LITTLE ROCK — I have mixed feelings about Sunday’s final round of the Maumelle Classic.
Alex Carpenter told the truth. Maumelle Country Club professional Cary Maddox made the correct decision. But I believe the gallery stepped over the line.
The two-stroke penalty called on Carpenter ultimately cost him his fourth Arkansas major and second consecutive Maumelle Classic, which is different from most tournaments in the state because it has a gallery that numbers almost 75 people for the final group on the final day. It’s too bad they got involved.
Carpenter was tied at 11-under par with Stetson Mc-Millan as both played the 17th hole. Carpenter hit his tee shot on the par 3 into the left bunker. It was going to be a long bunker shot, the kind he could probably only hope to get close to the hole.
As he reached the bunker he saw that someone had left a rake in the middle of the sand (By the way, that person is the real culprit here).
I was on the opposite side of the green, near the flagstick. I couldn’t see down into the bunker, but many on the other side of the green could. While I only saw Carpenter pick up the rake and drop it outside the bunker, some other spectators saw him rake his footprints as he walked.
Raking the bunker falls under golf rule 13-4, which prevents testing of the bunker. There were perfect conditions Sunday and I doubt any “testing” would have made a difference, but the rules say you can’t do it.
Carpenter didn’t realize he had done anything wrong when he took his stance and hit the shot of the tournament. The ball popped out of the bunker perfectly, bounced softly on the green and tracked straight for the hole.
Carpenter celebrated as the gallery roared with approval. And when McMillan missed his par putt, Carpenter had a two-stroke lead going to the final hole.
I headed for the 18th tee box when I heard a commotion behind me. A spectator, one who refused to talk about it, confronted Carpenter. That led to a confrontation with Carpenter’s dad and a near-ugly scene as the golfers approached the 18th tee.
Maddox told Carpenter to play the 18th hole and that they would sort it out before scorecards were signed. Even though Carpenter striped his drive down the 18th fairway, it had to be weighing on him. He came up a bit short with his approach shot and ended up three-putting for bogey.
At that point, it came down to the ruling. If there was no penalty, Carpenter won by one stroke. If there was a one stroke penalty, Carpenter tied McMillan and there would be a playoff. And if there was a two-stroke penalty, Carpenter would finish one stroke behind McMillan.
Maddox told Carpenter he should take a two-stroke penalty. That ruling was confirmed by Ridgepointe Country Club’s Adam Carney, who is one of our state’s top rules officials.
Carpenter didn’t have to take the penalty. His playing partners didn’t see the infraction and would not have called a penalty on him. If that had happened, it’s not clear what the outcome would havebeen.
There have been cases on the PGA Tour where a rules violation has been missed on site and someone watching on television has called it in. But in those cases, PGA Tour officials were able to watch the video replay to determine what had happened. They aren’t taking hearsay from spectators.
Carpenter admitted to what he had done, taking the pressure off tournament officials to enforce it. Would they have used hearsay to disqualify him? It appears they would have.
This is where I believe there is a problem. When I go to a football game, I don’t have the ability to change officials’ calls. The same at basketball and baseball games. Why are golf spectators allowed to be involved in the scoring of the tournament?
Shouldn’t that be up to the tournament officials? And if this had happened two groups in front, where there was no gallery present? It probably wouldn’t have been called at all.
Carpenter told the truth and did the right thing. Maddox made the correct decision.
I’m just not sure the gallery should have gotten involved.
Sports, Pages 19 on 07/29/2010