TOLEDO, Ohio – Golf, it is often said, is the cruelest game. Rules set in place for a century or more sometimes make little sense. Some of the rules are so obscure that even veteran golfers and tournament officials are unaware of their existence, which is ironic – and often unfortunate - because golf is also the one sport in which players mostly police themselves and integrity is considered its most important virtue.
Sadly, the sport's archives are littered with stories of inadvertent rules violations that have resulted in lost tournaments, broken hearts and even crushed careers.
It has happened at the sport’s highest level, such as the 1968 Masters. There, Roberto De Vicenzo famously missed a chance at a playoff with Bob Goalby when De Vicenzo’s playing partner, Tommy Aaron, marked par on a hole for De Vicenzo when he had made birdie. De Vicenzo did not catch the miscue and signed for the wrong score, which stood.
And it has happened at high school events, such as the Oct. 9 girls Division 1 District Tournament at Heatherdowns Country Club in South Toledo, where 10 teams vied for two spots in this weekend’s state golf championship tournament.
The controversy began harmlessly enough on the 17thhole in a foursome that included St. Ursula Academy’s No. 2 player, junior Megan McKernan and the three No. 2 players from opposing teams. McKernan’s third shot on the Par 5 came to rest on the fringe of the green which clearly had been damaged and should have been marked as ground under repair, according to Heatherdown’s head professional, Mike Stone.
Had the area been marked with a white circle, as it should have been, McKernan would have simply moved her ball to an acceptable spot no closer to the hole. In this instance, because there were no rules officials on the course, McKernan conferred with the other three players in the group and decided to play two balls, the original one that was sitting on the damaged turf and a second one she dropped nearby. Prior to teeing off the players had been told by their coaches and by tournament officials that since there were no officials monitoring their play they should play two balls in such situations and then determine which score should count later, according to Jim McGowan, the St. Ursula coach.
McKernan finished play on 17, scoring a six with each of the balls. Since the scores were the same and her playing partners, who were her opponents, were aware of and supported her actions, McKernan did not mention the incident to McGowan or to tournament officials when she completed play, McGowan said. McKernan believed she had followed the rules as told to her by her coach and tournament officials.
After the final scores were posted, word of the incident involving McKernan reached B.J. Reichert, assistant manager for the tournament, through a spectator, he said. Reichert, assisted by another tournament official, Dennis Sifke, met with the four players and listened to the story.
"We found out the score [of each ball] was two sixes so we didn't think anything of it," Reichert said. "We told the girls we thought everything was OK."
Ashland High School was leading the tournament with a score of 336, St. Ursula was second with 363, and Magnificat High School of Avon Lake, Ohio, was in third at 365. As things stood, Ashland and St. Ursula were in the state tournament and Magnificant was out.
Reichert said that he and Sifke weren't comfortable with their decision and wanted to further investigate the rules of golf as they related to the situation. By chance, David Graf, head professional at the Inverness Club, was there watching St. Ursula play. [His daughter is a team member but did not play that day.] Graf put Reichert in touch with a United States Golf Association official he knew to help clarify the ruling. Also involved in the discussion by phone was Cot Marquette, the tournament's manager, who was not present, and Ohio High School Athletic Association officials, Reichert said. The four players also were called into the second meeting.
Reichert said he was told by the official that under Rule 3-3, McKernan was required to notify him and Sifke after her round that she played two balls on 17. Her failure to do so meant she had to be disqualified, thus knocking St. Ursula out of the state tournament, according to Reichert.
"After going through the situation three or four times, that's what we agreed on," he said.
Unknown to Reichert, Sifke, Marquette, OHSAA officials or anyone else involved in the discussion, including the USGA official, was another rule, 33-7, which gave the committee the opportunity to overrule the disqualification if they believed "such action is warranted."
Reichert said he did not learn about the rule until the following day, by which time, he said, all the paperwork had been submitted to the OHSAA and that "the state of Ohio made the decision final." Asked if the committee members would have decided differently had they been aware of the rule that would have allowed them to overturn the disqualification, he said, "I can't speak to that. I don't think it's a fair question."
Marquette said he supports the decision - then and now. "The young lady decided to play two balls. It had to be reported. If she had it would have been a non-issue." Marquette calls the other rule irrelevant. "It has nothing to do with two balls."
McGowan, the St. Ursula coach, feels differently. He agrees that the ruling on the disqualification was accurate. But he also believes that once Reichert and the others learned about the other rule, giving them a chance to correct what they believe was a serious injustice, they should have acted.
