GolfWeird But True

Sneaky Ninja-Caddie Gets Master DQ’d From Tournament By Hiding Club In Bush

When you hear the words “golf” and “scandal,” you usually think Tiger Woods. But this time, it was a Spanish golfer who got disqualified from the BMW International Open today after his caddie tried to covertly save him from getting DQ’d.

The golfer was Jose Manuel Lara. He was on the second hole of Friday’s action, playing with Damien McGrane and Peter Hedblom. That was when his caddie realized the golfer had been playing with 15 clubs in his bag, which is against tournament rules. The caddie took one of the clubs and attempted to hide it in a bush. But Manuel Lara’s playing partners grew suspicious. The caddie finally narked about the 15-club bag, and Manuel Lara was disqualified.

A couple of interesting tidbits here. The first is that when the caddie took off, Manuel Lara claimed to have thought he went for what he called a “call of nature.” What the hell is a “call of nature?” Is that golf-speak for piss in the bushes? Also, what’s the big deal about having more than 15 clubs? I feel like that wouldn’t really give a golfer an edge. If anything, it would be more difficult to be changing clubs every hole. You would never get a feel for any of them. And why did the caddie snitch? You can’t think of an excuse on the fly?

Lastly, tournament officials later said that Manuel Lara was disqualified because a player is responsible for the actions of his caddie. I feel like this is that dumb fourth-grade rule that if one kid in the class messes up, no one gets to go to recess. This is the real world, PGA. If the caddie wants to be a ninja and try to hide clubs in a bush, excommunicate his ass and let the dude golf.

P.S. The golfer-caddie relationship is characterized with “caddie,” but what about the other way around? Do caddie’s call the golfer master? I just went with master; it felt right.

[Via Golf.com]

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