HS golfer DQ’d from US Junior Amateur for breaking new rule
The 2026 US Junior Amateur advanced to match play, and so far most of the attention has been on his competitor who narrowly missed out on the final rounds: Charlie Woods.
The 17-year-old son of three-time US Junior Am champion Tiger Woods lost in the men’s 14 final on Wednesday in the last two spots in the match half of the event. His effort is made difficult by the camera clicks that are not received by the viewer.
But another competitor, James Nagle, saw his hopes of winning the US Junior Amateur long gone. Rather than the result of his match, Nagle’s exit came in the form of a DQ on Monday, the result of a rare, newly adopted rule violation.
Here’s what you need to know.
James Nagle reveals details about the US Junior Amateur DQ
Nagle will be a senior in high school in the fall, after which he will begin his college golf career at the University of South Florida. He is currently ranked 331 in the Rolex AJGA rankings.
While he certainly hoped to move up the rankings with a strong finish at this week’s US Junior Amateur at Saucon Valley Country Club in Pennsylvania, the Rules of Golf got in the way.
After finishing an opening round of 76 at Saucon Valley’s Grace Course, Nagle was eliminated from the event. The reason was multiple violations of Model Local Rule G-12, a new rule adopted at USGA tournaments in 2023 that prohibits competitors from using learning greens while putting.
“During a round, you or your caddy may not use any written, printed, electronic or digital material to assist in reading your line of play for any incident on the putting green,” said the USGA’s explanation of the rule. “This includes using your yardage book, any charts, graphs or other notes where your ball is placed on the green for the specific purpose of reading your line of play.”
For one violation of this rule, competitors are charged two strokes. However, the penalty for a second offense is revocation.
After his DQ, Nagle took to Instagram to provide more details about the incident. In the story, Nagle explained that he “wasn’t informed” that maps reading on the green were not allowed on the greens at the tournament and only found out when his playing partner informed him.
“I wasn’t informed about the fact books with green maps that were not allowed to be used when I was putting up. My teammate warned me that it was not allowed,” Nagle said on his Instagram story. “I went to the nearest law enforcement officer and explained the situation to him, and he told me to finish the round while we reviewed the situation.”
After his round, law enforcement officials questioned Nagle about his use of the green study materials, and when he confirmed that he had used them multiple times, he was officially ejected.
“After I shot a 76 on the Grace Course, they asked me if I was sure that I had used it more than once and that I was doing it to get green information. I said yes. This resulted in a DQ,” Nagle said.
Paradoxically, while Model Local Rule G-12 prohibits players from using green maps while putting, yard books are allowed, even “reading your line of play,” for any other offense.
“Yardage books are permitted for any use other than to assist in reading your line of play for any incident to be done on the putting green such as determining a yard from the fairway or noting which club you hit,” the rule says.
