Tattoo Snafu Can't Keep Sam Bennett from Men's Spirit International Title

Bennett was penalized two strokes after he discovered an extra club was accidentally added to his bag, likely while he was getting some temporary American flag ink.

What’s in a little tattoo, ay?

Well, there might be a two-stroke penalty in it, if you’re in the middle of an international golf competition.

That’s what it cost Sam Bennett — sort of — as the Texas A&M senior played the first hole of his final round Saturday in the Spirit International at Whispering Pines Golf Club in Trinity, Tex. Representing Team USA, Bennett reached in his bag, searching for his 60-degree wedge. And when he did, he found more than for which he bargained, i.e. a 58-degree wedge that didn’t belong to him.

Oops!

How did it get there? The offending wedge belonged to teammate Rachel Heck, who had set the club down by the bag, while she was applying face tattoos of the American flag to Bennett and teammate James Piot. The club was inadvertently placed in Bennett’s bag as the players dispersed.

The extra wedge represented a 15th club in Bennett’s bag, and that’s trouble … trouble with a “T” and that rhymes with “P” and that stands for “penalty,” under Rule 4.1b.

Bennett was tattooed with a two-stroke comeuppance for the violation and instead of leaving hole No. 1 with a par-4, he incurred a double-bogey-6. As it turned out, all was well that started badly for Bennett. The No. 6 ranked amateur in the World Amateur Golf Rankings responded with seven birdies over his next 14 holes and carded a final-round 3-under-par 69 to capture the men’s individual title.

🏆🏆🏆

Congrats to @sammy_golf24243 on winning individual and team medalist honors at @thespiritgolf!

📸: Courtesy of SGA/Hugh Hargrave#GigEm pic.twitter.com/10PmTAYYTO

— Texas A&M Men's Golf (@AggieMensGolf) November 7, 2021

Bennett’s 6-under par (73-68-69-210) total edged Boise State senior Huge Townsend, representing Sweden, by two shots. “I told myself (to) stay patient, and just get to even par through five because you have two par fives on that stretch and I was able to do that,” Bennett told Amateurgolf.com. “And then I was off and running.”

While the penalty didn’t stop Bennett, it was costly from a team standpoint. Sweden wound up capturing the men’s team title at 3-under par, one stroke better than Team USA. Remove the wayward wedge and the penalty on Bennett, the USA finishes 4-under, instead of 2-under, and wins the team category, as well. That said, the USA captured four of the five gold medals.

Oddly enough, women’s individual winner Rose Zhang also had an issue with a wedge in her final round — that is, she didn’t have one. On the first tee, Zhang discovered she had left her pitching wedge on the practice green. But, after a frantic scramble, the missing club was retrieved. There is no penalty for adding a club during a round, within the 14-club limit.

Zhang went on to shoot a final-round 69, the only player in the field to have three rounds in the 60s. The USA captured the women’s overall title with a score of 12-under, and won the overall team title with a dominating cumulative score of 28-under. Canada was second, 21 shots behind.

To put it another way, It would have taken 10 more too-many-clubs-in-the-bag penalties for Team USA to relinquish the lead. That’s a lot of tattoos.