Minot’s Will Kannegieser took full responsibility for the rules infraction that caused him to be disqualified from the 52nd annual Paul Bunyan Amateur Golf Tournament on Sunday.
The 19-year-old Kannegieser led the tournament after Saturday’s round at the Penobscot Valley Country Club in Orono as he fired a 4-under-par 68. Even though he struggled to a 79 on Sunday at the Falmouth Country Club, his 147 would have left him tied for the lead with Lewiston’s Chris Cloutier and forced a playoff.
But on the 15th hole at the Penobscot Valley Country Club, he couldn’t find his tee shot.
After looking for his ball for the allotted five minutes, he couldn’t find it, so he went back to the tee box and hit another ball.
When he came upon his ball, he discovered that his original tee shot was right next to his second ball. He wasn’t sure what ball to play, so he played his original tee shot.
But Matt Barnard, the communications and marketing director at Harris Golf, which owns or operates several courses in Maine, including the Penobscot Valley Country Club and Falmouth Country Club, said in an email that United States Golf Association rules dictate in that situation that a golfer has to play the second ball.
If a golfer plays the first ball, disqualification follows.
Kannegieser said he hadn’t thought he made a mistake until Sunday when a golfer in a group behind him discussed the situation with him.
After his Sunday round, Kannegieser went to the pro shop at the Falmouth Country Club, explained what had happened and was eventually told he was disqualified.
“I wasn’t thinking straight on Saturday,” he said. “I was just thinking about what I could do to hold together a good round.”
“To his credit, he brought it to the committee’s attention on his own. He accepted the conclusion with grace and without question,” Barnard said in an email.
Kannegieser, who will attend Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, in the fall where he will play golf and ski, took it in stride and said he now knows the exact wording of the rule.
“That’s the way it is. I’m just glad it didn’t happen in the Maine Amateur or Maine Open,” said Kannegieser, who is a two-time Maine Junior Amateur champion.