DeKALB – Just a week ago, the NIU Athletics Department wrapped up one of its largest undertakings in its illustrious history - hosting the 2017 NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Golf Championships at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill., the Home of the Huskies.
 
After months of meetings and preparation over the course of 2016 and 2017, it was a two-week undertaking through rain, sunshine and periodic thunderstorms in the embers of May that crowned Oklahoma and Arizona State as the men's and women's champions, respectively. Individually, Sun Devil Monica Vaughn and Ole Miss' Braden Thornberry claimed top honors as well.
 
Despite the bipolar weather, over 16,000 fans attended the championship, creating an atmosphere not often experienced on the fairways and greens of the NCAA Championship.
 
Those that didn't see the championship in person likely saw it on Golf Channel, which dedicated six days to the coverage, broadcasting the final round of stroke play and three rounds of match play during both championships.
 

As some Golf Channel volunteers learned during the tournaments, a lot goes into the broadcasts.
 
Let's paint a picture.
 
At the start of the final round of the men's match play championship, 15 people sit in an at times lively, expandable production trailer - one of five, 30-foot long trailers used to produce the show - waiting to cue the announcers on the studio set, who sit idly, loosening their jaw muscles before the show's introduction.
 
As producer Brandt Packer cues the announcers, the trailer erupts with conversation through their radios as the team prepares for the opening tee shot of the round, getting cameras in position and making sure the four course-announcers and their spotters are in position, cued by iso-producer Rob Scharpe.
 
There are 34 television screens in front of the producers with all but three featuring a picture-in-picture display to make for over 100 screens of video, giving a new definition to multi-tasking.
 
After a brief introduction of the players by the official starter and drive at the first tee, the team takes a commercial break, ending the first three minutes of the calm and elegant pictures on the television screen, while the organized disorder in the truck shifts its focus to the second shot of the day. It's there, that the volunteers – many of them NIU men's and women's golfers - did their part to ensure the broadcast went off without a hitch. And according to members of the Golf Channel crew, it did.
 
To the Huskies, it was just something new and exciting - an opportunity presented to them at the end of the season.
 

"Our coaches said there's this cool opportunity out here if you wanted to volunteer and help us out; you guys know the course well and you can learn a lot. With that encouragement, I decided to volunteer and it's been cool," said sophomore Kelly Anderson of the NIU women's golf team (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton-Warrenville South).
 
"(Coach Tom Porten and Coach Andrew Frame) offered us this opportunity when we knew weren't going to Regionals," said Jordan Less (Elmhurst, Ill./York). "And why not get this behind the scenes experience? An experience I've never had working, calling in shots and talking behind the scenes. I've never done anything like that before."
 
"It's been such an honor, it's been so cool because it actually seemed like a professional tournament. We've been behind the scenes, helping out and making it all happen," said junior Lexi Salberg (Glencoe, Ill./New Trier). "The golfers are out there playing their hearts out and we're trying to let people know (that are) watching (at home) what's going on and I think it's pretty cool for us to be able to help like that and it's great for Golf Channel to allow us to be able to help in such an impactful way."
 
Raphael Denais took the opportunity to give back to the program that brought him to the United States from Saint-Aventin, France, but in the process, found so much more.
 
"I just graduated and I felt like I owed so much to Northern Illinois University and Rich Harvest Farms that I first did it for that reason," he said. "But after these past two weeks, I absolutely loved it and thought it was a great experience. We got to watch some of the best players in the world and I'm really happy that I did this."
 
During the tournaments, the jobs varied for the Huskies: some worked as drivers for the broadcast announcers and spotters, others spotted for Scharpe - counting shots to set the scene at the hole - while others relayed yardages to the truck with range finding lasers to post distances to the pin for television viewers.
 
Scharpe, who's worked the last six years for Golf Channel, including four NCAA Championships, works with the volunteers and depends on their input over headsets to assist Packer.
 
With volunteer chatter in one ear - sometimes up to 25 people on the channel - and the production truck in his other and over 100 moving pictures in front of him, it's easy to see why extra eyes are needed. Add experienced, college golfers in the mix and it's one less thing for him to worry about.
 

