Robin Elbardawil received some national TV attention at the Masters, but the CWGA executive director was happy to be unaware of it at the time.
Elbardawil, serving as a rules official at the Masters for the third consecutive year, was thrust into the spotlight Thursday evening during ESPN’s first-round coverage from Augusta National. She was working the driving area on the 18th hole — as well as the 10th — that day when the next-to-last group was finishing its round. That group just happened to include one Tiger Woods, the focus of considerable attention as he completed his first competitive round in almost five months.
Elbardawil’s ruling didn’t involve Woods or K.J. Choi, both of whom would go on to post top-five finishes at the Masters on Sunday; rather it pertained to playing partner Matt Kuchar. Nevertheless, because of the hyper-intense attention on Woods’ group, the Kuchar ruling drew several minutes of TV time.
Elbardawil gave Kuchar assistance in getting relief after his tee shot went left on 18, near an area that includes concessionaires and restrooms. Because the entire area is deemed one large temporary immovable obstruction, players can take a free drop away from the buildings. But because a competitor must take complete relief — and Kuchar’s swing was still interfered with after a first drop — he ended up taking two drops, which took some time.
Fortunately, Elbardawil said, she was not aware at the time that a cameraman was filming much of the ruling for ESPN’s live telecast.
“I didn’t know that a cameraman had arrived,” Elbardawil said in a subsequent phone interview. “I looked up afterward and said, “˜I guess I had a big one on TV.’ And once I got to my phone (after the round), I had a zillion people say they saw me. I might have been more nervous had I known I was on TV. But I saw it later (on the repeat telecast) and I feel like I handled it pretty well.”
Despite his troubles, Kuchar extricated himself from the surrounding trees and managed a final-hole par on Thursday en route to a 2-under-par 70. He went on to finish 24th Sunday.
Elbardawil is no stranger to being a rules official at major championships. In addition to three Masters, she’s worked four U.S. Opens, eight U.S. Women’s Opens and one U.S. Senior Open. But it’s rare to be on national TV for an extended segment, so she was gratified to subsequently be congratulated on her handling of the Kuchar ruling.
“When I checked in my radio I had some Augusta members say that I did a good job on the ruling, so that made me feel good,” said Elbardawil, who received her Masters degree from the University of Georgia, less than 100 miles from Augusta National. “And the next night, some USGA people complimented me.”
Elbardawil noted that on Friday as she was walking back to the clubhouse, some women looked at her and did a double-take, eventually confirming that she was the official who had made the televised ruling on Thursday. The women asked for clarification regarding Kuchar’s situation.
“It’s fun to get some air time,” Elbardawil said after the tournament was over. “You feel like you’re being useful and it’s a way to educate people (about the Rules of Golf). As one of my friends said, people get very intrigued when a ruling is on TV.
“I had been working 8½ hours by that time (on Thursday) and I was trying not to mess up. I realized Kuchar was in contention. He managed to make a really good par (on 18), so I was glad I wasn’t responsible for him (dropping strokes).”
Elbardawail was one of two Colorado women serving as rules officials for this year’s Masters. Also in that role all four days was Christie Austin of Cherry Hills Village, a member of the USGA Executive Committee.
Elbardawil has had the opportunity to work the Masters by virtue of her position on the USGA Rules Committee as a representative of state and regional golf associations. That stint lasts for four years, meaning that next spring probably will be Elbardawil’s last as a rules official at the Masters, though she will continue to work major USGA championships in that capacity.
After Thursday’s time in the spotlight, Elbardawil was assigned to the driving area on the 13th hole Friday, when she helped with a few balls that went in the water. She officiated at No. 14 Saturday — she witnessed eventual champion Phil Mickelson holing out for eagle — and at No. 1 Sunday, but didn’t have any weekend rulings.
Thursday’s situation with Kuchar wasn’t the first time Elbardawil has been on TV during a ruling at a major championship. At the 2006 U.S. Women’s Open in Newport, R.I., she was called over when Natalie Gulbis’ ball moved while on a putting surface. Gulbis, playing with eventual champion Annika Sorenstam, was able to replace her ball without penalty in a fairly straightforward ruling.
Elbardawil, who also plans to be a rules official at this year’s U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open, thoroughly enjoys this part of her job.
“You get to see an awful lot of good golf, and with on-course officiating, the more you do it the better you get,” she said. “But with temporary immovable obstructions, you don’t get those rulings except at big events, so I still get a little nervous with those.”
Despite how close Elbardawil was to the action all week at Augusta, she, like most of the rest of us, watched the end of the tournament on television. In her case, she caught the final minutes on a TV at a sports bar in the Charlotte, N.C., airport, where she was awaiting a connecting flight to come back to Denver.
However, with next year probably being her last as a rules official for the Masters, “I’m going to stay and soak it all in,” she said.
