Promising Korn Ferry Tour player Wilson Furr was one of six players that were penalised for an innocent mistake during the Lecom Suncoast Classic last week, an error that the 24-year-old said, “cost me my job.”
First revealed by Monday-Q Info’s Ryan French, Furr, along with Alejandro Tosti and Mason Andersen, the KFT penalized the trio after taking an unauthorized shuttle ride from the 18th green to the first tee during their second rounds.
The three were each assessed two-stroke penalties for violating Model Local Rule G-6, which states, “A player or caddie must not ride on any transportation. A player operating under a stroke and distance penalty is always authorized.”
French explained that, “when the three players exited the tunnel [from the 18th], a cart marked “shuttle” was waiting for them. A volunteer was driving it, and he asked the players if they would like a ride. The three players and their caddies climbed on and were driven to the next tee. ”
Whilst that seems strange, the supplemental rules sheet for this week’s event specified that “automotive transportation is permitted during play from No. 7 green to No. 8 tee only.” However, the shuttles were also transporting players from the driving range to both starting tees (#1 and #10) and that’s where the confusion starts.
Tosti recounted the incident to Golf Channel, saying he noticed the cart as he emerged from the tunnel from 18th green.
“I asked the guy, ‘Are you giving rides to the first tee?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, jump in,’” the former Gator recalled. “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 was not supposed to be there.”
Although both Furr and Tosti admitted they did not read the specifics of the local rule, Furr says that the walk from 18 to the first is a longer route than the official one taken by the carts. Therefore, “It wasn’t crazy for me to think there was supposed to be a shuttle there.”
Having played 12 holes and walking off their 13th (#4) a rules official asked the trio how they had arrived at the first hole.
“We let them hear it,” Furr said. “But after hearing the exact same response seven different ways, I just left. We weren’t getting anywhere. The guy’s word was final.”
Whilst the penalty made little difference to the immediate future of Anderson, who finished his round 13 shots off the cut-line, the penalty affected his playing partners in differing ways..
Tosti finished his second round with a penalty-laden 66, and followed that up with another five-under to lie just outside the top-10 with one round to go, but Furr’s tale is much sadder.
On his eighth and final guaranteed start, the former Future Masters and Mississippi State Amateur champion missed the cut by two shots, meaning his route into events after this week is via exemptions, invites or Monday qualifying.
He’s doubtful that his three cuts from eight events are enough to get him into the next four events, but it could have been so different.
“I don’t think it would be close if I made the cut, which I did. I don’t know, it’s just a tough pill to swallow,” he told Golf Channel.
However, in true Monday-Q style he confirmed he will be trying through whatever means possible to make more events.
“I guess I don’t have any other option [than to find alternative pathways to qualify] at this point,” Furr admitted, “but I’m going to fight.”
Furr wasn’t the only player unfortunate to take a real hit from the penalty.
The grouping of Boo Weekley, Jarad Wolfe and Ashton Van Horne admitted taking a similar path to the Furr grouping, this time from the ninth to 10th holes, but it was the three-time PGA Tour winner that suffered most.
Unlike Furr, 49-year-old Weekley didn’t take the cart but his caddie did, dropping him to 4-under and being another to miss the cut by just those penalty strokes.
Article originally appeared on: Golfwrx.com