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I'd like to see a new Rule 1-5 added to the Rules of Golf. It could read along these lines: rules officials have the right to apply common sense to determine if the true intent of a rule has been violated.
Sometimes rules officials have no choice but to call a penalty even when it's obvious that no advantage has been gained by a player for an inadvertent oversight.
A case in point occurred this summer in the Gulf States PGA Section Championship when it appeared that Reed Hughes had won a playoff with Phil Schmidt on the third extra hole after the pair deadlocked at 138 for 36 holes.
However, moments after the apparent victory, Hughes was disqualified for violating the 14-club club rule. It seems there was a weighted warm-up club stuffed behind the seat of his golf cart—not even in his golf bag as I understood from reports.
If this had been discovered before he signed his scorecard, Hughes would have just been penalized four strokes—two on each of the first two holes. However, since it was after the fact, he was disqualified, forfeiting a $3,600 paycheck and a spot in the 2009 PGA Professional Championship. I repeat: He was forced to forfeit a spot in the 2009 PGA Professional Championship.
The punishment definitely does not fit the crime. I would agree with Hughes when he said, "The device had nothing to do with the outcome of the tournament. I never want to have to apply this rule to a member for a club he's never going to use on the golf course."
Looking at the "Decisions on the Rules of Golf," the officials had no other way to act. Decision 4-4a/7 says that such a weighted club may not be carried unless it is selected as one of the 14 clubs and does not breach the limit on Moment of Inertia. I don't know of any player who would use such a training device during a round. It's for warming up only.
I do recall that picking up an extra lost club on the course, even if you put it in your golf bag, does not violate the 14-club rule. However, you can not declare a club out of play before a round and place it on the floor of your golf cart.
It's time to allow a little common sense to be used in such decisions, including the right to add penalty shots after the fact rather than disqualifying someone.