Ready, Set....

It's go time!  The week so many of us have been anxiously awaiting for years is nearly here and the buzz and excitement has already arrived in full force.  I am of course talking about the PGA Championship, which takes place at the Ocean Course on Kiawah next week.  The first time I found out about the PGA Championship coming to Kiawah in 2012 was back in 2006, my first year living in Charleston when I took a job at The Sanctuary on Kiawah Island.  Most of the attention and focus at that time was on the Senior PGA Championship, which took place on the Ocean Course in 2007.  I had a small role in that event, basically just being a smiling face out in one of the company's hospitality suites.  Not a bad gig, especially for someone who was itching to get experience in the golf industry.  I left my job at The Sanctuary shortly after the Senior PGA but luckily remained connected to a separate company on the Island, which I knew would provide access to the 2012 Major should I still be working for Doonbeg at that time.  Well, yesterday was my 5 year anniversary with Doonbeg (wow, 5 years?!?  Cannot believe how fast it's gone.), the week is here and the excitement is intense!
Throughout my five years with Doonbeg my passion and love for the game of golf has grown tremendously, I've been lucky enough to attend a lot of PGA tour events, meet quite a few of the tour Pro's, managers, caddies and fall in love with the experience a Major tour event brings.  Aside from The Master's, this will be the only other of the four Major's that I've attended and the backdrop being my backyard is incredible.  
Kiawah Island is one of the most amazing and special coastal destinations I have ever experienced.  The landscape, the lifestyle, the people and of course the golf, set it apart from anything else.  Those that work for any of the three plus large corporations that are based on the Island have been anxiously awaiting this event for years.

With a few more days still to go before the tournament officially kicks off, we are already seeing a huge spike in excitement on the island.  Earlier this week we had some big names start to trickle in for a few practice rounds beginning with Adam Scott, followed by my hubby-to-be and bff Graeme McDowell, who was quickly followed by Tiger Woods.  Those guys are all putting their best foot forward now in Akron, but will be back on Kiawah in a few short days.  The inhabitants of the island got into a bit of a frenzy yesterday when Tiger Wood's yacht "Privacy" pulled into and docked at Bohicket Marina.  My office is just up the marsh/waterway from Bohicket so I decided to take a trip down there yesterday to scope it out for myself.  Pretty sweet ride, I'm not going to lie!  Not sure how much privacy he's going to get aboard "Privacy", but his security detail will no doubt be out in force keeping the drunk patrons of Red's at a far distance.

"Privacy" - I think you can figure out which one she is.

While the next few days will really start to show the signs of all the hard work, nearly finished infrastructure and temporary entertainment villages, my mind will be focused  on next week.  Sure, it will likely take me three hours to get to work each morning but it will be worth welcoming the World's greatest golfers to this incredible island that is my work home.  Safe travels to all, good luck and I can't wait to be out there on the 18th next week watching it all unfold!