DOWAGIAC — Standing in front of the Dowagiac Rotary Club, Bruce Springsteen stood decked out in professional golf attire, including a 40th U.S. Senior Open green polo — with the Notre Dame logo — and a blue United States Golf Association hat to match.

During the Rotary Club’s meeting, Springsteen gave a presentation about his experiences with volunteering at professional golf tournaments.

He opened the floor with the question, “How many here have volunteered at professional golf tournaments?”

Only one hand raised in the crowd as Springsteen continued telling the club about his experiences.

Springsteen, who has lived in Dowagiac since he was 10-years-old, graduated from Dowagiac Central High School, went away to college and then taught at the high school level. Springsteen returned to run a family-owned realtor business and has remained rooted in the city of Dowagiac since. Now, Springsteen is a part of Cressy and Everett Real Estate’s team and is an active member in the Dowagiac Lions Club.

“The word ‘volunteer’ in pro golf is different than the word ‘volunteer’ normally,” Springsteen said. “In pro golf, if you volunteer, you pay a fee to volunteer.”

To date, Springsteen has volunteered at seven pro golf tournaments. He worked the Senior Professional Golf Tournament in Benton Harbor for four years and worked the Four Winds Invitational in South Bend for two years. This past year, he also volunteered at the 40th U.S. Senior Open Championship at Notre Dame’s Warren Golf Course.

He added up all his volunteering costs, and it came to the total of $690, he said.

“I’ve had six free rounds at very nice golf courses,” Springsteen said. “I’ve had seven hats. … I have eight nice Ralph Lauren Polo or Under Armour shirts and five rain jackets.”

Springsteen said the neat part about volunteering is the interesting people he meets — not the golfers necessarily, but the other volunteers and people in the crowd.

The four times Springsteen volunteered at the PGA in Benton Harbor as a walking score keeper, he had good experiences, he siad.

A walking scorekeeper has a handheld computer they carry and is instructed never to speak to the golfers unless one speaks to them. A walking scorekeeper is instructed to talk to a caddy, who keeps the score if a volunteer has a question. The scores go directly from the handheld computer to the scoreboard.

“A walking scorekeeper walks in the freeways with the golfers, and you get to listen to the conversations,” Springsteen said.

The total walk is six and a half miles, Springsteen said, as he mentioned he is already signed up to volunteer with evacuation, which consists of sitting somewhere, and if there is a storm, volunteers help get people off the course.

Springsteen also shared another fact to the audience of Rotarians about the importance of scorekeeping. 

“Something very interesting, if there is an eagle or a hole in one,” Springsteen said, “the PGA is going to call walking scorekeepers and ask if it is authentic.”

To give background to the audience, Springsteen detailed his schedule at the 40th U.S. Senior Open Championship.

“One day, I left Dowagiac at 5:30 in the morning,” Springsteen said. “By the way, for these tournaments they have to have 2,200 volunteers, and Notre Dame ended up with 1,900. I worked double shifts for four days.”

To end the program, Rotarians and Springsteen shared a laugh after reminiscing about golf tournaments held between the Lions Club and the Rotary.