Spectator Not to Even Touch the Player on the Golf Course!
The safety of the D+D REAL Czech Masters tournament will be in the hands of the Centr Group agency. No other company in the Czech Republic has the authorization for this from the European Tour.
“It started in 2009. We provided the overall security for the Czech Open tournament in Celadna. At that time, the promoter was looking for a company which would be willing to negotiate terms of mutual cooperation at the European Tour headquarters in London. We transformed the directive within the fuse , we had to translate hundreds of pages of instructions. Back then we got the approval by Miguel Viador, the Celadna tournament director and now, coincidentally, the Czech Masters director, “says Jaroslav Pajonk , general director of the Group.
The security of the tournament will be taken care of by approximately three hundred people. We are not talking only about standard bodyguards; there are drivers or the IT division performing the guest evidence which fall under the administration of the agency. There will be about 150 Guards, 30-40 drivers with an own dispatcher and about a hundred volunteers working for the agency.
“What surprised us years ago was that the better players in the game had to have an escort. Until then, we only had guards who were not accustomed to walking. After the first round they were exhausted. Fast walking was quite a challenge for them. They soon discovered that golf is no walk in the park. The next year we hired golfers who were physically fit and knowing the game they were able to judge where to stand, what to pay attention to during the game, where to the ball would fly.”
European Tour determines in advance who is to have a personal bodyguard throughout the tournament, as it was the case for Miguel Angel Jimenez. On the weekend the final six flights will be watched regardless of the cast.
“The audience will not get into a direct vicinity of the player. It is the golfer who controls the game, he should never submit to the audience, “says Jaroslav Pajonk .
One thing is the movement of players around the pitch and supervision of their safety, another thing is the performance of tasks seemingly invisible. Volunteers overseethe stands, the professionals guard from designated stations. Supervision also applies backstage to oversee the routine operations and activity within the premises. We also make sure the golf cart does not run over a spectator, nobody gets robbed in a locker room or that the visitors do not access places they are not supposed to. .
The transportation of players is a topic for itself. The transfer from the hotel to the golf course has its well-planned schedule and everything happens as securely as possible and in time.
“When a car breaks down, there is a backup vehicle available in five minutes. It also requires discipline from the players. They must not have much of a delay. ”
Upon the arrival of the vehicle, other colleagues take over the players to accompany them to the locker room .
In accordance with the guidelines, the area will be under surveillance24 hours a day. Centr Group uses a special unit with night vision. It’s a different discipline. Guards will be stationed across the course. The will be one guard on each hole. This is mainly to make sure the course does not get damaged overnight.
Centr Group is one of the largest security agencies with more than a thousand clients from Czech and Slovakia. Its scope of activities is very broad, it is not just golf.
“Our company has multiple divisions. We provide not only protection, we have our IT division – taking care of software security, secure conference rooms, telephones, emails, corporate infrastructure setup, safe document disposal and prevention of information leaks. We fit a strategy for each client individually and take over the security of our client entirely,” says Jaroslav Pajonk, general director of the Group.
The activity is not just about security, but all the necessary services related, such as inputs at cultural and sports events.
“We take care of the accreditation processes completely. We issue the cards, register all the guests, and differentiate the cards by color. For these purposes we possess a special software, printers and mobile devices.”
Centr Group owns a classification level test. This is the unique feature that opens the door for the agency. Employees undergo special training.
“For the special VIP events, we use ex-military specialists , IT experts and software purchased from American companies , ” says Pajonk .
“Czech Masters is the most challenging event so far. When we guarded Tom Cruise, everything evolved around him and the family, nothing to worry about outside that circle. He was filming Mission Impossible here. During the golf tournament the guards must be on alert 24 hours and it is more difficult to anticipate what kind of complications could rise.
As mentioned, the agency has experience with sports events, social events and personal surveillance.
“We look after the Davis Cup tennis players in theirhotel; we monitor completely the athletic Golden Spike in Ostrava. Besides Tom Cruise we have protected Ivana Trump, Karolina Kurkova, we did the Opera Ball in Prague – these are special events. We also accompanied Winton Train from Prague to London, secured the Chinese investment forum, Colours of Ostrava in the streets, Hyundai factories in Nošovice or Valeo near Humpolec , “addsJaroslav Pajonk .
Jaroslav Pajonk, LL.M, MBA – generální ředitel CENTR GROUP, a.s.
