Severe hole location leads to cancellation of third round at NCAA D-III Women’s Championship

The third round of the NCAA Division III Women’s Golf Championship was canceled with almost 60% of the 151-player field finished with play.

The reason? Unplayable course conditions.

While severe weather rolled in late Thursday afternoon, it wasn’t rain or lightning that prompted the decision. Instead, it was because of a hole location that was, as the NCAA determined, too severe for play.

The hole in question was the 308-yard, par-4 sixth at Mission Inn Resort’s El Campeon Course in Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida. According to coaches, the hole had been cut on a 5-percent slope on the right side of the green.

Multiple videos of players putting to the hole were shared with GolfChannel.com, and they showed 10- to 20-foot putts from below the hole either stopping short of the cup or rolling past it, but all eventually losing momentum and returning basically to the players’ feet.

“They should’ve known not to put [the hole] there,” said one coach, who added that there were also four questionable hole locations in Tuesday’s first round. “No explanation. They just said they were sorry and they felt bad.”

The NCAA, which is responsible for placing the pins each round, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Before the third-round scores were scrapped, Claremont Mudd Scripps had posted four scores of 79 or better to gain two shots on 36-hole leader George Fox University. Instead, George Fox, at 45 over, will keep its five-shot lead entering Friday’s final round as the championship has been reduced to 54 holes. Emory had also closed its gap between it and George Fox to seven shots thanks to the round of the championship so far, a 17-over 309, but it will now revert back to a 10-shot deficit.

A cut was also made to the top 15 teams, with 14 other teams being eliminated from the competition based on their 36-hole scores. The final round will start Friday at 8 a.m.

One coach told GolfChannel.com that coaches were probably split on the NCAA’s decision to cancel the round, but he personally felt it was the right call.

“I think so,” the coach said while adding of the sixth hole: “It was ridiculous.”