Natthakritta Vongtaveelap disqualified from the 2023 United States Women’s Open

Natthakritta Vongtaveelap (YouTube)

The first round of the 2023 United States Women’s Open took place on Thursday from Pebble Beach in northern California. However, the tournament did not start without controversy. That is because Thailand’s Natthakritta Vongtaveelap was disqualified because her caddie used a measuring device on multiple holes according to Beth Ann Nichols of Golfweek on Thursday.

Normally, measuring devices are allowed. However, not at the United States Women’s Open. The type of measuring device that Vongtaveelap’s caddie Jinsup Kim used was a range finder.

The first time that Kim brought out the range finder, Vongtaveelap was issued a two-stroke penalty. The second time that Kim used the range finder, Vongtaveelap was automatically disqualified from the third major of the year.

What seems to have been an issue here was a possible communication barrier. It is not known at this time if anyone notified Kim or Vongtaveelap that they could not use the range finder after the first violation was committed.

The golf world on the women’s side and men’s side need to make improvements in clarifying the rules. According to Kent Paisley of Golf Digest on Thursday, Zach Williams of Mount Vernon, Illinois was disqualified for using a range finder twice on the Korn Ferry Tour last week, even though the equipment was allowed in qualifying. Meanwhile, range finders are not allowed at the Women’s British Open either, even though they are allowed at the other three majors. Consistency throughout all tournaments needs to be instituted.

The second round of the 2023 United States Women’s Open is on Friday. The first round leaders are Xiyu Lin of China and Hyo-joo Kim of South Korea at -4.

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