Tom Gardner, director of golf at Los Angeles Country Club, got to play in the U.S. Open on Saturday, almost bouncing down the fairways to the cheers of his many supporters behind the ropes.
His scorecard meant nothing. The experience meant everything.
Gardner, with his familiar boater’s hat and near-constant smile, was the marker in the tournament. A marker is a non-competitive player who rounds out the field when an odd number of players makes the cut. He doesn’t keep a card — except maybe as a souvenir — and sometimes doesn’t even finish every hole, although Gardner did. He was playing with Ryan Fox of New Zealand.
“I was very cognizant not to get in Ryan’s way or throw off his rhythm,” Gardner said. “We had a great time.”
That might be understating it. Gardner was walking on a cloud.
“To be able to say that I got to play a U.S. Open setup on the weekend and see what it’s like,” he said, “and see the energy of the crowd and see the pins and the firmness and the rough and everything that goes along with it, it’s … I can’t really describe it.”
His caddie was Rory Sweeney, head professional at the club, and the two were pinching themselves that the numbers worked out to get them on the course. Both had made unsuccessful attempts to make it through U.S. Open qualifying.
“Obviously we all dream to play in one of these,” said Sweeney, who grew up on the west coast of Ireland, “and to share it with one of my best mates is something really special.”
Gardner, who had gotten word a week earlier he would get the nod if the numbers worked out, was convinced Friday night that an even number of players would make the cut and there would be no marker.
Paul Barjon of France needed to play the final three holes Friday at even par or better to make the cut — thereby eliminating the need for Gardner.
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Wyndham Clark holds the U.S. Open championship trophy after winning at the Los Angeles Country Club on June 18. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Wyndham Clark celebrates immediately after winning the U.S. Open at the Los Angeles Country Club on June 18. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Rory McIlroy hits from the 10th tee during the final round of the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club on June 18. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Rory McIlroy gets a ruling from a golf official after lodging a ball into the side of a greenside bunker on the 14th hole during the final round of the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club on June 18. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Rory McIlroy looks at his golf ball on the 12th hole during the final round of the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club on June 18. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Rickie Fowler hits from the 13th-hole fairway during the final round of the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club on June 18. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Wyndham Clark chips out of the rough and on to the sixth green during the final round of the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club on June 18. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Rickie Fowler looks at his golf ball while on the 12th hole during the final round of the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club on June 18. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Rickie Fowler reacts after hitting seventh-hole tee shot during the final round of the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club on June 18. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Rory McIlroy hits out of the rough on the 14th hole during the final round of the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club on June 18. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Wyndham Clark hits from the second tee during the final round of the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club on June 18. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Wyndham Clark celebrates with his caddie after winning the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club on June 18. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Wyndham Clark, right, celebrates with his caddie after winning the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club on June 18. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Wyndham Clark covers his face with his hat immediately after winning the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club on June 18. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Fans cheer after Xander Schauffele sinks a 35-foot put on the second hole during the third round of the U.S. Open on June 17. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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Rickie Fowler hits from the 10th hole tee during the third round of the U.S. Open on June 17. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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Wyndham Clark reacts while putting on the 10th hole during the third round of the U.S. Open on June 17. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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Rory McIlroy hits from the third tee during the third round of the U.S. Open on June 17. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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Wyndham Clark hits from the eighth tee during the third round of the U.S. Open on June 17. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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Harris English watches his shot from the 15th tee during the third round of the U.S. Open on June 17. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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Jason Day chips out of a greenside bunker on the 14th hole during the second round of the U.S. Open on June 16. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Rickie Fowler hits from the eighth tee during the third round of the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club on June 17. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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Rickie Fowler hits from the 11th tee during the second round of the U.S. Open on June 16. