PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — There are around 1,600 volunteers at the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches. In reality, they are the engine that makes the tournament run.
Mark Ryberg is one of those dedicated volunteers.
"Thirteenth year. I just like golf in general. Moving to Florida was a beautiful thing," he said. "My wife and I came down, had a great day down here and I ran across a gentleman on the 10th, and I asked how I could do it and the next thing I know, next year here I am."
For the Cognizant Classic, there are 26 different opportunities to volunteer for. The jobs range from admissions, and gallery management to player transition teams, which is what Ryberg runs.
"We get to transition the players from 18 over to one, which is a chore. We'll take them across nine over to the tenth tee," he said. "We watch them here as they're coming off the putting green. We just keep a good eye on them."
To Ryberg, and all the volunteers across the country, their efforts are not going unnoticed.
"The volunteers are a huge part of why everything runs so smoothly, and we can go chase a white ball around," professional golfer Ricky Fowler said.
Ryberg said the pleasure is all his.
"Happy to do it," he said. "Great team, great time out here."
Ryberg said his team initially started with three volunteers.