Caddie's Injury At Pebble Raises Safety Questions For Golfers
Pro golfer Kevin Na was trying to reach the 18th green at Pebble Beach on Saturday in the AT&T Pro Am when his ball ricocheted off the rocks and into the bay. I was the only one to see his wayward shot because I was standing near the edge of the cliff just off the green.
Na approached me and asked if I'd seen his shot. I told him what I had witnessed. Still, Na, intent on finding his golf ball, jumped down onto the rock wall and eventually onto the beach in search of his golf ball. He never found it and climbed nimbly back up the rocks and onto the fairway.
The rule at Pebble on 18 is that anything left of the fairway is a "hazard," meaning if the ball can be found, the ball can be hit. This causes a rather hazardous scenario because players or caddies risk their well-being to find a golf ball. In a game where one stroke can mean tens of thousands, every stroke matters.
That exact scenario unfolded on Sunday when Matt Bettencourt hit a ball onto the rocks off 18. His caddy and brother-in-law, Brian Rush, slipped and fell while trying to get onto the beach. He hit his head, suffered a concussion, a broken shoulder, and a compound fracture of his forearm.
The rules of the course are established by the course itself. Making the rocks and beach a hazard instead of "out of bounds" creates an opportunity for a player to find his ball, hit it, and not incur a penalty. KPIX golf analyst John Abendroth witnessed several players who found their golf balls on the beach on 18, two salvaged bogies, a third actually made par.
Is the risk worth the reward? If you're ever lucky enough to play Pebble, you may want to stick to the beaches IN the fairway.
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