And once you dispose of it, chances are a volunteer from the Ecology Committee will be hot on your trail emptying out garbage cans and picking up stray litter off the Pine Needles grounds.
The ecology committee is headed by Dr. John Dempsey, president of Sandhills Community College, and consists of 125 Sandhills Community College faculty and staff who have volunteered to retrieve the trash left at this week’s Women’s Open.
The volunteers work at least two shifts. They in turn receive a pass to attend the Championship — without trash duty — for the rest of the time.
This is a seasoned group of volunteers on the Ecology Committee.
“This is our sixth year,” Dempsey says. “Do you know how many hot dog wrappers and beer cans that is?”
The college has been responsible for the trash disposal for the 1991 and 1992 PGA Tour Championship tournaments and the 1994 U.S. Senior Open in Pinehurst, both played at Pinehurst Country Club; the 1996 Women’s Open at Pine Needles; and the U.S. Open in 1999.
“Ninety-seven percent of what we do is empty the trash bags and replace them,” Dempsey says. “We are completely responsible for the trash generated by spectators. We don’t do bathrooms and are not responsible for the garbage in the vendors’ tents.”
The trash collection team’s goal is to stay ahead of the garbage.
“People tend to respect a place that is already clean,” Dempsey says.
Volunteers will be picking up trash throughout Championship week. Saturday should be their busiest day, Dempsey says. On Sunday, people tend to be more focused on the leaders so they tend to create less trash.
Exactly how much trash are they expecting?
“Well, there will be about 20,000 people here each day, so that’s about 100,000 people,” Dempsey says with a laugh. “If they have around three beers and two hot dogs apiece, that’s about a half a million pieces of trash.”
It might seem odd that people actually volunteer to pick up trash at the Open, but it is a job that many on the Ecology Committee relish.
“We love doing it,” Dempsey says. “Trash is the most fun job of all at a tournament, for three reasons. One, because you get to move around; two, because you don’t have to pay for a uniform; and three, because it’s like a fraternity party. We are all out there having fun and people really seem to appreciate what we are doing.”
