When John LeBaube, the 2013 Wyndham Championship Volunteer of the Year, began working in pre-tournament operations, he wasn’t even supposed to be there. As a Gallery Marshal, John was only slotted to work during the tournament, but for him, that wasn’t enough.
“I wanted to work the days before the tournament started and help set up,” John said. “There were no places available, so I just showed up and found a bunch of people standing around waiting. We put scoreboards together.”
The next day, he came right back and did the same thing — wait and see what work was there to be done.
“We were in a mud and mess,” John noted. “No one knew who I was. I didn’t know who they were. There were people like Randy [Williard], Erin [Winters] and Carolyn [Walters], who run stuff here at the tournament, in the mud getting dirty. When I found out who they were, I thought that was so cool.”
From there, John found a home at the Wyndham Championship and never looked back. The next year, he was joined by his wife, Betty.
Betty, who followed John’s 2013 Volunteer of the Year with one of her own in 2014, made her mark on the Wyndham Championship as a chairman at the USO Patriots Outpost presented by Truist and Heroes Vacation Club. To her, it’s the perfect place to be during the tournament.
“The people bring us back every year,” Betty said. “We’re so glad to see the same people. We’ve made many friends here. The military members [at the Outpost] are so appreciative of everything you do. It’s great.”
Betty has some notable memories from her times at the Outpost. One year, an errant shot strayed close to her spot, and patrons began to surround the ball. But, as seen on TV, Betty was protecting it.
Another notable memory is from 2015, the year Tiger Woods came to play the Wyndham Championship.
“It was standing room only,” Betty remembered. “We were all exceeding capacity and the crowd following him was breathtaking. It was just amazing.”
John, who works on five different holes, insists his favorite memories are from when things didn’t go so well. First it was a TV that broke, then a bar. Each time, tournament director Bobby Powell, then the operations director, was nearby. Of course, the most recent memory, from last year, was when John upped the ante and nudged his cart into Bobby’s Gator.
“I didn’t hit it hard or put a scratch on it,” John said with a smile. “But Bobby’s answer was, ‘if you’re not doing anything, you’re not going to mess anything up.’ That’s one of the things I respect. They didn’t get mad.”
Now, as the 2022 Wyndham Championship tees off, John and Betty are back for their 10th and ninth years, respectively. As they smile for a picture in front of the clubhouse, it becomes clear — more great Wyndham Championship memories are on the horizon.