"We've never had a whole team help us. It's been a huge bonus here. There were maybe two women's golfers at Oregon that helped last year but that's it. But here, having the whole team, it's top-to-bottom the best set (of volunteers) we've had," said Scharpe. "It seems like every volunteer is either an NIU golfer, a former golfer or a golfer. Normally and in past NCAA's, it's not an exaggeration, I have to teach match play to the volunteers so I work with them and teach them a little more.
 
"It's a lot harder to get information if they don't know golf or match play, which these last two weeks, I haven't had to worry about at all. I can trust everyone out there, 100 percent," he said.
 
Broadcast spotters Michael "Ike" Inguagiato, a retired school teacher in Washington D.C., and his brother Jerry "Eyeball" Inguagiato, who works finance in Glenview, Ill., share the same sentiment as Scharpe.
 
The experienced duo work roughly a combined 35 tournaments a year for NBC, CBS and Golf Channel, traveling the country and the world working tournaments and can be seen annually at the likes of Augusta National each year for The Masters.
 
"I've worked 10 years and have seen many, many volunteers come and help us and a lot of times, volunteers just want to work and be seen on TV," said Michael. "These kids are fantastic, they want to work, they want to learn, they want to help, they're not trying to be out in the middle of the fairway, they're hustling. These kids are the best I've seen in 10 years."
 
"I agree 100 percent, these are the best volunteers I've ever seen," followed Jerry. "They're humble, they're great kids, they're smart. They're golfers and they picked it up quick because TV has its own lingo. They're early to work, late to leave, they're just awesome. I've got grown kids and I always hoped my kids were like that (when they were younger), and they were. (This is) what you what you want your kids to grow up to be and these are great kids."
 
Michael, who works alongside Golf Channel announcer Billy Ray Brown, recalled a story during the final round of stroke play at the men's championship, involving his partner.
 
"When Billy Ray, and I work with Billy Ray a lot, and I changed groups, he saw Kelly (following the group and) he had a big smile because he knew that she had done a good job last week for the women's tournament. And I could see that he was confident that everything was going to be fine when we got to the group. He remembers them and it makes their job easy too."
 
Though the Huskies didn't compete in this year's championship, they certainly represented Northern Illinois University proudly at the NCAA Men's and Women's Golf Championships through their hard work behind the scenes. But that's not to say that they didn't take notes for their games while walking inside the ropes.
 
"It just makes me want to put in more time and practice more just to get to their level," said Salberg who will enter her senior year in 2017-18. "I know I want to be there. Imagining how much time and work they've put in at this point, drives me to practice harder, get better and prove my game."
 
"These guys are a lot better at the execution of their shots but I guess the thing I will really try to match is their attitude and how thorough they are in their analysis and how they get ready for shots or for a round," added Denais. "It's very inspirational to watch how the best players do it. It probably says a lot about what you should be doing to hopefully get to their level."
 

Their exposure may also open new doors for the student-athletes
 
"For me, it just opens another opportunity," said Less. "I'd never thought of doing this before but it's for sure something I enjoyed. Talking with Rob (Scharpe), it's just another side of things I'd never thought about so it's definitely going to be in my eye sight now."
 
"I would love to volunteer for more tournaments with Golf Channel because this has been such a fun experience and the staff was been wonderful but it hasn't changed my career path," laughed Anderson. "I still want to become an audiologist and pursue that, which is very different. I'd definitely volunteer again though, this was great."
 
The experience was a seminal one for the Huskies, and one they will not forget. And while some memories will be etched with dreams of reaching the pinnacle of college golf and visions of the future, the impression they left with Golf Channel will also be engraved in the minds of others.
 
Before the final round began in the Golf Channel tent where the group met each of the six days, and even spent an extended spell during a severe thunderstorm, Scharpe shared the sentiments he's explained throughout the interview to the volunteers and shared one lasting take away from the championships.
 
"I know I keep harping on this, but I rely so heavily on the volunteers and this group has been so good. There's never been an issue on a shortage of volunteers which happens a lot," closed Scharpe. "(Event & Volunteer Coordinator) Matt Gonzalez, who's been helping me out, has been spot on with everything I've asked for and I think he's geared a lot of the golfers towards this committee, which has helped a lot. Everyone showed up, everyone was positive, their attitudes were great. It's been a pleasure to work with them."
 
A complete photo gallery from the event can be viewed at the top of the story or by clicking here.