Course of action
A Working Day in the Life of ... Sandy Lyon, the "Beer Cart Girl" (their term, not ours) at Willow Creek
By Steve Lange
In order to earn some extra money after being laid off in 2001, Lyon took a job as a “beer cart girl”—that’s her term, not ours, we were more than willing to use “beverage cart operator” or whatever—at Willow Creek Golf Course.
Now the assistant food and beverage manager at Willow Creek, Lyon trains and helps oversee the seven or so part-time beer cart girls, generally college students who are back in Rochester for the summer. (There is one “beer cart guy” who works the Ladies’ Night league.)
Lyon, though, still occasionally drives one of the three beer carts (“One is much faster than the others,” she says, “and I prefer the fastest one”), which are canopied and outfitted with a four-section cooler.
We asked Lyon to walk—or at least drive—us through a typical day in the life of a beer cart girl.
Saturday, 8:50 A.M.: Two Beer Cart Girls arrive at Willow Creek, and load up two of the three beer carts—all marked with “19th Hole” on the side—with six 18-packs of beer (Michelob Golden, Bud Light, and Miller Light are their biggest sellers), a few imports, a few packs of pop, and four bottles of liquor (Captain Morgan, Windsor Canadian Whiskey, vodka, and gin).
9:18 A.M.: One BCG starts driving the front nine, starting at Hole #1. If it’s a busy tournament, a second BCG will handle the back nine (and swing over to Little Willow if she gets a chance)—again riding a standard loop of holes 10-18, in order.
9:22 A.M.: First drink sold. Orange juice. Straight up.
9:55 A.M.: First alcoholic drink sold. Bloody Mary, with a made-from-scratch mix. “We might make a five gallon pail of Bloody Mary mix for busy tourneys,” Lyon says. And while you might think that a bunch of (mostly) guys drinking before 10 a.m. might lead to some more-than-rowdy banter with the BCG, Lyon says that’s rarely the case. “Sure, there have been a few incidents,” she says, “but most of the people here are regulars and it’s a really good group. Most of those really crazy stories you hear were from before I got here. You hear about the blow-up doll in some cart during a corporate outing, that sort of thing.”
10:03 A.M.: Back at Hole #1. The nine-hole circuit, depending on number of stops, amount of conversation, and how fast the BCG serves drinks, can take anywhere from 25-35 minutes. One BCG can make an 18-hole loop in 45 minutes or so.
10:17 A.M.: The BCG gently reminds a golfer that no outside beer is allowed on the course. “We don’t even serve Busch Light,” Lyon says.
10:42 A.M.: It’s a sport in which flying, wayward golf balls are an occupational hazard, though Lyon says she’s never been hit. “There are a few spots where you get a little nervous crossing the fairways, but we’re always watching.” The BCGs are also always watching for those breeches of golf course etiquette—driving up when people are getting ready to swing, making noise during a backswing—that can turn the BCGs from a golfer’s best friend to a scapegoat for a bad shot. “We sit in the cart and watch until the group has all hit before we make our way over,” Lyon says. “But, really, the golfers don’t get as mad about a bad shot as you’d think. You might see them shake their head, but we don’t see people throwing their clubs or that kind of stuff.”
11:17 A.M.: A golfer asks for some advice—shot selection or club choice—and Lyon just laughs. “I’m not the one to ask for advice,” she says. Though she has teed off at the request of one golfer. “The tournaments are meant to be fun,” she says, “so we try to make sure the golfers have a good time.”
1:44 P.M.: Back at Hole #1 for the fifth circuit of the day. The rest of the day will be steady, with anywhere from four to six more nine-hole trips. The BCGs will start to be ready with drink orders as soon as they pull up to specific foursomes—the quicker they can make the rounds the more money they’ll make. “I always tell the girls they can make a lot of money if they’re ready with the orders,” Lyon says. “You can make a few hundred dollars if you know what you’re doing.”
2:18 P.M.: A hungry golfer, maybe in a hurry, asks if he can get a late lunch brought to his cart, and the BCG calls the order in to the clubhouse, picks it up when it’s ready, and delivers it on her next run. “People love the service,” Lyon says. “A lot of people are surprised that we sell liquor and snacks. And, hey, even if the beer cart isn’t out, we’ve had people call the clubhouse with a drink order and we’ll bring it out to them.”
4:12 P.M.: The BCG starts what will be the ninth, and final, nine-hole circuit of the day.
4:45 P.M.: It’s back at the clubhouse to unload and clean out the beer cart for tomorrow’s tournament, a full-course shotgun start that will, once again, require two beer carts and two beer cart girls. Unless, of course, it’s an all-women tourney, which means two beer guys.