Throughout the history of golf there have been some bizarre stories and incidents. However, at the Korn Ferry Tour’s Lecom Suncoast Classic, one particular incident has potentially cost one player his job, with Wilson Furr and his two playing partners penalized after the trio took an unauthorized shuttle ride from a tournament volunteer midway through their second round.
Certainly, we can’t remember anything like this happening before and, speaking to GolfChannel.com, Furr was obviously angry at the incident which meant he wouldn’t just be heading home for the weekend, but would also likely be pushed out of future events.
“This sucks,” Furr stated via a cell phone call to Golf Channel on Friday night, with the American adding: “There’s no way around it. It just sucks. To start the day, probably one of the bigger rounds I’ve played in my career, and I knew it, and for this to happen then, just ugh.”
So, what exactly happened? Well, in the rules sheet that was handed out prior to the tournament, it was explained that: “Automotive transportation is permitted during play from No. 7 green to No. 8 tees only.” What’s more, the shuttles were also in use to move players from the driving range to the first and 10th tees before their rounds.
In the case of the trio of Furr, Alejandro Tosti and Mason Andersen, all three walked off the 18th green with Tosti noticing a volunteer sitting in an empty golf cart, the same type that had moved them to the 10th tee earlier in the day. Furr added that the shuttle was designated as such via signs in the area.
Following the round, Tosti stated: “I asked the guy, ‘Are you giving rides to the first tee?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, jump in,'” he went on to add: “I know that I cannot jump in a cart that is not official, but this was almost like organized. It almost seemed like someone sent this guy to give us a ride. It was ready, waiting for us to walk off the green and give us a ride to the first tee, and that guy apparently wasn’t supposed to be there.”
Because of their actions, each player was assessed a two-stroke penalty for violating Model Local Rule G-6, which states, “A player or caddy must not ride on any transportation. A player operating under a stroke and distance penalty is always authorized.”
The story, which was first reported by Monday Q Info on Twitter, wasn’t over though as, on Saturday lunchtime, it was then revealed that yet another group had reportedly been penalized in exactly the same way, this time by taking a shuttle from the ninth green to the 10th tee!
In the tweet, it read: “Update to shuttle story: Another group has been penalized 2 strokes for yesterday’s round. It has caused Boo Weekly to miss the cut. It seems to be assessed this morning as the tee times are mixed up. Also heard from multiple sources that other groups took shuttles but haven’t come forward. What a mess.”
According to reports on Twitter, the group in question involved Jared Wolfe, who moved from nine-under to seven-under, Weekley, whose caddie reportedly took the ride, with Weekley going from six-under to below the cutline, and Ashton Van Horne , who had already missed the cut.