Alex Morton disqualified
from EuroPro Qualifier

Rookie tournament professional Alex Morton was sensationally disqualified from his first professional tournament of the season in the UK on April 2nd 2009.

Alex attached as tournament professional to Shifnal Golf Club in Shropshire was playing in the PGA EuroPro qualifying tournament at Mentmore Golf & Country Club, Bedfordshire, were he broke the course record with a 66 last year whilst still playing as an amateur.

Gaining qualification in this event gives the opportunity for a professional to play in the EuroPro series, which are shown on Sky Television, for the rest of the year.

After the first round of this 36-hole event Alex stood 2 under par in equal 3rd place. After 9 holes of his second round he was 3 under par, playing well and looking for a top ten finish or higher and certain qualification from a field of over 90 competitors. Whilst standing on the 10th tee waiting to play his tee shot a PGA official informed him that his electric trolley carrying his clubs was showing a temperature reading on its small digital screen and was an infringement of the rules and instant disqualification.

The irony is that the official sponsors of the EuroPro tour is Motocaddy the company that makes the brand of electric trolley that he was using! It is just a shame that Motocaddy and the PGA did not make more of an effort to inform the competitors of this rule before play started.

Claire Bates of the R&A said that having a temperature gauge on your electric trolley does not infringe the rules of golf but if it is a rule of the tournament on the day you can be disqualified from the competition unless that function is covered up or disabled from the screen. So golfers be aware of the rule or simply do not buy a brand of trolley that might infringe this rule.

Golfer-Today.co.uk

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