Two weeks ago, at the LPGA Q-school, Anne Catherine Tanguay, from Quebec, got her card for the LPGA 2019 season. Another player from Asian lost her chance because of her mother.
The facts:
Doris Chen hit her tee shot near an Out of Bound. She was very happy to find her ball in a playable position. She played her next shot, completed the hole and continued her play on the next hole.
Spectator:
A spectator told the Committee that they saw someone pick up the ball from a private yard (Out of Bounds) and he saw a woman throw the ball back on the course. After a quick investigation the Committee found out the woman was Doris Chen’s mother…
The rule:
When our ball is out a bound and we still play it, we are playing a wrong ball and the mistake has to be corrected before driving on the next hole adding a penalty of 2 strokes.
If the player is not aware that someone has moved the ball in a better position, the player will not be penalized if it is known only after the start of the next hole
The decision:
Considering the fact that the person was the player’s mother, the Committee decided to disqualify Doris Chen. The Committee had a strong feeling that the player or the caddie must have known of the incident.
UPDATED INFORMATION
A few days after, on social media, the player said she was not aware that her ball was Out of Bounds. The next day, the caddie said that when they arrived at the site, A spectator said that someone moved the ball. The caddie then told Chen that she must talk with an official before continuing play. Chen told the caddie that she knows the rules and she has no obligation to talk to an official…..
The caddie wanted to protect himself because he is a regular caddie on the LPGA Tour, and caddies are there also to help the player.
COMMENTS
In many tournaments, we see parents, friends, relatives and other persons following players. I am never comfortable when I see parents run in the woods to try to find a ball. As a player, I would not like to see a friend or relative telling me when arriving on site that my ball is in a very good lie when it went in the woods…… We see that sometimes with a player using a motorized cart being the first and alone on site and always finding his ball in a very good lie….
I would suggest parents to stay around but not going inside the forest. Wait for the players.