At the 102nd Florida Amateur Championship, the 168 player field is cut to the low 70 scores and ties after 36-holes. Round two was completed on Friday at 2:18 p.m., and after all scores were accepted by the Committee there were exactly 70 players at 150 (+6) and better. The cut was made, communicated to the players, posted to the FSGA website, and pairings for round three were posted and released to the public.
At 3:20 p.m., and as the FSGA Rules Committee was preparing to leave the course, information about a potential rules breach was communicated to the Committee. As the Committee, we must act upon any reasonable information we receive and apply the Rules of Golf properly. Over the next 90 minutes the FSGA investigated the situation and the Committee agreed a breach occurred that resulted in a disqualification penalty to a player. The rules breach was a common accidental mistake that many players make and in no means was any "foul play" involved. It was an honest mistake that is commonly made. The mistake resulted in the player playing a wrong ball that was previously a provisional ball and he failed to correct the mistake resulting in disqualification under the Rules.
An argument has been made by some players that the cut should have been redone and pairings remade. However, following guidance in the Rules of Golf, speaking with the USGA, referencing previous discussions with the PGA Tour, and other golf associations, the Rules Committee unanimously agreed that the cut line stands and that the deadline to make any changes occurs when the cut was made and pairings were posted.
