After he fired a bogey-free, 7-under 65 in the first round of the Victorian Open Championship in Australia, you couldn’t fault Nick Gillespie for getting excited. The round, which equaled the course record at Thirteenth Beach Golf Links, appeared to give the 24-year-old a two-shot lead heading into Friday’s second round.
Except Gillespie failed to perform one of the fundamental tasks of tournament golf – he forgot to sign his scorecard.
As a result, the New Zealander went from the elation of leading the tournament to the dejection of being disqualified.
‘It’s an unfortunate situation that no one likes to see,’ explained Andrew Langford-Jones, director of tournaments for the PGA Tour of Australasia. ‘At the end of the day, all the players know it is their responsibility to sign the card, and it’s a lesson he’ll learn and never repeat, I hope.’
While still reeling from the setback, Gillespie appeared to take the error in stride.
‘I have been practicing my signature this afternoon in preparation for next week,’ he added, alluding to the next opportunity for him to play competitively at the NZ PGA Championship in his native New Zealand.
As a result of Gillespie’s unexpected disqualification, Andre Stolz and Steve Jones now share the first-round lead after firing rounds of 5-under 67 Thursday.