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For most players at the professional level, golf balls are in endless supply.
Dropped off from a nearby equipment trailer, they're rarely noticed when they splash into a pond or get tossed to a fan during the walk from green to tee. Even the faintest scratch is usually reason enough for a player to swap in a fresh ball, leading to a caddies reaching into the bag with regularity.
But that was not the case for 25-year-old Alex Chiarella, who over the weekend captured the Mackenzie Tour's Lethbridge Paradise Canyon Open with a score of 20 under par.