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This Reed debacle irks me even more than usual bc I caddied at WMPHO qualifying this week, & watched my player take an unfavorable ruling bc he couldn’t, in good conscience, take a free drop that myself, his coach AND playing partners urged him to- costing him the qualifier IMO.
@f_lindblom hit a great drive, that we all saw carry some rocks, land in the rough, and bounce softly left. Upon arriving at the spot where it landed, we saw there was a 30 yard long puddle from the storm that passed through the day before... (cont.)
...and after being unable to find the ball, the group agreed that it bounced in the rough and rolled into that casual water. (Side note, there was also a casual spectator that fled the scene as soon as we mentioned we were looking for a ball.)
We never found his ball, & couldn’t sift thru all the water to find it, but everyone in the group was sure it had come to rest in the water. Fred didn’t feel good taking relief if the ball wasn’t PROVEN to be in the puddle, so he re-teed, knocked it on, 2 putted, & took double.
At this point he was -2 with 2 holes to play, and the double cost him (I believe) a chance to move through qualifying(-3). He could have pushed for a better ruling + a free drop from casual water, & we all would have upheld the ruling, but he chose to protect the field instead.
Golf is largely self governing- & as a result is full of opportunities like this. I believe that these moments show your character and I’m proud of Fred for sticking to his guns- but watching someone get away with an infraction on live TV just makes it that much more frustrating.
