Monumental European Tour Cock Up On Teebox Sees Granberg DQ, Huldahl Ejected Mid Swing, Then Asian Carrying Own Tour Bag
I’m betting this story sent to me by a player this morning wont be appearing on the European Tour’s website.
You may have already heard about Joel Sjoholm’s adventurous morning to get onto the first tee but there was another more bizarre and somewhat cruel incident at the Hong Kong Open on the European Tour today. The furore was triggered by some of the field being slated to start on the 11th tee (not the 10th tee), and with no shuttles to or from the tee, it was bound to cause confusion between players and caddies.
It kicked off when Joonas Granberg was left standing on his first tee box, the 11th, about to start. His caddie had gone to another tee (presumably the first or tenth) with his clubs, leaving Granberg holding his putter and panicking as the clock ticked up to then past the official tee off time. With several referees scrambling about, Granberg’s caddie eventually made it to the tee, three minutes too late. The luckless Fin was summarily disqualified and sent on the long journey home. “It was like something out of a nightmare,†the fellow player who witnessed the entire incident said.
Had Granberg had his wits about him, he could have teed off using his putter, but such was the calamitous scene, the moment passed. Understandably he took his frustration out on his golf bag before leaving the tee.
But that’s not all by any means; this story is only getting going.
Then first reserve Jeppe Huldahl is called to the tee, gets there and is about to drive off when he is stopped mid swing and told to step aside. The Dane turns around in shock as he too is ushered off the tee and told the first reserve must come from the Asian Tour as the DQ'd player, though Finnish, was an Asian Tour member.
With that player, Chih Bin LAM, nowhere to be found, officials scurry off to find him and the other two players drive off. Eventually LAM is found and runs onto the tee in a sweat carrying his own bag. He smashes one away then runs down the fairway to catch up with his playing partners who were preparing to hit their second shots.
But every cloud has a silver lining as LAM went on to shoot 66 lumping his own Tour bag.
Update: The story got even crazier after when Lam was interviewed after with Anthony Kang, who was originally the Asian Tour's "first reserve" but had given up on the chance of playing and decided to go caddying instead for friend Unho Park. The three men ended up in the same group. Click here to see the video
That however should not detract from the cruel sequence of events that went before and the organizational questions the European Tour needs to address on foot of this.
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You may have already heard about Joel Sjoholm’s adventurous morning to get onto the first tee but there was another more bizarre and somewhat cruel incident at the Hong Kong Open on the European Tour today. The furore was triggered by some of the field being slated to start on the 11th tee (not the 10th tee), and with no shuttles to or from the tee, it was bound to cause confusion between players and caddies.It kicked off when Joonas Granberg was left standing on his first tee box, the 11th, about to start. His caddie had gone to another tee (presumably the first or tenth) with his clubs, leaving Granberg holding his putter and panicking as the clock ticked up to then past the official tee off time. With several referees scrambling about, Granberg’s caddie eventually made it to the tee, three minutes too late. The luckless Fin was summarily disqualified and sent on the long journey home. “It was like something out of a nightmare,†the fellow player who witnessed the entire incident said.
Had Granberg had his wits about him, he could have teed off using his putter, but such was the calamitous scene, the moment passed. Understandably he took his frustration out on his golf bag before leaving the tee.
But that’s not all by any means; this story is only getting going.
Then first reserve Jeppe Huldahl is called to the tee, gets there and is about to drive off when he is stopped mid swing and told to step aside. The Dane turns around in shock as he too is ushered off the tee and told the first reserve must come from the Asian Tour as the DQ'd player, though Finnish, was an Asian Tour member.
With that player, Chih Bin LAM, nowhere to be found, officials scurry off to find him and the other two players drive off. Eventually LAM is found and runs onto the tee in a sweat carrying his own bag. He smashes one away then runs down the fairway to catch up with his playing partners who were preparing to hit their second shots.
But every cloud has a silver lining as LAM went on to shoot 66 lumping his own Tour bag.
Update: The story got even crazier after when Lam was interviewed after with Anthony Kang, who was originally the Asian Tour's "first reserve" but had given up on the chance of playing and decided to go caddying instead for friend Unho Park. The three men ended up in the same group. Click here to see the video
That however should not detract from the cruel sequence of events that went before and the organizational questions the European Tour needs to address on foot of this.
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