Golf: Elliot Saltman banned for serious breach of golf rules

LOTHIANS golfer Elliot Saltman was today hit with a three-month playing ban from the European Tour after being found guilty of a "serious breach" of the rules.

The punishment was handed out by the Tour's tournament committee after a hearing attended by the 28-year-old in Abu Dhabi yesterday.

It followed Saltman's disqualification from a Challenge Tour event in Russia last year after he had been accused of wrongly marking his ball by his two playing partners.

In a statement issued this morning in the Middle East, the Tour said: "At a disciplinary hearing of the European Tour Tournament Committee in Abu Dhabi, the committee unanimously found that Elliot Saltman had committed a serious breach of the 2010 Challenge Tour Members Regulation F 1 (b) 6 (Rules of Golf) during the first round of the M2M Russian Challenge Cup on September 16 2010 at Tseleevo Golf & Polo Club, Moscow, Russia.

"It was the finding of the tournament committee that Elliot Saltman, who was disqualified from the M2M Russian Challenge Cup, be suspended from participating in all European Tour and Challenge Tour sanctioned tournaments for a period of three months, starting on January 19, 2011.

"Under Challenge Tour regulations Elliot Saltman, who attended the Hearing, has the right to lodge an appeal before the Board of The European Tour. This appeal must be lodged within 28 days."

Saltman, who only recently earned his card for the money-spinning main Tour along with younger brother Lloyd, is the first player to be banned by the Tour for nearly 20 years for such a breach.

It is believed his father Jack, who also acts as his manager, was set to meet the family's lawyers in Edinburgh today to discuss the possibility of an appeal.

If the Archerfield Links player accepts the punishment, he wouldn't actually miss too many tournaments.

Due to his ranking, he wasn't going to get in any of the four big-money events on the Middle East swing, which starts tomorrow with the Abu Dhabi Championship.

His next event was likely to be the Avantha Masters in India in the middle of next month, after which there's a free month on the Tour schedule.

He would then be ruled out of events in Sicily, Spain, Morocco and Malaysia, but would be eligible to return from the Volvo China Open onwards, giving him plenty of time to earn enough money over the remainder of the season to retain his card.

That said, his playing opportunities are likely to become more restricted when the big-money events kick in again, starting with the BMW PGA Championship at the end of May.

In a statement issued this morning, Saltman's sponsor, Edinburgh-based Aegon, said: "The disciplinary matter is an issue for the European Tour and not something that is appropriate for us to comment on at this stage."