Zimbabwe professional golfer Benjamin Follet-Smith was left livid on a bizarre Sunday that will he live long into his memory after he was disqualified at the inaugural Limpopo Open championship for missing his fourth round tee time by 35 seconds.
The Cape Town Open winner had made the cut and was in a strong position after carding 71, 69 and 77.
Follet-Smith was halfway through his warm-up routine at a nearby driving range when a Sunshine Tour official called to tell him he was he was supposed to
“I got done with my third round and I went to look at the tee time for the day after and I was 100 percent convinced I was teeing off at 8:40am, meanwhile I was teeing off at 8:20am. So the next day I got to the golf course prepared to tee off at 8:40pm. I was on the driving range when I got a phone call from the Sunshine Tour head office to say ‘you are supposed to be teeing off in 2 minutes where are?’ And I said ‘no I am on the range I am teeing off in 8:40 there is a mistake, he said no you are teeing off in 8:20am,” Follet-Smith told Zim Morning Post.
The former Mississippi State University student along with his caddie raced to the tee box in a shuttle only to arrive 35 second late and was disqualified.
“It was sincere mistake between me and my caddie we both didn’t double check. So yeah we made a mistake and unfortunately it cost us,”Follet-Smith added.
With that, Follet-Smith missed out on a potential R5 200.
Meanwhile, South Africa’s JC Ritchie claimed the inaugural Limpopo Championship on the first playoff hole at Euphoria Golf and Lifestyle Estate on Sunday.
The victory goes with his win in the Team Championship with Jaco Prinsloo last week.