In one sense, Mark Dusbabek and Gene Steratore do the same job — explain rules and penalties to viewers on CBS.
But then again, they don’t.
Nothing against Steratore, who works on NFL telecasts, but when he offers his insight — and even his opinion — it’s just that: his. He has no influence on what happens in the game.
Dusbabek does.
The PGA Tour’s senior director of TV rules and video analyst, Dusbabek watches nearly 30 tournaments a year from a production truck in the TV compound at courses like Torrey Pines, where the Farmers Insurance Open is being played this week.
Dusbabek is in communication with officials in the field who are working with players to interpret rules and, if necessary, make rulings.
So, while Dusbabek said he and Steratore are “both trying to educate viewers,” the golf expert can educate players and officials as well.
He cited an incident one year at the Match Play in Austin. Jon Rahm put his club down by his ball and the ball moved. When the official arrived on the scene, he immediately radioed Dusbabek for help.
“I had the video and I said, yes, as soon as he put his club down, the ball moved. It was caused by his action,” Dusbabek said. “So he could make the ruling. It’s a penalty. Replace the ball.”
The communication saved time and also controversy. Rahm could take his penalty there as opposed to being notified later.
Of course there’s making rulings, and then explaining them to viewers — which is also part of Dusbabek’s job. This is his third year working with CBS.
“What I’m trying to do is just make it a simple explanation that my dad can understand,” Dusbabek said. “That’s what I think about. I could get all technical and I could tell you all your options and I could go into all the rule numbers and everything else, but just understand the basics. ‘This is why he gets relief. What do you see? What is the result of it and what else can I add to it?’”
Dusbabek did not grow up dreaming of being a rules official. He was a linebacker at the University of Minnesota and then for three seasons with the Minnesota Vikings. He made 11 starts in 1990 but blew out his knee in the 1991 season opener and was never able to play again.
He worked for a few years in finance in Chicago and New York but after moving to Los Angeles he decided he wanted to be in the golf industry. He volunteered for a year with the Southern California Golf Association, then moved back to New York and took a job with the PGA of America’s Metropolitan Section. He returned to L.A. to work for the SCGA before moving on to the PGA Tour in 2006.
Becoming part of TV broadcasts was never the plan, but more of an evolution. Dusbabek said several years ago when the Match Play tournament was in Tucson, he was watching a delayed broadcast when he heard someone from the Arizona Golf Association explaining a rule. To Dusbabek, something didn’t seem right.
“It felt like we should have our own representation at one of our events,” he said.
He suggested it to his boss, who said there wasn’t really anyone to do it. Dusbabek volunteered and wound up explaining rules on TV during the Players, Match Play and Presidents Cup.
“And then after maybe 10 years doing a few of those on and off it just kind of evolved where it felt like we needed to do more,” Dusbabek said. “As the game got bigger, as the tournaments got bigger, we were playing for more money, more on the line, we’ve got to make sure we get everything right.”
Working with fellow rules official Orlando Pope, Dusbabek has at his disposal, thanks to a new system last year from Hawk-Eye Innovations, seven different feeds with the ability to rewind, enhance, use slow motion and even take clips and send them to officials on the course.
“So we’re actually trying to assist the player and help them with a ruling that might be the best option and make sure nothing is violated,” he said.
He has visited with Steratore as well as officials working in the NBA Replay Center outside New York. He’s also trying to expand the tour’s video program from 28 or 29 tournaments this year to as many as 44 next year, with an eye on the Korn Ferry and Champions tours as well.
“I’m trying to take something that’s already been created by other sports, bring it to golf and create a product,” he said.
Posner is a freelance writer.
