing body’s “boots on the ground” in the run up to the 126th iteration of the U.S. Open. And she’s quick to share credit with the folks who make it all happen.

“The USGA sets the stage,” Fink said, “but the volunteers put on the show.”

And that show starts the moment the tens of thousands of daily fans start filing through the gates.

A family tradition on the fairways

Wendy Mayer, a first time Open volunteer, was assigned to Gate 2 near the temporary LIRR station early on the morning of the Tuesday practice rounds. Clad in the custom, U.S. Open-branded apparel each volunteer is required to purchase, this year courtesy of Peter Millar, Mayer traveled all the way from International Falls, Minn., with her husband, Tom, son Justin, and daughter-in-law Mindy, along with her aunt Leslie Dinham, to be part of the volunteer squad. “We were at a family funeral a little over a year ago,” Mayer said, “and we all felt it was a great opportunity for a family event, and the chance to visit a part of the country we’d never been to before.”

The Mayers aren’t alone in their decision to make volunteering at the Open a family affair. James Huemme, and his son David, have been lending their services at USGA tournaments for more than a decade, as evidenced by the “10-plus years” stickers proudly affixed to their volunteer badges. Hailing from Pennsylvania, the Huemmes worked their first Open at Oakmont in 2007 and have been traveling to various championships on and off ever since. “It’s a great way to spend Fathers Day weekend,” James said.

Brendan O’Connor/Carlyn Casey photos

Inside the ropes

Over the years, they’ve served in multiple volunteer roles, including merchandise sales and crowd management. As “19th Hole” marshals this year, the Huemmes are essentially alternates who can be tasked with any number of duties over the course of the week. And while the “just happy to be here” vibe is apparent among all the volunteers, there is clearly a bit of a pecking order when it comes to plum assignments.

Like the standard bearers, ball spotters and walking scorers, the Open’s hole marshals are stationed “inside the ropes,” and are tasked with quieting crowds, managing fairway crossings and keeping play running smoothly. On the 10th tee at Shinnecock this year, veteran volunteer Pat Downey is working as one of the hole captains, essentially marshaling his fellow marshals to make sure they are properly positioned alongside the sloping fairway.

“The signalling is key,” said Downey, who first volunteered when Shinnecock hosted the Open in 1995. “Because it’s a ‘blind’ shot, we need to put marshals up the left and right sides of the fairway to let the players on the tee know when the group ahead has cleared the landing area.”

Roughly a third of this year’s volunteers are working as hole marshals, and the majority of them are members of one of the dozens of area clubs- including Laurel Links, the North Fork Country Club, Westhampton Country Club and the Southampton Golf Club next door -who have lended a helping hand whenever the Open has come to Shinnecock.

Keeping score for the world

Another key cohort of the volunteer army are the walking scorers, a group of roughly 60 experienced volunteers who help keep tabs on every stroke from each the 156 players in the Open field.

“Shinnecock is a special place for us,” USGA Director of Championship Scoring Ross Galarneault tells the scorers at the start of their Tuesday afternoon training session, highlighting the unique history of the centuries-old course, including its role as one of the USGA’s five founding clubs.

Noting the high volume of familiar faces, he asks how many in the room have scored at a U.S. Open? More than half the hands go up. “How many have worked as walking scorer?” he asks, and nearly every arm is raised. “That’s what gives us quality assurance, and that’s why you’re held to such a high standard” Galarneault tells them. “How you perform is how I’m judged.”

To achieve scorer status, prospective volunteers must complete three weeks of on-line training, pass a 45-minute digital test, and participate in on site training ahead of each tournament. Matt Caldwell, a PGA Tour Field Engineer for the past six years, is running Tuesday’s session. He lays out the laundry list of data points the scorers are expected to keep track of, from the location of the group leading up to every shot – on the tee, in the landing area, around the green – the whereabouts of every ball – in the fairway, in the rough, in a native area (aka the high grass/fescue) even the details of the players’ outfits – blue shirt, red hat, striped pants.

All that info – not to mention each player’s hole by hole score – is entered in an iphone-sized hand held device the scorers are issued before each round and instantly relayed to a group of PGA producers stationed at the Tour’s “global home” in Ponte Vedra, Fla. to be broadcast around the world in real time.

“The Wednesday practice round is kind of the final exam,” Caldwell said after the training session ended. “Even though no ones keeping score, the scorers are constantly being rated on their performance.”

Gary Wiseman traveled to Shinnecock from Ventura, Calif. for this year’s Open. He compared the live-scoring experience to, “a puzzle that gets more complex every hole,” but despite the challenge he said he “loves every minute of it.”

A volunteer for eight years, and scorer for the last five, Wiseman says the role also provides a unique window into the personalities of the game’s biggest stars.

“You really find out who are the nice guys and who aren’t,” he said.

One memorable experience came while scoring a round for Tommy Fleetwood.

“You’ve got to be the nicest guy in the game,” Wiseman recalled telling the 2025 FedEx Cup champ. “He gave me a big hug. The next day he saw me on the practice green, came over, said hello and wished me luck scoring that day’s round.”

Perks of the job

In exchange for working four, four-to- six-hour shifts and purchasing roughly $225 worth of official volunteer apparel — including a hat, two shirts and a zip-up jacket — volunteers are afforded full tournament access when they’re off duty and a rare opportunity to see the game from the inside.

Back in the volunteers tent, Carter talked about carrying the standard alongside Bryson DeChambeau.

“He was really nice,” Carter said. “Listening to him talk to his caddie was cool, they got into some real sciency stuff.”

Charlie was impressed with the way the pros approach the game.

“They never hit a chip that’s not low to the ground,” he noted.

When asked about the challenges of actually bearing the roughly 8 to 10 pound standards, opinions differed.

“It’s pretty heavy,” Charlie said. “Not that heavy,” Carter countered.

But both agreed on one thing: “The wind makes it heavy.”