A golf professional lives the life most avid golfers dream about, because they get to play golf every day. At least that what most 10-handicap golfers think.
The life of a golf professional involves life on the road, constant travel and more defeat than victory.
Ben Crane tasted an example of the frustration of a golf professional at the fringe of the game. No Gulfstream private jet awaits warming up on the tarmac and he didn’t receive a gold-leafed hand-written invitation to one of the premier major championships.
He found out at 5:00 PM Tuesday, July 15 that he had become the No. 1 alternate for the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool in England. The problem being, he was in Portland, Oregon.
The 6:15 PM flight from Portland to the east coast evidently didn’t realize the importance of Crane making that plane and left without him. He was forced to change tack and fly to Seattle where he could get a flight to JFK in New York for a connection to London’s Heathrow Airport.
Liverpool is a four-hour drive from London and Crane finally arrived at his hotel at 1:00 AM Thursday morning, local time. He was able to catch a short nap before arriving at Royal Liverpool golf course at 5:20 AM.
He watched the first grouping of David Duval, David Howell and Robert Karlsson tee off at 6:25 AM and every successive threesome thereafter until the final group began their 2014 Open Championship ten hours later at 4:06 PM.
Not one player officially in the field developed a bad case of food poisoning or a pulled muscle that would preclude him from hitting the first tee ball on Thursday.
Crane had made his arduous journey for naught.
Realizing he had made the 4,700 mile trek and still didn’t get into the tournament, he did what any practicing golfaholic would do and slipped over to nearby Wallasey Golf Club and got in a quick round.
Of his failed trip Crane tweeted,
“I didn’t get into the Open, but don’t regret the trip. This is a special tournament, didn’t want to miss the opportunity if presented.”
Friday morning dawned with Crane once again at the airport for a return trip to Portland before he heads to the RBC Canadian Open next week at Royal Montreal Golf Club.
Golf fans see the professionals kissing the trophy and holding the big check on Sunday every week, but for every winner on the PGA Tour there are at least 70-80 guys who came to the tournament site and didn’t make a dime before heading on to the next week’s event.
It’s a difficult job, but one magical week and the rewards can be quite lucrative.