12 Golfers DQ'd From Oregon State Competition

Four groups managed to play from the wrong tee during a schools competition in Oregon, USA

12 Golfers DQ'd From Oregon State Competition

12 schoolboys were disqualified from the Oregon State Championships this week in a bizarre rules infraction.

The golfers, made up of four threeballs, teed off the back nine first at Quail Valley Golf Course in Bank, Oregon and all four groups managed to play from the wrong tee on their fourth hole of the day.

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The par-3 13th measures 172 yards on the scorecard but the blue tees, which were the competition tees, measured the par-3 much longer whilst the red tees showed the hole to be the 172 yards it said on the scorecard.

All 12 players teed off from the red tees and that's where they went wrong.

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You can forgive them for making the mistake, but as we know as golfers - the rules aren't very forgiving.

Tournament officials were made aware of this and managed to let all of the groups behind know that they needed to stay on the blue tees, whilst the 12 golfers who had teed off the reds were disqualified as they were deemed to have played a different course.

The tournament sees different teams all competing over multiple days and the teams that the boys were representing have all been disqualified from the competition too.

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Oregon School Activities Association executive director Peter Weber told Oregon Live (opens in new tab) that there is no recourse. The 12 players will play Tuesday [the next round], but without a first-round score, they are out of the individual competition, as are their teams.

Weber said that while it's unfortunate, all of the players are made aware before their round that they are to play the blue tees.

"It is the first bullet point on the rules sheet," he said said.