BANGOR, Maine — Jamison Randall learned a valuable and painful lesson on Friday during the second round of the 49th annual Greater Bangor Open golf tournament.
The 22-year-old Cumberland, Rhode Island, native was disqualified for playing the wrong ball on the 12th hole.
It started when Randall teed off and lost his golf ball.
He searched for it but couldn’t find it, so he returned to the tee box and hit another ball.
Someone then found his original ball so he played that ball for the rest of the hole instead of the second ball.
Rob Jarvis, Bangor Municipal assistant golf pro and tournament director, said that when Randall traveled more than 50 yards to search for his original tee shot, “that is deemed to have begun a search for the ball.”
“Once you hit a second ball after you have begun a search for the first ball that second ball is the ball in play,” Jarvis said.
Failure to do so results in a disqualification, according to the United States Golf Association rulebook.
“Had he hit a provisional ball before leaving the tee area, he would have been able to play his original ball if he had found it within five minutes,” said Jarvis, who noted that rules regarding provisional balls are designed to speed up play.
If Randall couldn’t find the ball, he would have been assessed a one-stroke penalty for a lost ball but could have continued playing his provisional ball, according to Jarvis.
Jarvis also noted that another rule would have allowed Randall to play both balls on that hole.
He could have finished his round without being disqualified, but he would have had to tell the rules committee what had happened after he finished the round and they would have made a ruling at that point on what his score should be for that hole.
Jarvis also said Randall wasn’t officially disqualified until he teed off on the 13th hole.
“The ball wasn’t in play again until he teed off,” said Jarvis. “If he had asked for a ruling before teeing off on 13, he wouldn’t have been disqualified but would have been assessed a penalty.”
“I was shocked,” Randall said. “It didn’t even cross my mind. I think I had done it [without being disqualified] in another tournament. I don’t know if the rule changed. I didn’t think it was an issue.”
But Randall took the blame.
“I’ll be honest, I’ve never totally studied the rule book. I thought I knew the rules pretty well. I didn’t know the rule, now I do, and I’ll never do that again,” he said.
One of his playing partners, Greg Jarmas, admitted he didn’t know the rule either.
Jarvis commended the way Randall handled the situation.
“It’s heartbreaking to inform someone they’ve been disqualified. He handled it with class, and I really appreciated it,” said Jarvis. “I’ve been on the other end of this [dealing with an agitated golfer] more times than not.”
Randall, an Old Dominion University graduate, said he enjoyed the tournament and intends to come back next year.