Hutchinson ? There’ll be no shortage of volunteers next month for the U.S. Women’s Open golf championship at Prairie Dunes Country Club.

By the middle of last week, 2,139 people had signed up for the right to greet the competitors at the airport, empty trash barrels, clean golf balls and serve beverages at the largest annual event in women’s golf.

For adults, who account for about 2,000 of the volunteers, there’s a $95 charge to volunteer. The charge for children is $25.

The fees go toward uniforms, meals and a temporary building under construction in which volunteers will be able to eat and take breaks during the event July 4-7.

Each of the nearly 30 volunteer committees will have a training session directed by the U.S. Golf Assn.

Tomi Ann Foust, who became volunteer coordinator for the event nearly two years ago, said about 75 percent of the volunteers are from the area.

But the rest will be coming in from far and wide at least 31 states and Canada.

“The USGA told us it would happen,” she said.

Gary and Donna Swaim will fly in from Nashville, Tenn., to volunteer. Donna is a member of the Executive Women’s Golf Assn., a nonprofit organization designed for “career-oriented women interested in golf.”

She said the time and expense to travel from Tennessee will be worth it.

“We like to travel to play golf, so this isn’t that different,” she said.

Donna will serve as a marshal on the 14th hole. When Foust told her she needed people for the ecology duties, Donna signed Gary up for that.

“When I told him he’d be picking up trash, he said, ‘Uh, OK,'” Donna said. “We’re such golf nuts, we don’t care what we’ll be doing.”

The ecology committee is chaired by Hutchinson attorney Jim Gilliland, who initially thought the duties would include “making sure the stands didn’t disturb the precious flowers or something,” he said.

Instead, it meant attending to trash and portable rest rooms. Eventually, portable rest rooms were removed from the job description.

“I guess I got a break there,” he said.

Gilliland called in the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and the Boys & Girls Clubs, looking for young volunteers.

Skip Wilson, director of the Hutchinson Boys & Girls Club, loves the idea. He runs a junior golf program associated with the club, and he’s using it as a measuring stick to select 10 “golf ambassadors.”

“It’ll be a reward to them,” Wilson said. “In our golf lessons, we talk a lot about respecting the sport. The ones who do that best will get to be a part of something that’s a really big deal in Hutch.”