Cole Hammer Disqualified After Self-Reporting Rules Violation
Cole Hammer had never been disqualified from a tournament in his life. Until Friday.
The 25-year-old Korn Ferry Tour pro called a rules violation on himself during this week’s Memorial Health Championship in Springfield, Illinois. His admission led to the disqualification of both Hammer and his playing competitor, Nelson Ledesma, after officials determined they had violated Rule 10.2a, which prohibits players from giving or asking for advice from anyone other than their caddie.
The incident happened during Thursday’s first round on the par-3 17th hole at Panther Creek Country Club. Hammer had just hit 4-iron onto the green on the 232-yard hole and was watching his ball roll when he started walking toward his bag. That’s when he crossed paths with Ledesma’s caddie, Nico Torres.
“He flashed four fingers, a universal signal for, ‘4-iron?'” Hammer told GolfChannel.com on Friday. “Out of instinct, I flashed ‘4’ as well. It was a heat-of-the-moment thing, and I didn’t think a whole lot about it until after the round.”
That evening, Hammer reached out to peers for their opinion. Most felt he was in the clear. The rule against giving advice is often broken in professional golf, typically without punishment. When Brooks Koepka and Gary Woodland’s caddies faced scrutiny for potentially violating this rule during the 2023 Masters, Golf Channel analyst Paul McGinley called advice-giving “not a serious breach among players.”
“This is common practice on Tour,” McGinley added. “It happens in every professional tournament around the world.”
One well-known PGA Tour veteran even texted Hammer Thursday night, saying, basically, This happens every single day on Tour.
But Hammer couldn’t simply brush it off.
“I feel like I know the rules really well, and I’ve always tried to uphold them to the best of my ability,” Hammer said. “It just didn’t sit right with me last night, and when I woke up this morning, I felt compelled to go talk to the rules official.”
Hammer sought out KFT rules official Claudio Rivas, who told him he would consult with chief referee Jordan Harris and a USGA representative. Hammer mentioned he wasn’t sure if Torres had even seen his hand signal, and explained he hadn’t alerted Ledesma or Torres at the time because he didn’t want to cause unnecessary worry.
“I didn’t think that they would be disqualified,” Hammer said. “I just thought since I was the one who gave the sign that I would be disqualified. And I thought that was worst-case scenario.”
Rule 10.2a states: During a round, you must not: 1. Give advice to anyone in the competition who is playing on the course; 2. Ask anyone for advice, other than your caddie; 3. Touch another player’s equipment to learn information that would be advice if given by or asked of the other player.
The penalty is usually two strokes, but because Hammer and Ledesma had already signed their scorecards—Hammer for a 2-under 69, Ledesma for 73—they were disqualified under Rule 3.3.
It took several hours for officials to make the final decision. The disqualification came when Hammer and Ledesma were six holes into their second rounds. Hammer had dropped to 1 under after a bogey while Ledesma remained at 2 over; the projected cut line was 4 under.
Ledesma, who speaks little English, told GolfChannel.com: “The decision made is the correct one, according to the rules. I can’t do much with it except accept it.” He added that Torres was “shocked by the situation” but accepted the mistake.
“I feel a lot better now that I at least got it off my chest because it was weighing me down,” Hammer said. “It’s just unfortunate that it’s caused a little storm around the tournament.”
Hammer entered the week No. 73 in points. His T-23 finish last week in Wichita had snapped a string of six straight missed cuts. Ledesma, 34, sits at No. 102 in points.
“This is something that’s so abnormal to experience in a tournament, so I’m almost just going to have to cast it away like nothing happened,” Hammer said. “It’s a learning experience, and I think I’m in a better head space having called it on myself. I’m by no means depressed about the outcome or nervous about the next stretch. If anything, I can play with a clean slate and a clear conscious and hopefully continue the play that I had in Wichita.
“There are plenty of events left, and I felt like doing the right thing and protecting the game would be better for me in the long run.”
