[Golf Topic] 'Trendsetter' Park Minji's 'Queen Quintuple Bogey'... "What on earth happened at the 6th hole?"

Park Minji is taking her second shot on the 12th hole on the first day of the Daewoo Winia MBN Women's Open. Photo by KLPGA

[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] ○…‘Quintuple bogey’.

This is the scorecard of the rising star Park Min-ji (23, NH Investment & Securities). On the 13th, during the first round of the KLPGA Tour Daeyu Winia MBN Women's Open (total prize money 800 million KRW) held at Daeyu Montberr Golf Club (par 72, 6,551 yards) in Pocheon, Gyeonggi-do, she recorded a ‘quintuple bogey’ on the 6th hole (par 5) by taking 10 strokes to hole out. The actual number of strokes played was 6. However, due to a rules violation, she was penalized 4 strokes, causing her score to balloon like a snowball.

Park Min-ji’s second shot went into the forest on the left side of the fairway. Judging that the ball could not be found, she played a provisional ball but did not inform her playing partners of her intention to play a provisional ball. This resulted in a one-stroke penalty. The problem worsened when the original ball was found under a tree. She picked up the provisional ball and continued play with the original ball. If a player does not declare the intention to play a provisional ball, even if the original ball is found, it must not be played. This is a two-stroke penalty for playing a wrong ball.

Additionally, because the provisional ball was still ‘in play’ and she picked it up, another one-stroke penalty was imposed. She replaced the lifted ball to its original spot and played it onto the green, but with the four penalties added, she effectively holed out with ‘8 on and 2 putts’. After playing the provisional ball, she reportedly told her playing partners, "I played without saying it was a provisional ball. I broke the rules. We should call the rules official." It was a result of a momentary lapse in judgment.

Chief Rules Official Choi Jin-ha explained, "If she had not confessed to playing without informing her playing partners, no one might have known about the rules violation. Still, it is fortunate that she honestly informed her playing partners about the violation." Defending champion Park Min-ji dropped to the lower ranks with 5 birdies, 3 bogeys, and 1 quintuple bogey. To defend her title, a strong performance in the second round is urgently needed.

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