There may be a 2.4 handicap index limit to enter a U.S. Am qualifier, but that didn’t prevent one player from running up an astronomical score of 202 at the event at Mayacoo Lakes C.C. on Monday – before it was revealed the player had been disqualified for “failing to play in the spirit of the game.”
Korn Ferry Tour player Justin Hueber tweeted out the card of the player in question and showed a scorecard of a player who shot a 194 total – equating to 123-over par.
@jhueb
Despite Hueber’s attempts to blur out the name of the player in question, it was found to be Trey Bilardello, better known for being a professional caddie most recently for Matt Every, and it turns out that the 194 total was, in fact, a 202.
Speaking to GolfDigest, Darin Green, director of rules & competitions for the Florida State Golf Association, revealed how a glitch in the online scoring system prevents numbers greater than 19 posted on any hole being submitted, but failed to elaborate on just how a player with a 2.2 handicap, according to the latest GHIN revision, could shoot such a total, stating “The 202 was the score given to us and signed.”
On Tuesday afternoon Bilardello’s story became even more intriguing when the FSGA decided to reverse its original decision and disqualify Bilardello after the event had ended.
“Serious misconduct and failing to play in the spirit of the game” was the reason for the disqualification according to Beth Major, USGA senior director of championship communications, who was speaking to Golf Digest.
Per the report, Bilardello began deliberately missing shots, especially around the green, and as he was within the first group at the event, his pace held up the rest of the field. Speaking on the incident, Major stated
Speaking to Golf Channel, Bilardello’s playing competitor, Kristian Fortis, disclosed how the Tour caddie started off normal but quickly went downhill.
“After the first nine, he said that he wanted to shoot the highest recorded score in USGA history. He just did not care. He was really rude to a lot of the officials, too. Something was off.
“He would chip shots and scoot his ball around on the tee box just to add strokes, and then he would just pipe a 2-iron down the middle of the fairway, hit it on the green and then just scoot his ball around again with his putter. He’d be right next to the hole and then I guess he’d think to himself that he didn’t have enough strokes and he’d hit his ball in the opposite direction of the hole.”
Bilardello’s past involves an arrest in 2014 in Royal Palm Beach, Fla, on a charge of first-degree domestic battery by strangulation, and he has been accused of “cheating the ballot to win” by an online commentator in a “Caddie for a Day” contest for Ken Duke. Per GolfDigest’s report, Bilardello was suspended from the Minor League Golf Tour for damaging golf course property during one of the events.