THIS TOUR: Golfer On The Korn Ferry Tour Got Arrested For Brawling With Another Golfer Who Confronted Him For Not Helping Search For Balls
[FirePit] - The situation came to a boil on the Par-3 seventh hole. Dailey hit his tee shot left of the green. Fribbs, ever the sportsmen, went to help Dailey look for his ball. Allegedly, the Smiths did not help in the search for Dailey’s ball. In an effort to speed up play, Fribbs holed out first and headed for the eighth tee to play his next shot and try and get the group back in position. After Dailey completed the hole he said something to Smiths about how helping to look for shots might help speed the group up. This was apparently a bridge too far for the Smiths. According to Fribbs Luke and Oliver Smith started yelling at Dailey about his quality of play and how it was affecting the group. Oliver went on to make it clear that his son Luke, “wasn’t here to look for balls.”
Dailey then turned his back and walked away towards the eighth tee. Little did he know that in a matter of seconds all hell would break loose. It was at this point that Luke Smith allegedly jumped on Dailey and started to throw punches. Fribbs, who was standing on the eighth tee, ran back to try to and play peacemaker. But Oliver Smith had other plans. The elder Smith allegedly waved a putter at Fribbs- and anyone else with an eye on jumping into the fracas. (Oliver Smith’s putter-waving was was later confirmed by another PGA Section official on site.)
Well, needless to say there's a lot to unpack here. You have a fight, you have a dad caddying for someone refusing to let people intervene with the brawl and of course an arrest. Just another Monday on the Korn Ferry Tour. Really, this is just why everyone wants to see Bryson vs Brooks. I'd like to think Brooks would be the one refusing to look for balls here. He doesn't have time for that shit.
I'll admit there is nothing worse than helping someone look for a lost ball. I say that as someone who has a left to right off the tee and tends to slice it more than I care to admit. If you have a line for me, great. Other than that I'll go into the weeds and look myself. Don't expect me to be digging around high grass and get all itchy because you duck hooked yours into the woods though. So I agree with the dad. His son isn't there to look for balls. He's there to qualify and play. It's competitive golf, not a round at your muni. Now you shouldn't brawl with someone because they ask you to help look for balls to speed the pace of play up. Keep it in play, guy.
The move by the dad is for sure flying under the radar though. He saw his son winning a fight. Maybe he wasn't winning on the course, but he was winning the fight. He wasn't going to let someone else get involved there. Using the putter as a weapon to keep people away is a bold strategy but you gotta use what's around you. Always feel like the driver would be better here but they were on the green.
The guy I truly feel for here is the third in the group. Nothing worse than playing with a slow group or behind a slow group. Just hit the ball and go. Here he is trying to speed it up and get a tee shot off and he looks back and there's a brawl and he's getting threatened with a putter just to keep peace. That dude had the worst time on the course and someone got clocked.
Just another great rivalry in the sport. Jack vs Arnie. Phil vs Tiger. Brooks vs Byrson. Shooter vs Happy and now Austin Dailey vs Luke Smith.