Golfer Happily Encounters Mick

[michelej1]

January 5, 2012 By: Jon Nowacki, Duluth News Tribune
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/eve.../group/sports/


Duluthian gets ‘chance of a lifetime’ as PGA volunteer

Brad Ballantine must have thought he was dreaming Tuesday.

The avid Duluth golfer was bound for Hawaii for the PGA’s season-opening Tournament of Champions, where he will work for the first time as a volunteer, and sitting next to him on his flight was Mick Fleetwood.

That would be drummer Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac.

“Mick and I had a nice chat on the way over here, and when we left he said, ‘Good luck with your golf tournament. That’s really cool,’” Ballantine said.

If Mick Fleetwood thinks what you’re doing is really cool, it’s really cool.

Tournament organizers told the 55-year-old Ballantine he will serve as a marshal this weekend, which often involves crowd control.

“That was actually what I wanted to do,” Ballantine said in a phone interview on Wednesday from Hawaii. “I’d love to be the guy holding the quiet sign when the guys are teeing off. But so far, I don’t know exactly where I’ll be assigned.”

Ballantine was treated to balmy 78-degree temperatures Wednesday when he picked up his volunteer packet, official tournament shirts and hat. The tournament is played on the Plantation Course at the Kapalua Resort on the island of Maui.

This year’s tournament has some notable no-shows, including Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, but with the field restricted to golfers who won the previous season, there are no slouches.

Ballantine is under strict orders to be professional, and therefore not ask for autographs or take pictures when he is on duty, but there also will be a lot of down time to enjoy the tournament.

Brad’s wife, Lori Ballantine, wasn’t able to make the trip to Hawaii this weekend because of work, but was all for it.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Brad, so why not do it?” Lori Ballantine said. “I just play golf for fun. I don’t even keep score, but Brad is much more avid. I think this is great. It’s wonderful to see somebody get to do something they are passionate about. I’m really excited for him, really proud of him.”

Brad and Lori Ballantine had vacationed in Hawaii over Thanksgiving, and when they returned home, Brad stumbled across a website highlighting volunteering opportunities at the Tournament of Champions. He put in an application and heard back two days later that he had been accepted.

“From there, it was like, ‘Wow,’ I’ve got to make some travel reservations,” said Brad Ballantine, a lifelong resident of Gary-New Duluth. “My work was gracious enough to let me do this, so that’s pretty cool.”

Ballantine works as a supervisor with Northern Industrial Insulation, where the 18-handicap golfer was a part of a company team that finished second in the Tuesday Night Bushwackers League at Nemadji Golf Course. He wasn’t an athlete at Morgan Park High School in the early ’70s, but picked up the sport about 10 years ago when his sons, Dustin and Aaron, now 32 and 27, got into it.

“I thought, ‘That would be a really good thing to do with my sons,’” Ballantine said. “Now in the summer I play almost every day.”

Even so, nobody in the family thought he would ever take it this far. He returns to Duluth on Tuesday, and for volunteering he gets a free round at Kapalua Resort, to be used this year. Next time his wife might go with, but he can’t expect to run into Mick Fleetwood again anytime soon.

“I was tired this morning when I got up,” Ballantine said. “I was all cranked up last night after my conversation with Mick Fleetwood. I got to the room, and my eyes were like wide open. I’m like, ‘Oh, oh, I’m not going to be able to sleep.’

“Mick came across as a very nice guy. It was awesome. I don’t know what to tell you. I get goose bumps just thinking about it. He’s a golf nut. He has an estate here not far from the course. I was hoping for an invite, but I didn’t get one.”