Rules gaffe costs schoolboy hole-in-one!

• Rules error costs schoolboy the chance of a hole-in-one
• Josh Hogarth would have also set course record at South Moor
• “It’s a lesson learned,” he said the 15-year-old afterwards

A rules gaffe cost a 15-year-old schoolboy the chance of setting a course record… and a hole-in-one!

Josh Hogarth, who was playing at South Moor Golf Club in County Durham, shot a seven-under-par 65 in the second round of the Durham County Junior Golf Society Championship – which has been matched by only three other people on the Alister MacKenzie-designed course.

The drama arrived on the longest and hardest par-3 on the course – the 186-yard 14th.

“If I had known the rules, it would have been a hole-in-one” – Josh Hogarth

Hogarth’s perfectly flighted six-iron off the tee ended with the ball coming to rest lodged in the hole against the flagstick.

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CONTINUES BELOW…

What happened next prevented him going on to set an outright course record of 64.

“If I had known the rules, it would have been a hole-in-one,” he said. “I thought you had to pull the flagstick out keeping it directly upright. When I did that, the ball squirted out and ended up an inch from the hole.”

“It’s a lesson learned” – Josh Hogarth

He only learned days after the tournament ended that the relevant part of The R&A rule 17-4 reads, ‘The player may move or remove the flagstick’, allowing golfers the option of manoeuvring the flagstick to determine whether the ball falls into the hole.

“I signed for a two on the scorecard instead of one,” added Hogarth. “I shall put it down to experience. It’s a lesson learned.”

Let’s hope this isn’t the only chance Hogarth will have of getting a hole-in-one in his golfing career…

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