iStockphoto / kevron2001
Round 3 of the NCAA D3 Women’s Golf Championship was canceled at the Mission Inn and Resort’s El Campeon Course in central Florida.
Officials made the decision to cancel the third round of the tournament after the par-4, 6th hole (308-yards), had been deemed impossible to play.
Specifically, the hole location had been cute “on a 5-percent slope on the right side of the green,” according to Brentley Romine of the Golf Channel. Romine also shared a video of how difficult the hole location was with putt after putt rolling straight back to the golfer:
Round 3 of the NCAA D3 Women’s Golf Championship was canceled (with nearly 60% of the field finished) because of this hole location, which the NCAA deemed “unplayable.”
Story: https://t.co/lJdUMFYQDc pic.twitter.com/rrsZg2ySIS
— Brentley Romine (@BrentleyGC) May 12, 2023
This hole was playing over 1.5 strokes above par, according to Golfstat’s scoring with 29 triple bogeys or worse.
Prior to the round being canceled, Claremont Mudd Scripps had posted enough scores to overtake George Fox University in Oregon. However, the round 3 scores were scrapped and George Fox now enters Friday’s final round with a 5-shot lead, according to GolfChannel.com.
What I personally find odd is this is the 8th time that Mission Inn, near Lake Apopka northwest of Orlando, has hosted the NCAA D3 Women’s Golf Championship. And this is the first time that hole has been deemed too difficult. Why push the limits now? Why not stick with the tried and true hole locations?
There are no clear cut rules for ‘this pin location is illegal’ in golf, which is odd, given that golf has rules for everything.
The website Pitchmarks has a good explanation for when a hole location can be deemed illegal. The USGA provides guidance based on (1) Proximity to the edge of the hole and (2) Physical qualities of the green.
In this instance, the 5% slope on the side of the green.