By Colleen D’Angelo

Since the first Memorial Tournament in 1976, Dublin has had a special relationship with professional golfers. Many Dubliners have unique stories about their Memorial experiences, ranging from funny encounters to poignant, personal moments. Each story is different, and each defines the tournament (and the community that hosts it) as a true original.

Patrons are known to visit Muirfield Village Golf Club during the three days of practice rounds to meet players and get autographs. In the early years of the tournament, however, Dublin school kids had the Pro-Am day off from school. Dublin resident Julie Fletcher remembers everyone had an autograph book and raced to the course. Bob Hope, Glen Campbell, President George H.W. Bush, and Payne Stewart are a few of the celebrities who signed her book.

“High school kids could get excused from school for the week and get paid to work at the tournament,” Julie says. Now there are no “get out of school free” passes, but young people continue to feel excitement around tournament time. For example, Julie’s son JD wakes up at 6 a.m. and walks to the course to watch the golfers warm up on the range.

Thousands of volunteers work during tournament week, and many of them interact with the golfers. I’m part of a committee that welcomes and registers each professional golfer when he arrives at the course. I recommend hot spots to the young pros, quiet restaurants to the older pros, doctors, dentists and whatever else they need. Four years ago, I helped young and fashionable Ian Poulter by calling the owner of a Dublin hair salon and arranging a haircut and color appointment. Ian was so happy with his hair that he gets it styled at the same place in Dublin every year.

Most of the young golfers on the tour are fashion forward, and some Dublin ladies have noticed. Olivia and Chelsea Davis can’t tell you the difference between a birdie and a bogey, but they can tell you, in any given round, that Poulter wore pastel pink, Sergio Garcia had green pants with a white belt, and Adam Scott just looked gorgeous.

The PGA pros seem more approachable when they are playing at Muirfield and enjoying our city. My husband and I have met Mike Weir at Hyde Park, Billy Andrade and Brad Faxon at Tuccis, Nick Faldo at the Dublin movie theater and Ernie Els at the Bogey Inn. Dublin resident Diana Miller remembers Fuzzy Zoeller at the Bogey Inn, trying to turn the men’s restroom into a women’s restroom because the women’s line was so long. Some lucky locals have even spotted Tiger Woods at Starbucks on Bridge Street.

Joni Paskell told me about her husband Andy playing golf with his buddies the morning of the Memorial’s Pro-Am. He and his friends went to Muirfield in the afternoon and spotted Paul Azinger. Andy asked Paul if he would sign his scorecard from the morning. Azinger looked at it, laughed and said, “You got a 103 and you want me to sign it?” The teasing continued and they all got a good laugh from it.

Some Dubliners have specific players they look for. Michelle Dillon says Azinger is her favorite golfer. She spoke with him when he returned to golf after battling cancer and she was happy to see him playing well. One year, Michelle saw Azinger on the putting green and went to get his autograph. His back was to her, and when he turned around Michelle realized it wasn’t Azinger. She tried not to act shocked, asked for his autograph anyway and wished him luck. She had no idea who he was and couldn’t read his signature. After comparing it to the pairings book, Michelle decided the kind golfer was Bo Van Pelt, so now her family jokes he is her favorite golfer.

It is even easier to form a friendship with the players if they stay at your home for the week, a practice that was more common years ago. Nicole Durant told me she knew Steve Elkington and Jeff Maggert because they stayed at her mom’s house in Muirfield for several years. Sue and Lance Schneier had a party one night, and the golfers and the other partygoers stayed up late singing karaoke. The tired golfers left early the next morning for the golf course. Fortunately there was a rain delay, and Elkington and Maggert slept at the clubhouse. It was 1995, and Elkington finished in second place.

Marion Amfahr said Fred Funk and his family stayed in her Muirfield home for seven years, and she met several players through him. Marion’s fondest memory is of a day when Funk stated he needed a haircut. Immediately, his wife Sharon sat him in a chair on the outside deck overlooking the second fairway and trimmed his hair.

Kay Wilhelm lives on the tournament course near the 17th tee. Kay and her late husband Jim threw several parties over the years and met many PGA pros. Els (the 2004 Memorial champion), Tim Herron and Tommy Tolles attended some of their cookouts, and Tolles fell in love with Kay’s peanut butter cookies. Kay says she made him an entire platter of cookies and he handed them out to other golfers and caddies on the fairway.

Els always waved to Kay and Jim when he approached the 17th tee. In 2005, Jim was diagnosed with a rare blood cancer. On Sunday during the tournament, Els teed off on 17 and then walked over to Jim and Kay. He had learned of Jim’s illness and wanted to say how sorry he was. They spoke for a few minutes, he gave Jim and Kay each a hug, and walked back down the fairway to his golf ball. Jim died in 2007 and Kay roots for Els every year.

Colleen D’Angelo is a contributing writer for Dublin Life.