SAMSUN, TURKEY - APRIL 26: Clement Berardo of France tees off on the 10th hole during Day Two of Turkish Airlines Challenge at Samsun Golf Club on April 26, 2019 in Samsun, Turkey. (Photo by Luke Walker/Getty Images)

Challenge Tour player disqualified after running out of balls

Challenge Tour player Clement Berardo suffered the ultimate ignominy of being disqualified from a tournament after he ran out of golf balls.

The 32-year-old Frenchman was unable to complete his first round after losing the last ball in his bag on the 16th hole at the Andalucia-Costa del Sol Match Play 9 event.

Berardo began with a quadruple-bogey nine on the first hole at Valle Romano, before bogeying the sixth and eighth to hit the turn in 41. He then double-bogeyed the 10th and dropped further shots at 14 and 15 to take his score to ten over par.

Berardo, who had missed the cut in his last four starts, and is currently ranked 1,909th in the world, finally ran out of balls on the par-five 16th. With his playing partners barred from lending him any of theirs, and no time to go back to the clubhouse pro shop to restock, he was disqualified by tour officials.