Wacky Hole Location Causes Halt, Replay at British Open Qualifier

A qualifier for the Open Championship is being played at Sunningdale, outside London, today. The R&A is responsible for course setup, and from the sound of this story it appears the R&A has been learning from the USGA.

The fourth hole at Sunningdale is a 156-yard par-3. The R&A cut the hole on a slope portion of the green, and the first few groups around the course had a terrible time getting the ball into the cup.

In fact, after eight golfers had played the hole, the results were so disastrous for some of them that the R&A halted play, moved the cup to a flatter portion of the green, then resumed play.

But before that happened, Ricardo Gonzalez five-putted the hole, and Edoardo Molinari and Alexander Noren four-putted. Brett Rumford hit his tee shot to 2 feet, only to watch the ball on his 2-foot birdie putt roll 35 feet past the cup.

The R&A official who set the pins admitted he chose a poor location for this one, and took responsbility for a mistake.

So what happened to the eight golfers who played the whole in its original position? Following completion of their rounds, they were taken back to the No. 4 tee and allowed to play the hole over again. Pity the two who did worse the second time around.