A competitor was disqualified Monday at the U.S. Junior Amateur for using green-reading materials.
James Nagle, a rising high-school senior from Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, and University of South Florida verbal commit, incurred multiple breaches of Model Local Rule G-12 during his first-round, 6-over 76 on Saucon Valley’s Grace Course.
G-12, which was first adopted for USGA championships and a few other top amateur events in 2023, states, “During a round, a player must not use any written, printed, electronic or digital materials to help with reading their line of play for any stroke to be made from the putting green.”
It goes a step further than Rule 4.3a/1, which limits the size and scale of detailed putting green maps and any similar electronic or digital materials that a player may use during a round to help with reading their line of play on the putting green.
The USGA clarifies that 4.3a/1 ensures that a player’s ability to read a green “remains an essential part of the skill of putting,” and that with G-12, “ a committee may choose to place even greater emphasis on the judgment, skills and abilities of the player to read their line of play on the putting green by prohibiting the use of any materials for such a purpose.
The penalty for the first infraction of G-12 is two strokes, or loss of hole in match play. Any subsequent violation results in disqualification.
“I was not informed on the fact yardage books with green maps were not permitted to use while on the putting surface,” Nagle said afterward in a social-media post. “My playing partner warned me that it wasn’t allowed. So, I went to the nearest rules official and explained to them the situation. They told me to finish the round while they reviewed the situation. After shooting a 76 on the Grace Course, they asked me if I was sure I had used it more than once and that it was for the sole purpose of getting green information. I said yes. This resulted in the DQ.”
G-12 is not used in most other junior and college tournaments, including on the AJGA. The PGA Tour also does not use G-12 but rather G-11, which allows committee-approved yardage books that restrict the amount of detail of green maps and handwritten notes.
The USGA provides players at its championship with a one-sheeter explaining G-12, which also states that players are responsible for their caddies’ actions as well.
Some may recognize Nagle from a 2022 Good Good YouTube video in which Nagle played Pinehurst’s Cradle with Good Good members Garrett Clark and Grant Horvat, plus Akshay Bhatia, the PGA Tour winner who was on the Korn Ferry Tour at the time.
Nagle is now ranked 318th in the AJGA rankings.
This is the second straight year a player has been DQ’d at the U.S. Junior Amateur. Last year at Trinity Forest, Banks Steele, 17, was disqualified during his second round after rules officials determined that his caddie had twice measured the wind by throwing his hat into the air, a violation of Rule 4.3a(2).
