Donald says sorry for Twitter gaffe

Englishman forced to apologise after aiming insult at top course designer

Embarrassed: Luke Donald was left red-faced after tweeting a derogatory comment about Gil Hanse

Luke Donald has apologised for inadvertently posting an offensive remark about golf course architect Gil Hanse on his Twitter account.

The world No.2 took to the social networking site to vent his anger at the re-shaping of the 18th hole of the TPC Boston layout, the venue for this week’s Deutsche Bank Championship.

Donald wrote: “Nothing quite like hitting my best shot of the day into the last and walking off with a bogie, what a terribly re-designed green #sourtaste.” That was before he sent out another Tweet shortly thereafter which was intended as a private direct message to a friend.

It contained his mobile phone number and referred to Hanse, the man responsible for the remodelling of the green, as a ‘c**k’.

Realising his mistake, Donald deleted the message but not before it had been seen and copied by many of his followers.

Asked about the incident after he completed his third round at TPC Boston, Donald was understandably contrite.

“I made a mistake, unfortunately. I sent a message that was not meant to go out on Twitter, and I take full responsibility,” he said.

“I realised it immediately, tried to delete it and tried to move on. Unfortunately, it got caught up there, and such is life. I didn’t mean to put it out there, and I apologize to anyone I offended, especially Gil Hanse.”

Donald added that he would, in all probability, take a break from Twitter following the gaffe. “It certainly is a powerful tool and you have to be very aware of it,” he said.

For all that, he stood by his damning verdict on the redesign of the green.

“I’m still not that keen on it. I think the Tour has done a great job in terms of making the course a lot better. But the design in that hole is a bit severe.”

Earlier this year, Hanse was awarded the rights to design the course that will be used to stage the golf tournaments in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. He was also commissioned by Donald Trump to carry out a significant renovation of the Blue Monster course at the Doral Resort, the home of the WGC-Cadillac Championship which was purchased by Trump in March.

Bryce Ritchie is the Editor of bunkered and, in addition to leading on content and strategy, oversees all aspects of the brand. The first full-time journalist employed by bunkered, he joined the company in 2001 and has been editor since 2009. A member of Balfron Golfing Society, he currently plays off nine and once got a lesson from Justin Thomas’ dad.

Editor of bunkered