Meadows atop volunteer leader board

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/02/2016 (3023 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Brandon woman is the leading vote-getter in the volunteer challenge for the Arnold Palmer Invitational golf tournament set for next month in Orlando, Fla.

This year marks the third year Janice Meadows has volunteered at the tournament, but it’s the first time the volunteer challenge has allowed Canadians to take part.

In order to win the competition, volunteers must collect online votes. As of Wednesday evening, Meadows had 370 votes, while the next closest volunteer vote getter had 230.

Winning the competition means Meadows would be able to present a $10,000 cheque to the Arnie’s Army Charitable Foundation plus an additional $1 for each vote she gets up to another $10,000 — as well as receiving a 2017 volunteer uniform and signed Arnold Palmer flag.

Arnie’s Army is a charitable organization that focuses on investing in health and wellness initiatives for children and youth.

“It would be pretty neat,”鈥圡eadows said from Florida.

Meadows — who grew up on Riverside Golf Course, which has since been renamed Glen Lea Golf Course, near Brandon — said Palmer, 86, still spends a lot of time around the tournament throughout the week.

“It’s just amazing the amount of respect people have for him,” she said about Palmer, who has 62 career PGA Tour wins, including seven major championships.

“He’s such a true gentleman.”

The Invitational attracts the game’s best golfers. This year, Rory McIlroy committed to the tournament, which runs from March 17 to March 20 at Bay Hill in Orlando.

Other golfers who will be there include Bubba Watson, Brandt Snedeker, Adam Scott, Graeme McDowell and Davis Love III.

The tournament is used by several players as a warmup for the Masters at Augusta National, the first major of the season.

“You get to see all the golfers and you can reach out and touch them,” said Meadows, who is volunteering in the sponsorship tent for the 38th annual tournament.

“It has all the big names and it’s so neat to watch them.”

Meadows, who is joined by Brandon’s Janice Langston as a volunteer, might have been a little star-struck her first year, landing her in a little bit of hot water with tournament organizers when a picture of her asking for Scott’s autograph in her volunteer uniform surfaced in the players’ guidebook.

“That was a no-no,”鈥坰he said with a laugh.

“They took me back the next year, so it couldn’t have been too bad.”

Meadows said she gets out golfing 40 to 50 times a year at her home course, which is the Clear Lake Golf Course.

She plans on getting out two to three times per week with her husband, Allan, while vacationing in Florida for nearly three months.

The self-described golf fanatic is also chairing the golf portion of the 2016 Manitoba 55 Plus Games in Brandon this summer.

While she has two holes-in-one to her credit, Meadows said one of the biggest highlights was watching the former No. 1 golfer in the world tee it up.

“Tiger,”鈥坰he said, referring to Tiger Woods, who has won the Invitational a record eight times, the most recent in 2013.

<t$>To vote for Meadows visit TourChallenge.com/Arnold

PalmerInvitational.<t0z8.5f"Helvetica-Condensed-Bold">

» ctweed@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @CharlesTweed