The 102nd Florida Amateur Championship was held last week at The Loxahatchee Club and Jonathan’s Landing Golf Club in Jupiter. Nearly 900 golfers tried to qualify for the championship and ultimately 168 made the championship field. After seventy-two holes there were four players tied at 3-under and it took one extra hole to crown the champion. Ben Reichert, of Tampa, won the championship after rounds of 72-70-71-72 and a par on the first playoff hole.
As you can imagine, with 168 players playing thirty-six holes and then 70 of them playing two more rounds after the cut, there were many rulings that occurred over the course of the championship. Below are some of the rulings from the Amateur Championship.
Ball at Rest Moved – A player was standing near his ball that was lying just off the green in the rough. As he was waiting for another player in his group to play, his club was leaning against his body and the club slipped off his leg and fell onto his ball moving it slightly. He consulted with a Rules Official and the Official explained to him that he incurs a one-stroke penalty and the ball must be replaced to its original place. (Rule 9.4)
Ball at Rest Moved – A player was on the 18th green putting for birdie. His putt missed, but left him with a tap-in par. When the player addressed his ball for the tap-in, the ball moved slightly. Uncertain what to do, the player moved the ball back to its original location and tapped in the short putt. Minutes later at the scoring table, he brought up the incident. After gaining all the facts, it was found that the ball moved immediately when the player placed his club behind the ball. The Committee determined that the player had accidentally caused his ball to move and since the ball was on the putting green there is no penalty and the player must replace the ball. The player scored a four on the hole. (Rule 9.4 Exception 2)
Ground Under Repair – On Wednesday afternoon, there was a major thunderstorm that dropped a lot of rain on both courses. The maintenance teams did amazing work preparing the courses and the conditions on Thursday for the first round were perfect. Early in the first round, a player hit his tee shot left of the 11th fairway near the 17th green. The ball came to rest in a major wash out in a sandy area that the maintenance team has not repaired yet. The player called for a Rules Official and the Official granted relief for ground under repair. The player found his nearest point of complete relief and dropped a ball within one club-length of that spot and no closer to the hole. After the player finished the hole, the wash-out was repaired. (Rule 16)
Wrong Ball and Disqualification – In the second round a player hit his tee shot left towards some bushes on the 15th hole at Jonathan’s Landing. Unsure if the ball could be found, he played a provisional down the center of the fairway. The player reached the area where his original ball is likely to be and after a brief search, a spectator found his ball in a bush. The player then determined the ball was unplayable and mistakenly decided to play his provisional ball. Remember – a provisional ball is ONLY for a ball that is lost or out of bounds. The moment you find your original ball within three minutes and it is not out of bounds, your provisional ball no longer exists. When the player played the ball from the fairway he played a wrong ball, incurred a two-stroke penalty and he must correct the error. The player finished the hole with the provisional ball and teed off on the 16th hole. Later in the day this information was brought to the Rules Committee, the Committee met with the player, and since he did not correct the error before teeing off on the 16th hole he was disqualified. (Rule 6.3c)
If you are ever unsure that you or another player proceeded properly it is best to bring it up before your group tees off on the next hole, and especially before scorecards are signed and returned.
