Senior result stands despite breaching rules by employing pro golfer brother as caddie

Jack Senior, who partnered fellow Englishman Andy Sullivan to a 2 and 1 victory over Kelly Kraft and Russell Henley in the foursomes, had his brother, Joe, caddying for him, but he’s a professional golfer and one of the conditions for the biennial event prohibit them from bag-carrying duties.

All the players had been issued with a full list of the conditions, but Senior obviously didn’t read them as closely as he should have and the breach only came to light during a discussion between two members of the BBC team covering the event. When Paul Eales, a former European Tour player, mentioned he knew that Joe Senior was a professional, that immediately set alarm bells ringing for his fellow on-course reporter, Maureen Madill, after she had checked the conditions as part of her preparatory work for the event.

Luckily for GB&I, the information only came to light after the result of the match had been posted and, under rule 2-5 (Doubt as to Procedure, Disputes and Claims), the victory recorded by the two Englishmen was allowed to stand.

Had the breach been noticed during the match, then the penalty would have been loss of a hole for each hole the breach occurred with a maximum loss of two holes, and a change of the caddie. That change was made for the afternoon session, with Aberdonian Nick MacAndrew, who had been on Alan Dunbar’s bag in the morning, stepping in as Senior’s caddie. Peter Dawson, the R&A chief executive, admitted the matter had been “unfortunate” but insisted “everyone is entirely happy that under the traditions and ethos of this match, that the situation should be left to lie and no-one has any problem with that”.

Confirming that was the case, US captain Jim Holtgrieve said: “I’m fine, these guys played golf, he [the caddie] didn’t have any influence and I’m perfect with the decision.”