ATLANTA — While the greens at East Lake Golf Club may appear calm and quiet, specially trained federal agents and their K-9s are working behind the scenes to protect thousands of spectators attending the PGA tournament.
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The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is conducting daily security sweeps of the course, searching for explosives and firearms before spectators arrive.
Channel 2 was there exclusively as ATF K-9 Agent Oakley, a 3-year-old Labrador, worked room by room with his handler, Agent Mariah May.
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May said ATF teams have been arriving at the course around 6 a.m. each morning since the tournament began. They search for potential threats throughout the event.
“I know that this is a really huge event here in Atlanta,” May said.
The ATF says its specially trained dogs can detect odors that humans cannot.
“Our specially trained canines are able to smell and detect things that humans can’t smell and detect,” ATF Assistant Special Agent in Charge Brian Graves said.
With an estimated turnout of nearly 60,000 spectators, Graves said the agency’s proactive security measures are critical.
The ATF says its explosive detection canine teams play an important role in protecting the public at major events.
May described the tournament as a “target-rich environment” for the agency’s K-9 teams.
According to the ATF, its K-9 teams provide protective search-and-sweep operations for nearly 300 national security and major public events each year.
The agency says its specially trained canines can recognize six basic explosives groups and are scientifically certified to detect up to 19,000 combinations of explosive compounds, including commercial, military and homemade explosives.
“ATF is after only the worst of the worst, violent offenders,” May said. “And so this is a part of our strategy, is making sure that we come out to these events.”
The agency says its security planning is already looking ahead to major events in 2027, including the next PGA tournament and the Super Bowl in Atlanta 2028.
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