Jeff McClaran may be on vacation from work this week, but he’s not exactly taking time off.
The Waukee resident will spend 12- to 14-hour days volunteering at the Principal Charity Classic golf tournament, which starts today at Glen Oaks Country Club in West Des Moines. McClaran is one of more than 1,100 volunteers who will work to make the event run smoothly. “We simply could not pull off this event without our volunteers,” tournament director Jamie Alt said in a statement. “We have a staff of five full-time employees and four interns. Keeping our head count low helps us control costs and allows The Principal Charity Classic to donate more than $600,000 to central Iowa charities each year. Without our volunteers, that wouldn’t be possible.” Last week, McClaran was already spending evenings at Glen Oaks supervising several aspects of preparation for the tournament. As the chairman of the operations committee, he oversees security, the distribution of beverages and other items around the course, and trash collection. When the golfers step onto the course, he’ll be the go-to guy for anything unexpected. As a part-time medic for Dallas County and a full-time emergency manager at Wells Fargo in West Des Moines, he knows how to deal with unforeseen events. That training was put to use a few years ago when a golfer crashed his cart into a creek and McClaran performed CPR. McClaran volunteered to help with the first year of the tournament in 2001. “Originally, it was just kind of to see what is like behind the scenes of a golf tournament,” he said. “It turned into something I really enjoyed.” He comes back each year to see all the people he’s met and to get a change of pace from his regular job. “It’s kind of like a reunion of friends,” McClaran said. “The tournament staff is a great staff to work with. They make it fun to keep coming back.” McClaran could think of only one thing that would be better than working hard to keep everything at the tournament in order: “If only I could sit and watch some golf.” SUBMITTED PHOTO
Jeff McClaran of Waukee will spend 12- to 14-hour days volunteering at the Principal Charity Classic golf tournament, which starts today in West Des Moines.