Add Two!

During the 1999 season I worked most of the year for, rookie of the year, Mi Hyun Kim. We were in Calgary Canada for the du Maurier Classic, a major. She was having a great year with 4 top tens, loads of cash and that elusive first win just around the corner.

It was the second round and she was on fire, 5 under for the day with two holes to play. Unfortunately, as her habit, we were playing slow. An official, Alice Miller, started timing us but do to the size of the gallery I failed to see her.

Upon reaching the green Kimmy had another birdie putt to go to 6. Well it finally happened. She took way too much time to putt and received a two stroke penalty before going to the next tee.

She made par on the last hole to shoot a 69. I made my way up to the putting green and waited for Mi Hyun to come up. After 20 minutes Kimmy still wasn't there so I went back to the scoring tent.

Now it gets bizarre. Outside the tent  Alice and a Korean stranger from the gallery were in a heated discussion concerning the penalty and Kimmy refused to sign her scorecard. Things were getting loud so we retired to the officials trailer, even the Korean!

Kimmy had no clue about the slow penalty rule and how it worked. She figured that since she was playing so well she was allowed to take as much time as needed! She never read the slow play rule and relied on her manager to keep her abreast of everything, even the rules!

Alice explained, that because we were being timed, 30 seconds was the allotted amount for a shot and that Kimmy took a full 80 seconds to make her first putt on the 17th hole. This was a penalty, no doubt about it.

Now the Korean busybody gets in my face. He starts yelling it was my fault and that I was to blame for not notifying Kimmy that we were on the clock. It seems that in the Korean golf world the caddie gets blamed for all wrong doings. At least that's what I was told.

I ignored the Asian assault and concurred with Alice that  Kimmy deserved the 2 shots. There was nothing she could do and I told her to accept the penalty and make a habit of playing faster all the time not just when she was on the clock.

To her credit, Kimmy came back strong and had a great week tying for 6th and making her first hole in one! Not bad for not knowing the rules.

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