Every golfer has been in the situation where you are determined to find a Ball that you lost after a shot. While this is common on the course, NCAA player David Wicks took this to a new level.
Last week during at the Baton Rouge Invitational, Wicks, a senior at Jacksonville State made a terrible mistake. After hitting his first putt, Wicks picked up his ball and was waiting for others to take their putts before finishing up the hole. While the ball was in his pocket, Wicks went to pull out his scorecard, dragging the ball out with it. Unfortunately for Wicks, the ball fell onto his shoe and bounced into the water hazard surrounding the green.
While many of you are reading this and wondering what the big deal is, the NCAA has a rule that states that you must keep track of your own personal ball and use it to finish every hole. Wicks had only a three-foot putt left and did not want to take the penalty that comes with replacing his ball. If you are again wondering what the big deal is, Jacksonville State was battling for its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Championships.
So Wicks did the unthinkable in order to try and save a stroke for his team, he undressed down into his boxers and dove into the pond to try and locate his ball. The NCAA allows for a five-minute time limit to locate the ball so Wicks went diving. He was able to pull out almost 20 different balls from the pond but was unable to locate his. Luckily for him, he also didn’t locate any snapping turtles or alligators under the water.
This isn’t the first time a situation has happened like this either, as Ian Poulter lost his ball in the water at TPC Sawgrass during THE PLAYERS Championship in 2004. After losing his ball, a trainer volunteered to jump into the water and attempt to locate the ball so Poulter avoided the penalty. And unlike Wicks, the trainer found Poulter’s ball under the time limit and he was able to finish the hole.
Even though Wicks had to take the penalty, Jacksonville State had a happy ending, as they did advance to the NCAA Championships. One valuable lesson to take away from this, however, is to make sure your ball is always secure in your pocket or you could be taking an unanticipated swim.
Cover image via YouTube
