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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.
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