What a difference a day makes. It was quite the weekend for Shaun Norris at the DP World Tour’s Nexo Championship.
On Saturday, the South African holed his 3-wood for an albatross from 267 yards at the 4th as he surged to the top of the leaderboard at Trump International, in Aberdeen.
But on Sunday he was hit with a two-shot penalty for a rules breach that left many golf watchers open-mouthed.
Norris was assessed the sanction after falling foul of Rule 8.1, covering actions that improve conditions affecting the stroke, while getting ready to play his approach shot on the 5th hole.
So what happened and why was it a penalty? Let’s take a look…
Why was Shaun Norris given a penalty at the Nexo Championship?
Norris moved in to take his shot, took his stance, and then stepped back and flicked a replaced divot out of the way with his foot.
You might immediately think divots are loose impediments, but they take on a different character in the rules if they are replaced and a player alters the surface of the ground by removing them.
You are restricted in what you can do if those actions improve the conditions affecting the stroke and these concern the lie of the ball at rest, the area of intended stance and swing, as well as the line of play.
Rule 8.1a (3) says, if that’s the case, then replacing divots in a divot hole, or “removing or pressing down divots that have already been replaced or other cut turf that is already in place” is not allowed.
A clarification to this rule goes further. It says a divot has been replaced when “most of it, with the roots down, is in a divot hole (whether or not the divot is in the same divot hole that it came from).”
So once Norris removed the replaced divot in his area of intended stance, the penalty – which in stroke play is two-shots – was inevitable.
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Norris was leading the tournament by two going into the final round, and was reportedly told of the breach on his way to the 10th tee. He recorded a four-over 76 and finished tied for 7th.
Now have your say
What do you think about this rule? Have you ever seen something similar happen in your weekend games? Let me know your thoughts in the comments, or get in touch on X.
