New rules tweak coming next month could’ve prevented this heartbreaking Q-School DQ

Golf Digest Middle East — Mon, 05 Dec 2022 11:30:55 +0000

By Stephen Hennessey
There will always be heartbreak associated with Q-School, but even aside from the pressure-packed, anxiety-filled play on the course, it seems like the LPGA’s Q-Series in Mobile, Alabama, has had more than its fair share of unfortunate off-the-course events this year.

On Friday after the second round at the Robert Trent Jones Trail’s Magnolia Grove facility, 26-year-old Alana Uriell signed for an incorrect scorecard — giving herself a par instead of a bogey at Magnolia Grove’s Falls course. Uriell was sitting in 18th place, with the top 70 this week making the cut, and the top 45 after the second week securing LPGA Tour status for 2023.

Made even more brutal is the fact that the USGA is adjusting its rules in 2023 to allow tournaments to adopt modal local rules to not penalise players with a DQ for signing an incorrect scorecard. In other words, in a month, the LPGA might’ve adopted the local rule this week to prevent Uriell from this career-altering mistake. So, so brutal.

This blunder comes after the beginning of the week when LPGA hopeful Gabi Ruffels, sister of tour pro Ryan Ruffels, realised as she was travelling to LPGA Q-series that her name did not appear in the player portal. Her team had not completed the registration as previously thought.

We can’t imagine what kind of heartbreak will be coming out of Alabama over the next couple of weeks. We just know it’ll be brutal … as Q-School always is. Brace yourself.

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New rules tweak coming next month could’ve prevented this heartbreaking Q-School DQ