In a turn of events at the Shriners Children’s Open on the PGA Tour, Joel Dahmen was hit with a costly penalty during the first round. The American golfer found himself in violation of the rules for carrying too many clubs in his bag, resulting in a four-stroke penalty on Thursday.
The mistake came to light on the fourth tee, when Dahmen realized he had been playing with more than the allowed number of clubs. After spotting the infraction, he promptly called for a rules official to address the issue.
Joel Dahmen Penalized for Exceeding Club Limit on the PGA Tour
According to the official rules of golf, a player is allowed a maximum of 14 clubs during a round.
The rule in question, Rule 4.1c(1), specifies:
If a player discovers they are in breach of this rule by carrying more than 14 clubs, they must remove the excess club(s) from play before making their next stroke.
- If the player started the round with more than 14 clubs, they may choose which club(s) to declare out of play.
- If the extra club(s) were added during the round, they must be declared out of play immediately.
The penalty for this violation is two strokes for each hole where the breach occurred, with a maximum of four penalty strokes applied for the round (two strokes added to each of the first two holes where the breach was discovered).
As a result, the pars Dahmen made on holes 1 and 2 were adjusted to double bogeys. He promptly removed a 4-iron from his bag to comply with the rule.
PGA TOUR Communications confirmed the penalty on social media, noting the severity of the infraction for the seasoned player.
Joel Dahmen was penalized four strokes in the opening round of the Shriners Children’s Open when it was discovered on the fourth tee that he had more than 14 clubs in his bag.
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) October 17, 2024
The timing of the penalty couldn’t be worse for Dahmen, who is currently ranked 124th in the FedExCup standings. With his Tour card for next season on the line, he must finish within the top 125 to retain his status. So far, his FedExCup Fall campaign has been underwhelming, with finishes of T50, a missed cut, and T40 last week. After the penalty-laden first round, Dahmen posted a five-over 76, placing him in a tie for 131st.