"It is clearly obvious that the girl who acted in the best interest of the whole tournament was penalized and our team goes with it," McGowan said. "The committee has the right to waive the penalty of disqualification. This waiver ability is specifically for a situation like this."
Graf, the Inverness pro, and Stone, the pro at Heatherdowns, also believe that the rules committee erred.
In an e-mail on Oct. 11 to John Dickerson, a contract administrator of golf for the OHSAA, and other OHSAA officials, Graf wrote: "Both rules committee members [Reichert and Sifke] stated that if there were anyway around the disqualification penalty they would gladly do it. [The St. Ursula player] not informing the rules committee was in no way intended to take advantage or change the outcome of the tournament. [And] the initial finding of the rules committee, after meeting with the players in the group, was 'no harm, no foul.' The initial ruling could have, and should have stood based on Rule 33-7, although the rules committee was not aware this was an option."
Said Stone: "She did everything right and was still penalized. The committee should have used better judgment than that."
In the aftermath of the ruling, the bad feelings intensified. McGowan filed an appeal with Dickerson's office, not realizing that there is no provision for appeal in OHSAA's by-laws. In his appeal, McGowan noted that the rules of golf dictate that the tournament committee is responsible for marking ground under repair. "Had this been done prior to the tournament, this situation would not exist," he wrote.
Marquette said he drove around the course three or four days before the tournament and saw no problem areas. He checked out the front nine the day before the event. But the hole in question, 17, was on the back nine, which he did not visit. Stone is not sure when the ground was damaged but said it likely was caused by a faulty mowing job. "It could have been done that morning," he said.
Meanwhile, Magnificat's junior varsity golf coach, Jim McGrath, husband of head golf coach Libby McGrath, was signaled out for criticism by McGowan and Graf. It was Jim McGrath, there as a spectator, who first raised the issue of a possible rules violation with Reichert and Sifke, McGowan and Graf said. Graf questioned whether a supporter of a rival team should be allowed to raise such issues with a tournament committee. McGowan felt that McGrath's intent was more sinister: "The introduction of the [disqualification] provision by Mr. McGrath was done after the other scores had been posted making it obvious that the outcome would not place [St. Ursula] in the state tournament. The intent was to disrupt the integrity of the tournament," he wrote to Dickerson.
Magnificat's athletic director did not address the McGrath issue but said the outcome was, in some ways, sadly predictable because of a lack of knowledge of golf rules. "I think it is extremely unfortunate that it happened," said Rhonda Rickelman. "I do understand it is the responsibility of the coaches to teach their girls the rules of the game. This doesn't fault anybody. There are all these little nuances of games. We can go to any game and find these little rules. But it's our responsibility to do that."
Also in disagreement are Dickerson and Reichert. Dickerson said that although out of courtesy he talked with St. Ursula Athletics Director Steve Parrill and agreed to look at a summary report filed by the school, the final decision rested with the district tournament committee. "If we start changing decisions in the Columbus office we'll have tons and tons of protests day after day. That's why they're conducting the tournament instead of us."
But, according to Reichert, OHSAA made the final call to disqualify McKernan.
"We made a ruling based on what we knew at the tournament site," he said. "The state could have done other things. They consulted with the people. They consulted with us. They rendered the decision final."
McGowan agrees with Reichert on this point and does not fault him for his role in the controversy.
"It was really a difficult situation," he said. "He was as mature and as great about it as can be."
Rather, he said the OHSAA could have stepped outside its comfort zone and made a courageous decision based on a written rule of golf.
"They still could," said McGowan, a volunteer coach who loves his job and his players to the point where he's slept infrequently and fretted hugely over the past five days.
Lost amid the squabbling are the feelings of the players, in particular McKernan, who have not publicly commented on their unexpected ouster from the tournament - the first time a St. Ursula team has failed to qualify for Columbus in eight years. The players - Eileen Perry, Emily Bauer, Shannon Martin, Alex Fuller and McKernan - gathered with their parents near the Heatherdowns clubhouse shortly after McKernan was disqualified. Tears flowed freely. Hugs were in much demand. A Heatherdowns member who witnessed the scene described it as heartbreaking.
Said Rickelman, Magnificat's A.D.: "These are adult things that are affecting kids, and that is very hard. They look to us to be the experts. If we don’t know, it is our responsibility to find out."
Reported by George J. Tanber georgejtanber@gmail.com
