Slugger and Rusty Joined At The Hip
Quick show of hands from our esteemed readership.
- Do you take gimmes way outside the leather of your putter?
- Are breakfast balls simply an unspoken understanding amongst friends?
- Do mulligans flow like PBRs at a Bayou wedding?
Slugger White & Mark Russell are likely groaning and rolling their eyes as they recline further into their chairs.
Who you may ask? This tandem is only the longest-tenured set of rules officials on the PGA Tour.
Both Russell and White announced their retirement effective at the conclusion of this year’s PGA Tour season after only 40 years of service each:
- Sam Snead still played Tour events when these two started
- European Tour veterans John Paramour and Andy McFee also retired last year
- 160 years of collective rules officiating experience has just left the game
Just a quick visual to paint a picture for those who only tune in to watch professionals obliterate golf courses.
Slugger White - he looks like the gentleman you’d hire to operate the fan boat on a tour of the Florida Everglades:
- Played 73 PGA Tour events from 1976-81, best finish T-4 at 1976 Texas Open
- Started as a tour official in January 1982
Mark Russell - he looks like the gregarious fellow that convinced you to go on said fan boat tour after overindulging on bottomless Bloody Mary’s.
- Played golf at Elon University, worked as the Director of Golf at Disney World
- Started with the PGA Tour in 1980
Rules officials have stressful jobs; telling petulant professionals looking for any advantage that they are in the wrong.
Guys like Slugger and Mark always lead off with questions like “How can I help?’. Well, gentlemen, after a lifetime of wiping tour pro’s asses and solving problems, you can help by helping yourselves to a mint julep and relaxing on your Barcalounger watching some golf on TV.
You now get to live a life where perhaps the rules can be bent a bit to satisfy your leanings, and nobody would blame either of you a bit.
