Player DQed for Running Out of Golf Balls

[83tobeat]

England's Eddie Pepperell was actually disqualified from the European tour's Turkish Open during his third round yesterday because wait for it..............he ran out of golf balls 😆.Apparently he hit his approach shot to the 4th into the water,he then had more attemps at the shot losing 5 more balls into the water.Pepperell is no slouch having career earnings of $8.3 million on tour,this begger's belief that a tour player playing to this standard doesn't put enough balls in his bag before he hits the course,surely a fine's applicable here.

Edited November 10, 2019 by 83tobeat

[Patch]

I read that same article. His playing partners said he was having an "off day" from the get go. 

I believe the article went on to say he could've borrowed a ball to finish the hole, but that Pepperell was more inclined to just quit. 

 He was DQ'd for failing to finish the hole. 

I was of the understanding pro tourney players were only allowed to carry a certain number of balls to use in a given round. I might be wrong about that the article mentioned he could've borrowed a ball. 

This, running out of balls seems like something that wouldn't happen very often. I know amatures lose an average 1.3 balls per round. I would thin the pros lost ball average would be quite a bit less. 

[phillyk]

6 minutes ago, Patch said:

I was of the understanding pro tourney players were only allowed to carry a certain number of balls to use in a given round.

I am pretty sure that's not true.  I mean, a lot of guys hand out golf balls with autographs.  I think they carry quite a lot, perhaps more than most amateurs.

[Patch]

4 minutes ago, phillyk said:

I am pretty sure that's not true.  I mean, a lot of guys hand out golf balls with autographs.  I think they carry quite a lot, perhaps more than most amateurs.

Yeah, I just looked it up. There is no limit to how many balls the can carry. The article said most pros carry 9, or so balls. If they run out, they can borrow, or even buy more balls as needed.

Learned something new today. 

[pganapathy]

23 minutes ago, Patch said:

Yeah, I just looked it up. There is no limit to how many balls the can carry. The article said most pros carry 9, or so balls. If they run out, they can borrow, or even buy more balls as needed.

Learned something new today. 

There is a catch to this.  Most tournaments have a rule that says you need to play the same type of ball throughout the round.  So borrowing from your playing partners may not always be feasible 🤷‍♀️

[iacas]

5 hours ago, pganapathy said:

There is a catch to this.  Most tournaments have a rule that says you need to play the same type of ball throughout the round.  So borrowing from your playing partners may not always be feasible 🤷‍♀️

It's possible with a penalty. So if your options are "borrow a ball and finish the round" or "DQ" then taking the penalty might make sense.

[turtleback]

2 hours ago, iacas said:

It's possible with a penalty. So if your options are "borrow a ball and finish the round" or "DQ" then taking the penalty might make sense.

This all came up in one of Tiger's rounds at Pebble Beach, I believe in the 2000 US Open, when Tiger hit his next to last ball into the water on 18.  I don't remember exactly how it came about, but I remember Stevie telling the story, and how Tiger's reload with, unknowingly, his last ball, was his most nervous moment of caddying for him.

[83tobeat]

Maybe this was down to his caddy not supplying enough balls to his bag,dont know but having caddied on the European Seniors Tour it never failed to amaze me how lax the so called professional caddies were about how many balls they supplied to their players with comments like "i'm not putting anymore weight in the bag",amongst other things.Who could forget Woosnam's caddy leaving 15 clubs in the bag dq'ing his man whilst leading the Open Championship!.The bags down to the caddy,its not rocket science.

Edited November 11, 2019 by 83tobeat

[Mr22putt]

10 hours ago, iacas said:

It's possible with a penalty. So if your options are "borrow a ball and finish the round" or "DQ" then taking the penalty might make sense.

There's no mention of a penalty here.

https://www.usga.org/RulesFAQ/rules_answer.asp?FAQidx=14&Rule=5

[pganapathy]

14 hours ago, iacas said:

It's possible with a penalty. So if your options are "borrow a ball and finish the round" or "DQ" then taking the penalty might make sense.

Ok, but is that permissible with a different golf ball.  My understanding was you had to play the same golf ball or it was a breach of tournament conditions.  I might be wrong of course.  If it is just a penalty, then it makes sense rather than get DQ'd.

[iacas]

5 hours ago, Mr22putt said:

There's no mention of a penalty here.

https://www.usga.org/RulesFAQ/rules_answer.asp?FAQidx=14&Rule=5

That's without the one ball rule in effect.

[Mr22putt]

4 hours ago, iacas said:

That's without the one ball rule in effect.

Associated penalties.

What is the One Ball Rule in golf tournament competition?

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What is the One Ball Rule in golf tournament competition? It's a condition of competition for PGA Tour, pro golf and high-level amateur tournaments

 

[70sSanO]

The part I’m wondering, per the article above, is if it not a part but put in place by tournament organizers, is it possible that some tournaments allow different balls to be played?  Or has it become pretty much a standard at all PGA tournaments?

I can see how a particular golfer, say a DeChambeau, might want to use a different ball based on his “scientific” analysis of distance, trajectory, flag location, spin, etc., etc., etc.  But that process would only add a couple additional minutes to tee off.

John

[iacas]

22 minutes ago, 70sSanO said:

The part I’m wondering, per the article above, is if it not a part but put in place by tournament organizers, is it possible that some tournaments allow different balls to be played?  Or has it become pretty much a standard at all PGA tournaments?

I can see how a particular golfer, say a DeChambeau, might want to use a different ball based on his “scientific” analysis of distance, trajectory, flag location, spin, etc., etc., etc.  But that process would only add a couple additional minutes to tee off.

John

I believe it’s on the PGA Tour and European Tour hard card.

[iacas]

Russell Henley penalized 8 strokes for using two types of balls during round

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Russell Henley discovered that he used two different brand golf balls during his round Saturday, resulting in an 8-stroke penalty and a missed cut at the Mayakoba Classic.

The Rules of Golf permit a player to switch golf balls after each hole, but there is also a local rule that allows a committee to invoke a One Ball Rule, which is typically used at high-level events or professional tournaments. It stipulates that a player must use the same brand and type of golf ball for the entire round.

So, for example, Henley or any player would not be permitted to start with a Pro V1 and switch to a Pro V1x or any other brand or color of golf ball. (The PGA of America, which runs the PGA Championship, does not invoke the One Ball Rule in its competitions.)

[Vinsk]

Seems odd a tour player can’t get a rep to get him some golf balls. It’s pretty silly to run out at that level but human will error. Every effort should be made to get the guy his ball type if needed as long as it doesn’t cause undue delay.

[iacas]

10 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

Seems odd a tour player can’t get a rep to get him some golf balls. It’s pretty silly to run out at that level but human will error. Every effort should be made to get the guy his ball type if needed as long as it doesn’t cause undue delay.

Huh? Are you talking about Eddie?

Eddie didn't want to be out there. He basically withdrew.

[Vinsk]

10 minutes ago, iacas said:

Huh? Are you talking about Eddie?

Eddie didn't want to be out there. He basically withdrew.

Not specifically no. But I’ve heard this happen before and just seems a rep could take care of this. If he didn’t want to be there why’d he tee off?