www.montereycountyweekly.com February 2-8, 2023 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 23 volunteer manager role for 17 years before retiring after the 2022 Pro-Am. She then worked alongside Dubé for four more months to ease the transition. “She gave me a lot [of advice],” Dubé recalls, the most important being to rely on committee chairs and the experience of regular volunteers. And to trust in fate. “She told me that somehow it all comes together.” Dubé arrived in Monterey County 10 years ago and began looking for opportunities to get involved with the community. That’s when she happened upon Monterey Peninsula Foundation. PGA Tour stops are philanthropic operations. In fact, since it moved to a nonprofit model in the 1970s, the PGA Tour has raised more money for charity than all other professional sports in this country combined. MPF formed in 1978. Through the Pro-Am and the Tour Champions event in the fall—the Pure Insurance Championship—the organization is able to support around 200 nonprofits in Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito counties, doling out $12 to $15 million each year. With the 2022 event, the Pro-Am surpassed $200 million in local philanthropic giving since the tournament moved to the Monterey Peninsula in 1947, the first on the PGA Tour schedule to reach that figure. The import of that funding, she says, is part of the attraction. The game itself—at least for Dubé—was not a consideration. “I’m not a golfer,” she admits. “I didn’t know anything about either event.” First, she helped with year-round MPF operations. Quickly, however, she stepped in as a volunteer at the Pure Insurance event and was hooked. “Ten years later when Suzanne retired, I applied,” Dubé says. “And here I am.” She grew up in Texas and was in the restaurant industry with her husband, who launched the successful Freebirds World Burrito chain. When the company sold, they settled in California. Time in the corporate hospitality world gave her experience with large numbers of employees, and with the organizational detail necessary to make things run smoothly. As it happened, her first supervisor as a golf tournament volunteer also came from a restaurant background. Rachel Zapeda’s family operated Alfredo’s Cantina, and when Dubé had questions, Zapeda would suggest they head to the restaurant and talk about it. “She’s an amazing person,” Dubé says of Zapeda, who is in her 53rd year as a volunteer. “She shared what the tournament and the foundation do.” For volunteers, the event is mostly calm, with a few potential storms. When hail covered the course in 2019, Dubé had to help round up golfers and hustle them to shelter (while many of the caddies chose to remain on course and make “hail angels” in the accumulated white stuff). “There’s always a surprise around the corner,” she points out. “Volunteers could write a book.” Dubé’s favorite role in her decade of volunteering was at a stand dubbed Rachel’s Trailer, a temporary shop open only to those donating time, where they could purchase event merchandise at cost. Almost everyone came to the trailer, providing Dubé with a chance to meet and speak with the others. Shopping has since moved online, but the respect she gained for the team remains. “I’m floored that people are willing to fly here, to pay for their own lodging and come back year after year,” she says. One veteran—Megan Bryant—is even a finalist for PGA Tour Volunteer of the Year honors. There are other perks besides inexpensive hoodies. Volunteers can play The Hay, the cool par-3 course designed by Tiger Woods. There are raffle items, gatherings and celebrity entertainment. Dubé believes there’s a more fundamental, human reason people devote a week out of the year to ferrying passengers, marshaling crowds or staffing kiosks. Part of it is the knowledge that someone benefits from their labors— the charitable aspect. But Dubé also compares the experience to summer camp as a kid. “They make friends,” she explains. “It’s really that—the friendships they develop.” “SOMEHOW IT ALL COMES TOGETHER.” GOLF Peninsul ’ Downtow Shops, restaurants, hotels and businesses Spend some time with us Downtown… Celebrating 8 years in Downtown! 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