Howard represents HSCC at PGA Championship

Hot Springs Country Club General Manager Barry Howard is living the dream of many golf fans.

After being elected to the PGA Board of Directors last year, Howard got to go to the PGA Championship this week in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The directors announce the tee times of the players each day, and Howard got his chance Friday morning.

“It’s a perk, actually,” he said. “You know, you get to call at the PGA Championship on the first tee and 10th tee. So, that’s kind of one of the deals. You’re volunteering your time to the organization to help run the organization. On a monthly basis we have meetings, and that’s just kind of our part of what it is.”

During the tournament, ESPN will pick certain pairings and players to show their opening tee, which gives one of the two directors the chance to be broadcast announcing the players. Howard had his initial group as well as three groups later in the morning chosen to be aired by the network.

“You know, you hear rumors of what’s going to happen and things, and not everybody is aired by ESPN,” Howard said. “You know, the guy that did it with me this this morning on number one tee, he didn’t get a call in his ear, and I just happened to be the one.”

Howard said that he was told about 10 minutes before the first tee at 7 a.m. that the network would be broadcasting his first group.

“So just fortunate to be in that draw, you know, with the good players, and kind of cool to be on TV,” he said. “What was really cool … somebody sent me a picture of it being on TV, and it had Hot Springs Country Club, Hot Springs, Arkansas, and that, that was what was cool to me. I thought, ‘Wow.’ So that was, that was pretty special to me, you know, being at Hot Springs Country Club for 32 years. And just to represent Hot Springs and Arkansas.”

Howard said that the directors get the list of players the night before to prepare for their morning announcements, which is helpful when there are difficult names to pronounce on their lists.

“Saying the names is not as easy as some people think based on how they’re spelled … and because you just really don’t know how to pronounce them,” he said with a laugh. “And you know, you’re, you’re nervous. I mean, especially when ESPN comes in your ear, and you’re trying to look at what you’re reading, looking at the names and hopefully get it, get everything correct, you know, because you don’t want to make a mistake because you don’t wanna make the player feel bad for saying their name wrong.”

Howard said that while he was lucky to have names that were not “terribly hard to pronounce,” he did take some “cheat sheets” out for reminders on what to say about some of the players, including whether they were a past champion of the tournament.

While he did have to announce the players at his tee, Howard also had the opportunity to be a fan and watch some of the top players tee off.

“It’s really cool to be that close to them and watch and being able to watch them tee off,” he said. “You know, most people don’t get to get that close to those guys and see them that close. That’s the neatest thing: I actually got to be a fan, you know, and watch them tee off. So that’s pretty cool to watch their swings and see how they act and things on the tee box. And that’s really the coolest thing, too, you know. You’re that close to them and get to see them tee off.”

While directors usually only get one opportunity to announce the tee times, Howard is an alternate for another director who was unable to make it to Southern Hills. That means he will have another chance to announce players this morning, which could be broadcast once again.

“The person that I was an alternate for could not be here, and so I am filling in and I get to do it (this) morning 7-9 o’clock … so I get to be on the final day, which is kind of cool,” Howard said. “And this is my first year. Normally the last days go to the people that looks like to me that have been there a little longer on the board. … So I got lucky and got a draw on (this) morning, and I will get to announce (this) morning from 7-9, and looking forward to that.

“Hopefully I get some names I can pronounce.”