University of North Texas Athletics
Green Gang: Cazaubon's Mistake
4/25/2011 12:00:00 AM | Return to Play
By Steven Bartolotta, April 25, 2011, 7:19 p.m.
Just looking at the results, the golf team trails Denver by three strokes after the first round, except on the course its only one. It was an innocent mistake. It happens all the time in golf, but the sacrosanct rules the sport lives by called for action.
Rodolfo Cazaubon, a uber-talented sophomore, was tagged with a two-stroke penalty after a round of 69, and turned it into a 71.
Cazaubon's mistake? Taking a ride on a golf cart when he wasn't supposed to. Between the 4th and 5th holes here at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, it's a long hike underneath one of the roads that leads to the clubhouse. From green to tee, you walk down a hill, through a tunnel, and up to the next tee.
A player from UALR, who wasn't playing, was there with a cart and offered the group a lift to the next tee.
Who wouldn't take that? Except it wasn't allowed and the players had already been told. The only "shuttle" service available is on Hole 9. Once they climbed aboard, there wasn't anything that could be done.
Once Head Coach Brad Stracke found out, it was a no-brainer; he had to turn in his player. The rules were plain and simple, but Cazaubon just forgot.
Before anyone thinks about how the penalty could possibly come into play, Cazaubon has more than made up though two strokes with his play. He chipped in for eagle at 17, had five birdies on the day, and was a rock at the No. 2 spot for North Texas.
Penalty aside, the Mean Green is in a great position to capture its first conference title in eight seasons.
MTSU and South Alabama, the two teams North Texas probably worried about the most, were beaten down by the wind in the afternoon and are 11 and 16 shots behind the Mean Green.
The tournament is there for the taking for North Texas. They have the most talent over any of the top-five teams, but that doesn't always mean victory.
Denver got the advantage in round one by teeing off early, without much wind, and posting a score. Kudos to the Pioneers, because the clubhouse leader is the clubhouse leader, and they did their job.
Now North Texas has to do theirs. With shaky weather moving to the area the next two days, this tourney is more than likely headed to an 18-hole shootout and the Mean Green should be able to build on this opening round.
The Mean Green is down by three strokes, instead of one, but this tournament won't be decided by a two-stroke mistake.
