Golfer DQ’d At U.S. Amateur After Caddie Used Rangefinder’s Slope Feature

Chris Crawford, an assistant golf coach at Drexel University, notified U.S. Amateur officials after he noticed his caddie was using their rangefinder’s slope feature. Normally that would be a 2-stroke penalty. That is until it was discovered the caddie used it on multiple holes.

A U.S. Golf Association statement said Crawford, a former star at Drexel and now the Dragons’ assistant coach, violated Rule 14-3 of the Rules of Golf “for multiple uses of a distance-measuring device with the slope feature activated by his caddie” during his second round of stroke-play qualifying at Bel-Air Country Club.

A person familiar with the situation said Crawford did not realize what his caddie had done, and reported the violation to a rules official when he found out. One such use would have been a 2-stroke penalty, but multiple uses necessitate disqualification.

ESPN’s Bob Harig tracked down Crawford for a comment Tuesday evening. “I was a little flustered and knew something was wrong,” Crawford told Harig. “I asked my caddie what the deal was with his range finder. When he said it had a slope adjustment, I knew instantly that I had to disqualify myself. I notified the walking scorer in my group, and after getting in touch with a rules official I learned it would have been a 2-shot penalty if I had used it just once, but the second time is a disqualification. I have my own range finder and I know the rule, but I didn’t think his would have that.”

According to Harig’s report, Crawford was 2 under for his second round (1 over overall) when the disqualification occurred. Eventually, 4 over was good enough to advance to a playoff for the match play competition.

“I didn’t gain an advantage, but I know the Rules,” he told Harig. “I knew what the rule was and I didn’t have a choice.”

Personally, I’ve never used a rangefinder’s slope feature. Gauging a hole’s elevation should be easily judged during practice rounds. And in this instance, the slope option can have dire consequences that are hardly worth the gamble.

Thus, golfer and caddie need to not only count the number of clubs in the bag, but now make sure the slope feature is turned off. Or better yet, use a finder without the feature altogether.