Interesting development in Huntsville this past weekend... it appears the winner of the Masters division did not receive his winnings due to being investigated whether he earned points for the 2010 - 2011 SN year.

Southern Nationals has ruled... Brad Hammock ruled ineligible for Southern Nationals Pro Championships and is DQ'd post Tournament.

Get's better... prior to ruling, TD sent Brad the check and now the SN Board is requesting he return it, minus his entry fee.

Update... Brad Hammock refuses to return prize money that doesn't belong to him. he was retroactively DQ'd for not having any SN points to play in the tournament. For all of the gory detalis, check out http://www.sndg.org/forum/read.php?2,207483,page=1

Since this was a dual sanctioned event, the PDGA should get involved as they stated they would agree with whatever decision the SN BOD made regarding this matter!

Brad Hammock should be suspended from play in both SN and PDGA sanctioned events.

i agree.now is the time for the pdga to do something of value.

A few comments from an outsider perspective..

1. This falls 100% on the TD. If you are running an event that requries qualification and you don't check to see that everyone entered is qualified, that is on you.

2. People bash the PDGA and praise Southern Nationals all the time but the PDGA would NEVER and I repear NEVER let something like this happen at a major / qualification event that they were running.

3. I 100% disagree that the PDGA should do anything about this. Brad met all the requirments on the PDGA end of things to compete in this event.

Interesting situation I might add. I'll be following closely. But my honest opinion is Brad shouldn't have been DQed.

A few comments from an outsider perspective..

1. This falls 100% on the TD. If you are running an event that requries qualification and you don't check to see that everyone entered is qualified, that is on you.

2. People bash the PDGA and praise Southern Nationals all the time but the PDGA would NEVER and I repear NEVER let something like this happen at a major / qualification event that they were running.

3. I 100% disagree that the PDGA should do anything about this. Brad met all the requirments on the PDGA end of things to compete in this event.

Interesting situation I might add. I'll be following closely. But my honest opinion is Brad shouldn't have been DQed.

You should read the SN forum and then let me know your opinion on this. Brad informed the TD he had points... Yes the TD should have verified but he didn't... when you read further, you will find out not only did Brad lie about this, but he also tried to get someone else to lie for him!!! Therefore this is the behavior that should be punished! He intentionally deceived a TD at a PDGA Sanctioned event. Shame on the TD but shame on Brad Hammock for his behavior.

It is what it is.. the SN ruled and the PDGA has stated they would support their decision.

i agree.now is the time for the pdga to do something of value.

if there is a touring pro representing the face of disc golf who is other than honorable then the pdga does have some responsabuility to judge and punish said player.
that is what a governing body does.
Brad knows the tourny had qualification that he didnt meet, therfore he must also know the prizes are not available to him.
the mistake of the t.d. is just that.
an honorable man would not take what is not rightfuly his.
the unforunate thing is the the t.d. did make a mistake, and there in lies some responsabuility as well.

Brad didn't have any points which made him ineligible to play in the Southern Nationals Championships. The TD didn't check the points that Brad had and let him enter. Questions were brought up after two rounds, and the TD let him continue to play the second day. Brad won the SN Championship in his division. The TD did not give Brad the money at the awards ceremony because they wanted to investigate before awarding him first place and giving him the prize money. The Southern Nationals board tried to do the right thing and be fair to all of the SN players and to Brad. The SN board made numerous phone calls to Brad, the PDGA, and other players to get facts and confirm stories and such. Even though it was a lengthy process, their sincere efforts were not appreciated by the TD. Southern Nationals money ($865.00) was intentionally and wrongfully paid out and sent to Brad by the TD before the SN board could get all of the facts. Now, Brad is refusing to give the money back. I applaud the Southern Nationals Board for trying to do the right thing for everybody involved.

I've played the last three SN championships previous to this one. I would've been in Huntsville last weekend IF I had a chance to make a qualifier since the last SNPC's. Since I was unable to make it to a qualifier - I didn't play.

Simple.

Disc golf is NOT ball golf... integrity is not as prevalent on the links. Sad.

I'm a big fan of Brad's game. I'm not a fan of this particular decision to fight for the spoils he "won".

It's not too difficult to qualify - just play ONE SN tourney and you're in the finals.

I'm for the PDGA BOD stepping in on this.

I'm for the PDGA BOD stepping in on this.
Let's make sure everyone understands the process for PDGA sanctioned events. Per the Discplinary Process [www.pdga.com/documents/disciplinary-process], "If in the course of a PDGA sanctioned event, a member takes an action that is disruptive to the event and that is not specifically addressed within the PDGA Rules of Play, that action may be reported to the PDGA by any active PDGA member who witnessed the incident. . . he or she will deliver the report via the Disciplinary Action Form (DAF, available online at www.pdga.com/documents/disciplinary-action-form) to the PDGA office within 30 days. If the Acting Member is the event TD, the incident should also be noted in the TD report."

This starts the disciplinary review process via the Disciplinary Committee. The DC reviews the facts of the case, interviews where needed, and makes a recommendation of action to the PDGA Board Executive Committee (officers). The Board Exec Committee reviews and approves/denies/changes the recommendation by majority vote, and then the President sends out a disciplinary letter to the affected party. The affected party may appeal the decision to the entire Board within 30 days, and if so the entire Board will revisit the issue and confirm/deny/change the original action.

So, SN Board, start the process if you feel there is an issue that the PDGA needs to consider.