• Name: Rod Messick.
• Occupation: CEO at Homesale Realty Services Group, Inc.
• Residence: Lancaster.
• Tournament duties: Area captain for the marshals committee.
• His story: When fans walk around the grounds at the Lancaster County Club for the 79th U.S. Women’s Open, they’re almost certain to pass a golf cart driving past them. That includes staff from the USGA, NBC and, of course, volunteers. Messick is one of those volunteers.
He is working as an area captain for the marshals committee, the same responsibility he held when the Open first took place in Lancaster in 2015. He’s in charge of a set area — the 10th, 14th and 15th holes and the 18th fairway — that he roams with his golf cart.
All of the area captains are Lancaster Country Club members.
“They like to have club members do this job because we’re so familiar with the course and we can get anywhere really fast based on our knowledge of the course,” Messick said.
Working as a part of the marshal leadership team, Messick oversees his holes to make sure everything goes smoothly with the volunteers and marshals around him, which includes crowd control, ropes control and assisting both players and spectators with any questions they may have.
Messick keeps an eye out for whatever problems and issues may arise. One of his tasks can be as simple as acting as water boy — if everything is going well, one of his tasks is simply to refill volunteers’ water bottles.
Messick is in constant radio communication with the rest of the marshal leadership team so they can flex people where they need to be throughout the day.
When he’s not away for family vacations or work trips, Messick plays the course at least weekly. He gets out most every Sunday morning and in the summer will even utilize the club during the week.
“My wife and I like to get out on a weeknight every once in a while during the summer and play nine and have dinner,” Messick said.
