Why ‘alcohol monitors’ are roaming the crowds at the LIV Golf event in Portland
NORTH PLAINS, Ore. — If you walk around one of the hospitality grandstands or through the fan village at the LIV Golf Invitational Series event near Portland, you’ll see pairs of people roaming through the crowds and keeping tabs on the fans.
You can’t miss ’em. After all they’re wearing bright yellow shirts that read “Alcohol Monitors” in all capital letters. For events like this at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club, alcohol monitors are an Oregon requirement for OLCC, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission.
“For liquor, permits are required to have alcohol monitors, so the catering company is in charge of the alcohol plan and so they have to go out and find alcohol monitors,” said Jeromy Hasenkamp, owner of Pac-Tac Protective Solutions. The security company provides off-duty officers that have three or more years of law enforcement experience for everything form protective details to event security.
A minimum of 15 people were required to be staffed for this week’s event. Some are adults and some look like they’re barely old enough to vote, let alone intervene in a situation where a fan has had one too many of the $5 beers or $10 wine and cocktails. That’s where the security comes in.
The monitors aren’t meant to be no-fun narcs out to spoil a good time. They’re looking for signs of visibly intoxicated people, seeing as the OLCC does give fines if people are caught overserving.
“What we’re trying to do is obviously limit the amount of alcohol coming out, because of consumption rates and whatnot,” explained Hasenkamp. “Obviously the more you down, the quicker they go down, and with the lack of water and the heat, they’re watching for that.”
If fans want to drink they’re given a wristband each day to verify their ID. If monitors notice somebody stumbling, then they’ll go over and make contact to address the situation.
Like any live event where alcohol is in play, some bad eggs can make a mess, and this week is no different. Hasenkamp said fans have been on their best behavior for the most part, aside from a couple minor issues, like the fan who tried to ride on the back of a production cart before falling off as it drove across a fairway.
“It’s very much still about the etiquette of the game, being a good spectator,” said Hasenkamp. “We’ll let people have fun, but you have to try and keep it a family-friendly event so kids out on the course are not having to worry about the obscene stuff.”
