Foot Faults at World by Stokely

[btothej89]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzMcz7xvqgY&feature=youtu.be

So apparently this happend @worlds. The first call is really tough to see, but atleast seems to be a foot fault, but the second one was good imho.

What do you guys think? Those calls cost him the Finals. Bummer to say the least.
I am by no means a fan of any of the competitors since i don´t know them in person, still it seems to be weird that an experienced player like Stokely gets 5 calls in one round.

 

[JC17393]

There's two ways to look at it.

One, the players conspired against him making phantom calls because they don't like him or wanted to get someone else into the final 9.

Two, he was loose/careless with his footing all day/week long (perhaps his whole career), but his playing partners for some reason waited until the last few holes to actually start calling him on it.

Neither really paints the group in a great light, but for different reasons.

I'm more inclined to believe the second scenario than the first because I'm not a conspiracy theorist. That, and it wouldn't be the first time a player (or players) observed a player committing a violation (stance or otherwise) and held it in their back pocket until the right opportunity arose to really get in his head with a call.

At most this cost Stokely a chance to play the final 9. I believe by the time this happened, he was already far enough off the pace that he wasn't going to win the tournament.

 

[btothej89]

Yes you are right, it did not cost him the championship. Still it bugs me quite a bit because not only did the players call him but also a pdga official (which name i forgot) was there too and observed all of this, approving the calls, that other players on his card made.

 

[JC17393]

It's not the PDGA official's role to officiate unless asked to do so by the involved players. The players are supposed to make the calls. The official only steps in to mediate or rule when the group can't come to a decision. A stance violation and a second doesn't require a group consensus, so there's nothing for the official to rule on. Stokely could have appealed to the official, but if the official wasn't in position to see the violation (or lack thereof), he's likely going to side with the call, particularly if two players say they saw it. Ditto in appealing to the TD.

 

[TAFL]

He was playing with some dicks, is all. Can't really see enough of the first throw to judge it, though the second two were fine.

 

[crd 81]

I couldn't tell, but why was the first throw a foot fault?

Unless it is blantant, I wouldn't call a foot fault. Seems petty.

 

[bballr4567]

Why does the call have to be blatant to be called?

 

[threej21]

IMO, the first one looked like he was a good 2-3 feet behind his marker. The second throw looked like he was much closer to it as far as being too far away, but I guess he could've missed it to the left or right. The only reason I think this has such a cloud over it is, 1) KC and his long history and 2) from what I hear, KC has made some questionable stroke calls on people before. Don't know that personally, just what ive heard. Along with that he will try and work your mental game when he can.

 

[Pbmercil]

Keep in mind that on that video those were the 4th and 5th foot fault calls made against him within a few holes. That video is from a spectator who was suspicious enough about the earlier calls to start filming. Also those penalty strokes were exactly enough to make him miss the finals by 1 stroke. Tho its impossible to armchair officiate the calls from 1 YouTube video, I think the circumstances are suspicious enough to warrant further investigation by the pdga

 

[Jay Dub]

There's two ways to look at it.

One, the players conspired against him making phantom calls because they don't like him or wanted to get someone else into the final 9.

Two, he was loose/careless with his footing all day/week long (perhaps his whole career), but his playing partners for some reason waited until the last few holes to actually start calling him on it.

Neither really paints the group in a great light, but for different reasons.

I'm more inclined to believe the second scenario than the first because I'm not a conspiracy theorist. That, and it wouldn't be the first time a player (or players) observed a player committing a violation (stance or otherwise) and held it in their back pocket until the right opportunity arose to really get in his head with a call.

At most this cost Stokely a chance to play the final 9. I believe by the time this happened, he was already far enough off the pace that he wasn't going to win the tournament.

If it's been a habit of Scott's and these other players knew it then waited until now to call him on it I would have no problem with that even though it's hard nose golf.
But this is why you make sure to follow the rules of the game.

One thing that's going to sadden me are all the people who will say it was picky amd shouldn't have been called even if he did foot fault.

Pros should be expected to play like pros, that includes following the rules "to a T".

 

[Timeetyo]

To be honest it is too hard to tell from that video, so I'm not going to comment on if the calls were accurate or not.

My question is this: Assuming Scott felt that the calls were BS and Scott felt he was being unfairly gamed, what should he have done? What recourse does he have?

 

[1Roy]

What foods did he fault?

 

[Hampstead]

It's not the PDGA official's role to officiate unless asked to do so by the involved players. The players are supposed to make the calls. The official only steps in to mediate or rule when the group can't come to a decision. A stance violation and a second doesn't require a group consensus, so there's nothing for the official to rule on. Stokely could have appealed to the official, but if the official wasn't in position to see the violation (or lack thereof), he's likely going to side with the call, particularly if two players say they saw it. Ditto in appealing to the TD.

from Stokely's FB page:

Several people mentioned emailing Brian Graham At The PDGA but don't bother. Rather than waiting at the bottom of the hill like everyone else to watch the final hole, Brian ran up a huge hill just in time to watch an additional half a hole and to help make those two calls on me. He was standing just to the left of me with a perfect view and told me after that he believes I foot faulted.

He also stated that it wasn't his call, it was 100% the players call but then immediately after he walked over and called foot fault with a warning to another player. Then he told myself and others that he was not biased because he gave another player a warning. Heck, he even announced how unbiased he was at the awards ceremony.

 

[Pbmercil]

To be honest it is too hard to tell from that video, so I'm not going to comment on if the calls were accurate or not.

My question is this: Assuming Scott felt that the calls were BS and Scott felt he was being unfairly gamed, what should he have done? What recourse does he have?

That's the problem with the situation. He had zero recourse. Which probably is why he pretty much took it on the chin, there isn't any real way to appeal a foot fault

 

[threej21]

Correct. Called and seconded....nothing he could do.

 

[Halcón]

You can see Brian nodding his head in affirmation of the first fault in the video. The first one was off the lie. The second call was totally bogus.

 

[Jowie]

Could he have his wife/caddy/friend record each of his throws clearly showing his foot placement relative to the marker? If he is not foot faulting, then he would have solid evidence of collusion. If I were in his position, that would have to be my plan going forward.

 

[Pbmercil]

Could he have his wife/caddy/friend record each of his throws clearly showing his foot placement relative to the marker? If he is not foot faulting, then he would have solid evidence of collusion. If I were in his position, that would have to be my plan going forward.

That would give him strong evidence to present a case of collusion against him to the pdga, but he would not be able to use that for any sort of appeal to a TD or official during a tournament

 

[crd 81]

Why does the call have to be blatant to be called?

Because in a lie such as the one in the video I don't think a slight/menial foot fault is going to change the trajectory of the throw or give the player an unfair advantage. The second call was questionable and, while I think the first call seem legit, I still don't think it gave Scott an unfair advantage.

I will say it is different if the player is disregarding the rule after being fairly warned.

 

[tomsdiscs]

On youtube, there is a button on the lower right corner where you can adjust the speed, change it to .25 and re-watch, I think he is getting taxed for doing an uphill heel pivot where he pulls up his pivot foot really quickly after release, I think he is probably okay and his toes are touching the grass close to the marker as he does his heel pivot, and this is all happening too fast for the human eye to catch and process correctly.