Undue delay
Probably the strangest ruling of the year, so far, occurred at the Senior Open Championship at Turnberry last week. Most of us have lost balls in the rough but it is not often that a caddie is lost in the rough and their player gets penalised for it. American, Pete Oakley incurred a two-shot penalty for mislaying his caddie, Jennifer Oakley, who also happens to be his wife.
As Pete walked back to play his drive on the 13th tee, Jennifer walked on down the fairway to ball-spot. While waiting she took shelter from the wind behind a toilet. Hearing a ball land in nearby rough she started searching for it. A few minutes later she realised that the golfer searching alongside her was definitely not her husband, nor was it his fellow competitor. Meanwhile, Pete was standing at a bunker on the other side of the fairway, where his drive had landed, wondering where she was. After waiting a few minutes for her to arrive with his clubs he started back towards the teeing ground. When he got there he surprised the spectators by asking, “I’ve lost my wife – have you seen her?”
Andy McFee, European Tour senior referee, takes up the story;
As Pete walked back to play his drive on the 13th tee, Jennifer walked on down the fairway to ball-spot. While waiting she took shelter from the wind behind a toilet. Hearing a ball land in nearby rough she started searching for it. A few minutes later she realised that the golfer searching alongside her was definitely not her husband, nor was it his fellow competitor. Meanwhile, Pete was standing at a bunker on the other side of the fairway, where his drive had landed, wondering where she was. After waiting a few minutes for her to arrive with his clubs he started back towards the teeing ground. When he got there he surprised the spectators by asking, “I’ve lost my wife – have you seen her?”
Andy McFee, European Tour senior referee, takes up the story;
“One of our rules officials spotted Pete walking back to the 13th tee. Assuming he had lost his ball, he went to pick him up in his buggy. But when he got to him, Pete said: ‘I’ve lost my caddie.’ Pete stood by the bunker for a good two or three minutes. Then he spent a couple of minutes wandering back to the tee, then another good couple of minutes for the rules official to go and get the caddie from the 10th and bring her back. So all in all it was at least seven minutes. That’s as clear a breach of the undue delay rule as you can get, so a penalty of two strokes was applied.”
Part of Rule 6-7 states;
The player must play without undue delay and in accordance with any pace of play guidelines that the Committee may establish. Between completion of a hole and playing from the next teeing ground, the player must not unduly delay play.
PENALTY FOR BREACH OF RULE 6-7: Match play – Loss of hole; Stroke play – Two strokes. For subsequent offense – Disqualification.
PENALTY FOR BREACH OF RULE 6-7: Match play – Loss of hole; Stroke play – Two strokes. For subsequent offense – Disqualification.
Pete Oakley, who won the Senior British Open Championship in 2004, finished his round shooting 83. He was suitably philosophical about his wife’s disappearing act when he commented,
"I might not have been laughing so much about it if the two-shot penalty had seen me miss the cut".