‘Really rude’ Tour caddie shot 202 in U.S. Am qualifier intentionally going for highest score in history

PGA Tour caddie Trey Bilardello failed to qualify for the U.S. Amateur Championship in dramatic fashion this week. After firing a 131-over-par score of 202 at Mayacoo Lakes Country Club in West Palm Beach, Fla., he ended up missing the cut by 124 shots.

But Bilardello’s shockingly high score wasn’t the result of bad luck or a series of poorly-played shots. Instead, Bilardello’s playing partner, Kristian Fortis, told Golf Channel that after parring his opening two holes, Bilardello suffered a triple-bogey on the 12th (his third hole of the day), followed by a 10. At that point, he appeared to stop trying. A 15 and an 11 followed on Nos. 17 and 18.

“After the first nine, he said that he wanted to shoot the highest recorded score in USGA history,” Fortis told Golf Channel. “He would chip shots and scoot his ball around on the tee box just to add strokes, and then he would just pipe a 2-iron down the middle of the fairway, hit it on the green and then just scoot his ball around again with his putter. He’d be right next to the hole and then I guess he’d think to himself that he didn’t have enough strokes and he’d hit his ball in the opposite direction of the hole. He was really rude to a lot of the officials, too.”

Bilardello’s behavior did not go unnoticed by tournament officials, who disqualified him.

“The Florida State Golf Association, after consulting with the United States Golf Association, has disqualified Trey Bilardello under Rule 1.2 for serious misconduct and failing to play in the spirit of the game,” Beth Major, the USGA’s senior director of championship communications, told Golf Digest. “His disqualification was deemed appropriate as a result of the individual’s failure to show consideration for other players — deliberately playing away from the hole to run up his score.”

Eight of Bilardello’s final nine holes included a score in the double-digits, although he finished with a par at the last. According to Golf Channel, Bilardello has worked as a professional caddie for Jim Herman, Moriya Jutanugarn and Annie Park, and is currently on the bag for Matt Every.

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