Aline Krouter made the first playoffs Wednesday morning at the final spot in the U.S. Women's Open qualifying match in Naples, Florida. She birds in the first extra hole but takes the first alternative position at Gray Oaks Country Club. However, in particular, the cruel close call is that Claut is one of nine players who were fined for a slow game on Tuesday. In fact, a group of people were stuck with slow play in the morning and afternoon rounds, with a total of 12 fines on the day.
Kraut said: "Obviously, I was crushed. Krauter, the German champion of the Women's European Tour, hit the game 71-66, ended the game with 7 shots, making the Birds a birdie in the last two holes in the regulations.
Spain's Julia Lopez Ramirez won medal honors on the Gray Oaks, while Gurleen Kaur (under 9) and Amanda Doherty (under 8) finished second and third respectively. Auston Kim won the fourth place playoffs.
However, nearly 12 hours after the sting of the playoff loss, an emotional Krouter came up, who received a call from USGA informing her that she is now at 156 Erin Hills Golf Course in Wisconsin, now 156.
"I'm so happy to be open in the U.S.," Claut said. "To be fair, I always feel like I should be at the U.S. Open based on my golf score, so it feels good."
But, after the game pace that happened on Tuesday, Claut still wants to fight for change.
The USGA qualifiers operate at the pace of the Florida Golf Association. Krauter, 25, was grouped with LPGA players Xiaowen yin and Teenage amateur Natalie Angelo, who placed his father on his schoolbag.
"It seems like we're running around in the back, but it seems we've never been like a position," Claut said.
The former Stanford player said she kept playing "Ready Golf" to the point where she questioned whether she was too rude when she continued to move forward from the first 30 yards. Krauter told the group on the 18th hole (9th hole) that they needed to move. As she approached the green, her caddie went to a volunteer official and asked if they were behind. She said no.
Claut said once they finished the hole and got points, the official said they were actually a few minutes behind.
When they turned to the first hole, a rule official stopped them saying they missed the 18th checkpoint and everyone in the group was fined for a single shot that could be appealed after the round. Krauter pointed out to officials that the group in front of them was still on the green. In front of the next third shot, they are waiting for the kickoff.
FSGA Rules and Games Senior Director Darin Green said Krouter's group had a maximum of 20 minutes longer than the allocated time, 19 minutes behind the group ahead of them, which was a 4-minute time, breaking the rules.
Krauter said she wanted to appeal the penalty, when entering the score after the first round. She listed the case as a score before giving it to the second officer.
"Again, I kind of made him make mistakes on the progress of the round, but I never went too slow, I first went to play golf," Claut said. "I explained to him that my role on the golf course was to play quickly, to play well, and no one else was going to speed up my work. It was my job."
Rules officials were insisted by the ruling. Claut said she then asked if anyone had successfully appealed for the violation.
"The guy from the score looked at me and said, 'Okay, yes, it's attractive, but now it's over,' and then started laughing."
"At this point, sorry? It seems careless because I'm not slow, it's my career and it's probably life-changing. I'm here trying to open up to American women, and it's the most prestigious event of the year and you're treating it like you do.
Green said he has since spoken with two officials in the scoring zone and was told the matter has been taken seriously.
Green added: “There is no humor at all, and we deal with these appeals a lot, which is strong for the players and equally strong for us.”
FSGA’s championship strategy strategy uses two checkpoint systems, the first bullet point listed says “the players will not receive warnings” and the second is “each group is responsible for monitoring their own pace.” Players must complete each checkpoint hole within the allocated time or group’s first 15 minutes.
A group of players who violate the speed of the game strategy at any checkpoint are punishable.
FSGA policy continues: “Players who are worried about his or her group slow players should first remind the player of the pace of the game and encourage them to play more effectively. The players involved can ask officials to monitor the group before or after evaluating the penalty.”
Krauter, who qualified for two American women in 2021 and 2023, said she did not see officials in the top nine (bottom nine), but Green noted that there were three.
"It's an effort from our perspective," Green said to the group's speed. "When they pass through these areas, there's nothing."
Green also noted that each scorecard comes with a sorting time to reach the hole so players can follow during the game. While Krauter said this was helpful in some cases, the entire course was not backed up.
Krauter wants to talk to USGA CEO Mike Whan about this situation. Looking ahead, she wants to see all USGA qualifiers follow USGA playback strategies rather than local association rules.
When asked about implementing standard policies in all eligibility columns, USGA provided the following statement Golf Week:
Carrying effective training requires a lot of training. “Because each AGA has its own policies – many of which are modeled by USGAs – it is more practical for them to use existing policies in our qualifiers. It is expected that they would like to train the Rules Committee on separate, standardized policies and may be realistic and may lead to our implementation or implementation of this area, but we will provide us with the field. Agas applies its policies in the way they see fit.”
Claut said she doesn't remember the last time she cried at the incident, although it worked for her in the end.
"I don't want anyone," she said. "Again, I'm all in the quick race, but that's not the case."