Paul Brown, Volunteer.
That’s the email signature of Greensboro, North Carolina resident Paul Brown and it couldn’t be more accurate.
In 2017, Brown was named the Wyndham Championship Volunteer of the Year after 17 years volunteering for the annual PGA Tour stop in Greensboro. Two years later on Nov. 21, Brown was further honored for his incomparable dedication when he was named PGA Tour Volunteer of the Year.
It’s not surprising Brown earned both honors considering how he goes above and beyond his duties as a hole captain at the August event, but it is surprising it’s taken so long.
Brown began volunteering for the event when he moved to Greensboro in 1999 and answered an ad in the local newspaper to become a course marshal for the Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic at Forest Oaks Country Club. He began as a spotter on the par-4 16th, a job he held for several years as the event transitioned to the Chrysler Classic of Greensboro. When Wyndham took over in 2007 and moved to Sedgefield Country Club in 2008, Brown’s presence as a volunteer grew more prominent.
He now captains the par-3 16th and has done the job well for 11 years, but Brown doesn’t take pride in the recognition he’s received. Rather, he attributes the honors to excellent teamwork.
“Of course when you’re (honored with) something like this you have to realize all of the people behind it, all the volunteers,” Brown said. “I handle about 40 volunteers who work hole 16 every year at the tournament and of course their efforts go toward making the tournament better than ever … It’s kind of a group award more than anything, that’s the way I feel about it.”
But Brown shouldn’t sell himself short. It’s his communication skills and dedication that go above and beyond the call of the average volunteer hole captain. During the tournament, he begins recruiting spectators. The lure of being inside the ropes draws fans to ask questions to which Brown readily has answers. Outside of tournament week, Brown frequently communicates with new and returning volunteers over email, reminding them of registration and important dates.
But he doesn’t just help keep volunteers informed, he wants to make the event better. Brown creates a survey for his volunteers after the tournament, although he’s not sure if any other hole captains do it. He reads every single response before passing them along to the Wyndham Championship.
“That way everyone that works for me gets a shot at the tournament directors and everybody, and they say good things and bad things about the tournament. And of course the Wyndham people review that and there are some good points,” Brown said. “You know you get good things (from) the people in the trenches.”
While he’s an expert at watching golf, Brown doesn’t play anymore. He played since he lived in Fridley, Minnesota, after graduating from the University of Minnesota in 1956, but he and his wife Charlotte retired from the game about two years ago.
Something surprising to learn about Paul after hearing about the time and energy he dedicates to the tournament is that he’s turning 85 in January.
Charlotte, 79, volunteered at the Wyndham Championship with Paul for five or six years and still wishes she could, but due to high blood pressure, she can’t be out in the sun during long, hot days of the tournament. She now helps Paul with record keeping and communicating with volunteers.
“I feel like I’m still a part of it although I don’t have the communication (and involvement) I used to have,” Charlotte said.
While the August heat of North Carolina, clamor of course evacuations that go along with summer storms and long days can be difficult for any volunteer, Paul hasn’t slowed down. His youthful vigor reflected in his voice carries him through.
“It’s not like many (volunteers) can take the entire week,” Wyndham Tournament director Mark Brazil said. “Paul’s in there at 6:30 in the morning, he doesn’t leave until 7 at night and those are full-time staff type hours and he’s doing that as a volunteer. Most of your volunteers, and we’re happy to have all of our volunteers … they can take one day. But he’s the kind of guy that takes the whole week.”
During the tournament, Paul works 12-hour days and in the offseason dedicates countless hours to his hole captain duties. If that’s not enough, Paul also volunteers at junior and college golf events held around Greensboro, including a two-week junior camp at Pinehurst. He serves at the aquatics center at the Greensboro Sports Foundation helping with YMCA events, ACC men’s and women’s aquatic events, Olympic tryouts and ACC basketball championships at the Coliseum. He volunteers even more at the Greensboro Convention and Visitors Bureau helping with races, NCAA events and track competitions.
If all that’s still not enough, Paul has also found paying gigs as part of the statistical crew for the Charlotte Hornets’ NBA G-League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm, and as a coordinator and rover for Guilford County Board of Elections, proving guidance at precincts on election days.
Paul said he’s able to keep up with all his volunteer responsibilities because he served as an official for hockey, football, baseball, basketball and softball during his career. He’s convinced those five sports have kept him young.
After graduating from Minnesota, Paul also served as the Parks and Recreation director in Fridley until 1975. He then moved to Oklahoma City to take a job with the Amateur Softball Association as umpire, director and youth director and lived there for 27 years before he and Charlotte moved to Greensboro.
Additionally, Paul attributes a healthy lifestyle to his longevity. He goes to the doctor and dentist regularly, gives blood twice a year and doesn’t drink or smoke.
“I have legs of a 20-year-old man holding me up so I’ve been very lucky with that,” Paul said.
The only place his age really shows in his depth of experience.
“If we were ever to have a Mr. Volunteer in Greensboro and around the region, he’d certainly be one of them,” Brazil said.
He might just win that award next.
