That’s what they will be serving up during the U. S. Women’s Open at Pine Needles this week.
The company handling this huge order is Prom Catering, billed as Minnesota’s most experienced caterers. The focus of their expanding golf and tennis catering and concession division is ”to provide the Open with the highest standard of food and beverage presentation, quality, and service at a fair price.”
William Given and his brother, Thomas, have turned a small family business that was started 55 years ago by their father into a thriving and growing national catering service.
This year, they will be working 14 stops on the PGA tour. And this is their third U. S. Women’s Open Championship.
Prom Catering teams are also busy at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Okla., where the U. S. Open Championship will get under way later this month.
From May to September, the company has crews constantly moving from one tour site to the next. At the core of all this are two management crews.
This is the company’s busiest time of the year. Crews are in the field are often on the road for over 130 days each year.
Prom Caterers brings its own ovens, stoves and grills. The company’s bartenders, waiters and waitresses serve as team leaders for the legions of local people hired as temporary help during the Championship.
The company uses local food distributors to ensure the freshness of their products at each event.
Scattered throughout the grounds at Pine Needles are the concession stands. Volunteers from local charitable groups staff the stands. The nonprofit groups get to keep a percentage of each concession stand’s sales, which comes in the form of a donation to each organization.
This is a tried and true program that has been successful year in and year out. All of these volunteers are working because they want to support their charity. One of the perks for the volunteers is that they can stay and watch some great golf when their shift ends.
Rotary, Kiwanis, Ronald McDonald House and hospital auxiliaries are just a few of the good causes that benefit from every sandwich, beverage and salad that is sold.
Prom Catering also handles servicing the corporate sponsor tents where companies entertain customers, employees and other guests.
They do it all, breakfast, lunch and dinner, with snacks in between, and hors d ‘oeuvres and cocktails each evening. There are 10 corporate tents at the Corporate Marquee Village near the 14th hole. The company caters to the corporate sponsor’s every need, adding up to more than 2,600 opportunities for service each day.
During my interview, William Given was very complimentary about working with Pinehurst Championship Management. They are hard working and dedicated and their attention to detail, under the direction of Reg Jones, surfaces in all that they do.
“I use to use the words Minnesota ‘nice’ all the time but, after this, my second time working at Pine Needles, I have to say North Carolina ‘nice’ has won out,” William Given said. “Working here at Pine Needles is like being at a garden party. It is the best because of all the nice things they do.
“The landscaping is beautiful with flowers showing up everywhere. The signage is complete and just where it should be. The volunteers are plentiful and happy to have the championship here and they express this pleasure by the many ways they support Pine Needles, as well as the sense of pride they have in their own golf courses and the communities they call home.”
Prom Catering does not need to take a back seat when it comes to layout and design. The clean and neat, green and white striped umbrella topped tables are inviting and relaxing to all spectators passing by.
Customers seemed to like the service and the food.
“Lines moved very quickly,” said spectator Cheryl Hibbett of Nashville, Tenn. “The hamburger was substantial in size and tasteful. The eating area was neat and clean and the counter workers were friendly.”
That just about says it all for me and for William and Thomas Given, two hard working “Minnesota nice” businessmen.
