Manitoba official makes his ‘small contribution’ at U.S. Open

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This article was published 18/06/2024 (827 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Don MacDonald has been around the sport of golf for a long time, dedicating 25 years to officiating different tournaments.

The Golf Manitoba veteran had never officiated an event of the magnitude of the U.S. Open — until now.

Each year, the USGA invites guest referees from the National Golf Association to attend the tournament. MacDonald and Susan White of British Columbia were selected to represent Canada as stationary officials, meaning they were assigned to watch over selected holes over the four-day tournament which concluded Sunday with Bryson DeChambeau standing tall.

MacDonald, who officiated at the U.S. Seniors Open the last two years, was honoured to be a part of history in Pinehurst, N.C. where the USGA was celebrating its 1000th championship with the prestigious national major.

“(The U.S. Open) has always been my favourite tournament to watch,” MacDonald said Tuesday. “I’ve always considered it to be the toughest test of golf.”

If any players required assistance with a ruling — from drop-ball plays to designated dangerous animals — MacDonald was there to help.

“It’s a game of honour and integrity and the ability to help a player comply with the rules is why we all do this,” he said.

A peculiar call MacDonald made at the open happened to involve an issue over suspected fire ants, where MacDonald was called over to help a player whose ball had landed in wire grass surrounded by insects.

“You always prepare for a tournament,” he said. “So the day before we had talked about fire ants, and the golf course treats for them because they’re very dangerous animals, so I did not believe that there were any fire ants on the golf course.”

MacDonald told the player this, but a PGA tour official was called over to double-check. It was determined that they were regular ants, and the ball stayed where it was.

Over the four rounds of the Open, MacDonald used his experience to make rulings for different issues while stationed at the 8th hole drive zone, the 14th hole green, the 4th hole green and the 9th hole.

“You feel a great responsibility to ensure that you do not put a player in a bad position in terms of rules,” MacDonald said of the pressure of officiating such a high-profile event.

“They’re playing for history when you’re dealing with a major tournament.”

The contested fire ants issue was a little out of the ordinary for MacDonald, who explained that he mostly dealt with ruling where to drop a ball with a temporary immovable obstruction such as a grandstand or TV camera — objects that are only present in major events such as the Open.

“We’re golf enthusiasts, golfers, and others officiated for us,” said MacDonald, who also trains up-and-coming referees.

“We’re just doing the same, so this was an honour to be able to do this, to learn more about refereeing under those conditions, but also that I can share with other referees.”

MacDonald’s next assignment will be as the tournament rules chair at the Canadian Men’s Amateur Championship in Saskatoon from Aug. 2-8.

“The highlight is to me being part of the great game of golf and adding my small contribution to it,” he said. “Whether it’s this very special honour at the U.S. Open or another event.”

zoe.pierce@freepress.mb.ca