Luke Smith, 20, of Covington, Tennessee, United States has been arrested by the Newton Police Department. He was charged with one count of misdemeanor battery.
Smith is a sophomore at the University of Tennessee-Martin in Martin, Tennessee and a member of the university’s men’s golf team. When he played at the Sand Creek Station Golf Course in Newton, Kansas, USA on June 14, 2021, he was paired with Austen Dailey, 31, of Westminster, California, USA and Derek Fribbs, 30, of Thornton, Colorado, USA.
It was a qualifying event for Wichita Open on the Korn Ferry Tour, which will be held at the Crestview Country Club in Wichita, Kansas from June 17-20, 2021. Smith’s caddie was his father Oliver Smith, 49, the founder and president of Capital Prime in Memphis, Tennessee.
Luke and Oliver refused to help Dailey look for their lost balls in the rough, which caused the group to fall two holes behind the group playing in front of them. While Dailey and Fribbs were looking for a ball in the left rough on the No. 7 hole, Luke hit his ball onto the green.
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Fribbs told The Wichita Eagle that Luke and Oliver did not replace the pin in the hole on some greens. According to Fribbs, Dailey told Luke and Oliver, “If we could get some help looking for balls and get a flag stick every once in a while, maybe we could catch up.”
Oliver berated Dailey and said that Luke was not there to babysit or look for golf balls. Fribbs said Oliver was the one who escalated the situation and Luke was the one who fought.
The fight started when Fribbs was already on the No. 8 tee box. When Luke punched Dailey, tackled him and held him down, Fribbs tried to break up the fight but Oliver grabbed Luke’s putter and waved it at Fribbs, according to The Fire Pit Collective.
Dailey later pressed charges. Luke was arrested and booked into Harvey County Jail in Newton.
CONAN Daily 