Australian pro Greg Chalmers has spent a lifetime playing across the PGA Tour, PGA Tour of Australasia, DP World Tour and, now, the PGA Tour Champions senior circuit. But it’s unlikely the experienced veteran has ever suffered a rules DQ quite like the one that undid him this weekend.
Chalmers was disqualified during the final round of the 2025 Boeing Classic on Sunday. Officially the reason was a violation of the non-conforming club rule. But the full story is far more bizarre than that.
Here’s what you need to know.
Chalmers got his start on the PGA Tour Australasia, where he won five tournaments from 1997 to 2014, including two Australian Open wins and two Australian PGA victories.
While he never dominated the PGA Tour, he did pick up one-career Tour victory at the 2016 Barracuda Championship. His best finish in a major was a T4 at the 2000 PGA Championship at Valhalla, won by Tiger Woods.
‘Completely dizzy’: LIV pro blames walk-off DQ on ‘fire alarm,’ oversleeping
After turning 50 in October 2023, Chalmers joined the PGA Tour Champions to try his game against the aging legends found there. During his first season he collected five top-10 finishes and has added three more this season.
Through two rounds at last week’s Boeing Classic at the Club at Snoqualmie Ridge in Washington, Chalmers was at four under and in line for another solid finish. But on the 3rd hole, he was suddenly disqualified following a long discussion with rules officials.
After his round, Chalmers took to X to explain exactly what had happened. It turns out that after he escaped a buried lie in a bunker with his lob wedge, he found a Blast Motion club sensor attached to it. Chalmers said he thought he’d lost the sensor “ages ago,” suggesting it had been discarded at the bottom of his bag and accidentally attached itself to the grip of his lob wedge.
“Had a freaky DQ today. Buried in bunker on 3rd.. grab my lob wedge and hack it across over off the green on other side. As I’m putting club back in bag I notice a blast motion sensor attached to the end of it..(I’d thought I’d lost it ages ago, but apparently it was in my bag for a while),” Chalmers wrote.
He alerted rules officials when he noticed the offending sensor on his wedge. According to Chalmers, they contacted the USGA who officially deemed Chalmers to have used a non-conforming club, resulting in a disqualification.
“Talk to rules officials, they call @USGA and find out it’s a DQ for me for using a non conforming club,” Chalmers wrote on X. “On the plus side Steve Allan won again and I caught an earlier flight to Calgary.”
Club sensors like the Blast Motion sensors that got Chalmers in trouble attach to the end of a grip and connect to an app to provide feedback on your game.
The USGA determined Chalmers had violated Rule 4.1a(iv) of the Rules of Golf for using a non-conforming external attachment to his club because Blast Motion sensors are not permitted for tournament play in PGA Tour-sanctioned events. Interestingly, Arccos club sensors are permitted, but only if they are used in Tournament Mode.
The post ‘Freaky DQ’: Pro explains bizarre rules DQ involved discarded sensor appeared first on Golf.
