Golf is one of those sacred, ancient sports where you can seemingly make things up as you go along.
Compare this to football, where you’re likely not drinking beer on the sidelines.
Also, if there’s so much as a hint of drizzle, golfers are more likely to pack it in than the guys wearing shoulder pads.
But at the Madeira Islands Open, one golfer fought through and kept playing—even though his caddy died:
The Scottish golfer Alastair Forsyth defended the decision to finish the Madeira Islands Open after his caddie died on the course on Sunday.
Forsyth was playing the ninth hole on the steeply undulating Santo da Serra layout – when 52-year-old Zimbabwean Iain McGregor collapsed on the fairway and suffered a fatal heart-attack.
Mind you, this same game was postponed just hours earlier by nature’s weakest weather, fog.
Believe it or not though, there’s no real rule for something like this.
According to the golfer:
Myself and playing partners Adam (Gee) and Tano (Goya) met tournament officials and spoke to (European Tour chief executive) George O’Grady on the phone before taking the decision to play on, because we felt that was what Mac would have wanted.
Pro-tip for caddies out there: make your post-death wishes known before you hoof it on a foreign course in case you’re not thrilled with having a sheet thrown over you and turning into the newest hazard on the course.