IVINS, Utah (
ABC4) — Soaking in the scenery, red rock, blue skies, and green golf courses are some of the perks for the nearly 500 volunteers working this weekend’s LPGA Black Desert Championship.
These volunteers are made up of all ages and are split into committees and assigned different tasks, such as golf cart shuttling and schedule coordination. But that doesn’t stop the volunteers from having fun.
“I love this place,” said volunteer Ashley Sampson. “I do this every year since I moved here two years ago.”
Bayley Clayton manages the Black Desert Tournament services, and says volunteering is in her blood.
“My parents were both involved with the golf world and the volunteer world for 20 years,” Clayton said. “I started as an intern after COVID and graduating, and just worked my way up from there. It’s definitely not someplace I ever thought I’d be, but I never want to leave. I don’t think they can ever get rid of me.”
Volunteers add that it takes a lot of work — with months of planning, having to pay to get themselves there, and during the tournament, having 5 a.m. check-ins. So why do they do it? They say because they enjoy it.
“My volunteers have become like my family,” Sampson says.
If you’re at the tournament and you see a golf cart roll out with people in their blue polo shirts, remember the volunteers who are behind it all and ready to roll.