From Sun Country Amateur Golf Association rules official Joe Sholtis, who officiates USGA qualifiers in New Mexico-West Texas. on Tim Finchem’s announcement there may be rules changes ahead on wrong-scorecard DQs:
I wasn’t aware that Tim Finchem had had such an interaction with the USGA. Nevertheless, I personally don’t think such a suggestion will have much traction within the USGA Rules Committee. Instead, I think the USGA is going to seriously discuss conditions/situations that can trigger a DQ.
Specifically, when a player signs his scorecard and then facts subsequently arise (which the player was not aware of) that substantiate a penalty on a hole, i.e., the USGA, I think, is going to discuss situations to prevent a player from being DQ’d as a result of signing for a score lower than he actually shot on a hole, when/because the player was unaware of fact(s) that substantiate/require assessment of a penalty on that hole.
These are my personal views, and should be qualified as such. We’ll see what transpires between now and 1 January 2012 when the next rules changes will be put in place.