LOS ANGELES — 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.