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Wyndham Clark hits from the seventh tee during the second round of the U.S. Open at the Los Angeles Country Club on June 16. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Austin Eckroat, left, and Wyndham Clark walk though the rough on the fourth hole during the second round of the U.S. Open at the Los Angeles Country Club on June 16. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Jon Rahm hits out of the rough on the 15th hole during the second round of the U.S. Open on June 16. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Wyndham Clark chips onto the second green during the second round of the U.S. Open at the Los Angeles Country Club on June 16. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Joaquin Niemann hits out of the rough near the sixth green during the second round of the U.S. Open at the Los Angeles Country Club on June 16. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Rickie Fowler walks to the 18th green during the second round of the U.S. Open on June 16. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Alex Noren hits out of a greenside bunker on sixth hole during the second round of the U.S. Open at the Los Angeles Country Club on June 16. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Tony Finau hits out of a greenside bunker on the 16th hole during the first round of the U.S. Open at the Los Angeles Country Club on June 15. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Rickie Fowler consults with his caddie before hitting out of the sandy rough on the ninth hole during the first round of the U.S. Open on June 15. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Rory McIlroy hits from the 16th tee during the first round of the U.S. Open on Thursday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Despite the gloomy weather, spectators walk along the North Course at the Los Angeles Country Club during the first round of the U.S. Open on June 15. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Jason Day hits out of a greenside bunker on the eighth hole during the first round of the U.S. Open at the Los Angeles Country Club on June 15. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Rickie Fowler walks on a bridge to the ninth green during the first round of the U.S. Open at the Los Angeles Country Club on June 15. Fowler shared the lead with Xander Schauffele after the first round following a stellar eight-under-par 62. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Rickie Fowler hits out of the rough on the ninth hole during the first round of the U.S. Open on June 15. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Golfers Gary Woodland, Corey Connors and Adam Scott check the slope of the green and their putting lines on the 14th hole during the first round of the U.S. Open on June 15. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Rickie Fowler, third from left, walks with Jason Day to the seventh green during the first round of the U.S. Open on June 15. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Brooks Koepka, left, and Rory McIlroy walk up to the ninth green during the first round of the U.S. Open. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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An excited golf fan tries to get an autograph from Xander Schauffele as he walks to the 17th tee box during a practice round at the Los Angeles Country Club on June 14. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Golfers line up their putts on the 11th hole during the first round of the U.S. Open on June 15. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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June gloom shrouds the downtown L.A. skyline as the first round of the U.S. Open gets underway at the Los Angeles Country Club on June 15. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Rory McIlroy hits from the 16th tee during the first round of the U.S. Open on Thursday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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With the downtown L.A. skyline in the background, Rory McIlroy walks along the 14th fairway during the first round of the U.S. Open on June 15. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Spectators walk the course near a grandstand during the first round of the U.S. Open at the Los Angeles Country Club on June 15. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Golf fans watch Rory McIlroy putt on the second hole during a practice round for the U.S. Open at the Los Angeles Country Club on June 14. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Golf fans cross a bridge over Wilshire Boulevard to exit the course after attending a practice round for the U.S. Open at the Los Angeles Country Club on June 14. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Barjon parred No. 16, then birdied 17.
“At that point, I go, ‘I’m out of here,’” said Gardner, who had been monitoring scores on his phone from behind the 18th green. “I was meeting my wife for a cocktail party.”
He went to the locker room, changed, said goodbye to his friends at the club and hopped in his car.
So he wasn’t there to see Barjon take a double bogey on 18, slicing his drive into the woods, blasting out of a greenside bunker, then lipping out a 10-foot bogey putt.
Suddenly, breaking news: Gardner was golden.
“I get a text from a member, and he said, ‘You’re in,’” he said. “I immediately called him, I said, ‘No, I’m not. This guy birdied 17.’ He goes, ‘No, he doubled 18.’ All of a sudden I started getting a lot of text messages and a lot of emails and the club sent out an email to the membership.”
Saturday morning, Gardner got the star treatment — or at least he got a smattering of cheers and shouts of “Let’s go, Tommy” wherever he went on the course.
He crushed his drive on No. 1, hitting it 285 yards down the middle. He holed a par putt of at least 30 feet on No. 10, right next to the members’ tent. More cheers. And he hit a beautiful tee shot on the par-three 15th, narrowly missing his birdie putt.
All that, and he didn’t have to keep a card.
“Best way to play golf,” he said.
As of Saturday evening, no one had withdrawn. There was still an odd number of competitors for Sunday.
Tee it up again, Tom.
