Mike Raby Spends a Week at the Paris Olympics

Mike Raby was sitting in his cart, observing play as a Rules Official during the middle of the Men’s Olympic Golf competition in Paris, when all of the sudden something funny happened.

A fan wanted a picture.

“A lot of times, spectators will ask you questions about where to go or how to get somewhere. The questions at the Olympics were also coming in French, which was interesting,” says Raby. “This one fan, though, was originally from the U.S. and lived in France, so he spoke English. He was wearing red, white and blue, had an American flag draped over his back, was smoking a cigar and holding a bottle champagne. And he wanted a photo with me in my cart.

“You know when you just see a character from a distance and you say to yourself, ‘Yep, we’ve got a live one here.’ That was this guy all the way.”

That was one of the many highlights of Raby’s Olympic experience in France, where he was serving as an International Technical Official or ITO. It’s a title given by the Olympics for anyone officiating competitions and Raby was serving as a Rules Official for the Men’s Olympic Golf event at Le Golf National, won by Scottie Scheffler on Aug. 4.

As the Vice Chair of the PGA of America Rules Committee, Raby had the experience and expertise needed to officiate the competition. He served in the same role during the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, but the atmospheres were completely different.

And much like PGA of America Chief Championships Officer Kerry Haigh, who was on site at Le Golf National setting up both the men’s and women’s competitions, Raby was part of a conglomerate of Rules Officials from different golf organizations under the International Golf Federation. It meant he worked alongside officials from the USGA, PGA TOUR, DP World Tour, R&A and more versus just fellow PGA of America Rules Officials.

“It’s like a United Nations of rules officials,” Raby says. “There’s a lot of collaboration involved but I think that leads to a neat and different experience.”

And unlike a PGA Championship or Ryder Cup, there’s other competitions going on at the same time as the golf. Raby and a group of fellow officials got to take in an Olympic handball game after the action at Le Golf National was over, and he says it really drove home how different the event is from anything else.

“It was kind of a weird experience,” says Raby, who oversees the City of Baton Rouge, Louisiana’s public golf courses – known as BREC Golf – as their Director of Golf. “There were no spectators, definitely no pictures being taken in carts! What hit me immediately was the atmosphere. There’s 30,000 fans, dressed in their country’s colors, people carrying flags and draping them across the stands. The mix of countries is such a cool vibe . . . and one you can only get at the Olympics.”

“I think that’s the magic of the Olympics. The competition for a medal and the pride people have in their countries wipes away everything else it feels like. There’s not much else like it.”

– Mike Raby, PGA

“I still don’t understand the rules of handball, but what a fun atmosphere it was,” adds Raby. “Fans chanting, cheering on their countries. I liked that it was a sport I didn’t know anything about but by the end of the night, we all said, ‘Wow, that was really fun!’

“I think that’s the magic of the Olympics. The competition for a medal and the pride people have in their countries wipes away everything else it feels like. There’s not much else like it.”