SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Any player who’s teed it up in high-level competition has been involved in a gaffe with the Rules of Golf. Incorrect scorecards are signed, bad drops are taken, you forget to move your ball back if a mark has to be moved on the green. Stuff happens.
But have you ever heard of two players hitting each other’s ball on the same hole? You have now.
The rare and unfortunate incident occurred during Saturday’s second round of the 2022 NCAA Div. I Women’s Golf Championship with Arizona State’s Calynne Rosholt and Alabama’s Isabella van der Biest. Both players found the fairway off the tee on the par-4 17th, but the way the hole is set up, you can’t see the balls land.
“When you walk up and don’t see the logo immediately, you have to really pay attention. I was standing there, (Alabama assistant coach Susan Rosenstiel) was with her player, so four of us missed it. It happens,” said Arizona State head coach Missy Farr-Kaye, who’s never seen this sort of incident happen. “We got up there and then she had this look on her face, and I was like, ‘Oh God, what happened.’ It didn’t even cross my mind.”
The players realized their mistakes when they got near the green and saw the logos on their balls. With Rosholt still in shock about what had just happened, Farr-Kaye tried to settle her down by talking her through the next shot, a chip that she almost holed out that ran about 10 feet past the hole.
“She made it and it was the best double bogey I’ve seen all day,” said Farr-Kaye. Rosholt then hit a great drive on the 18th hole and got one of the shots back with a clutch birdie.
“When we were done, I said, ‘I’m super proud how you’ve kept your composure together and birdied 18,’” explained Farr-Kaye. “It could have gone a lot of different ways than double, birdie.”
