Cedric Gugler has been handed a 10-tournament suspension from the start of the new HotelPlanner Tour season for what’s described as a “reckless infringement of the rules of golf” by the European Tour Group.
Gugler was disqualified from the Raiffeisenbank Golf Challenge in the Czech Republic in June after repeated infringements on the greens.
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After his disqualification, a disciplinary panel met do discuss Gugler’s actions, where it was deemed he had committed “a serious breach of the Tour’s Code of Behaviour” which required sanctioning.
And they have come down hard on Gugler, as he’s been banned from the opening 10 tournaments of the 2026 HotelPlanner Tour.
It’s an eye-catching decision which illustrates the seriousness of the rule breaches Gugler is found to have made – with the fact he kept repeating the breach a number of times being a big factor in the length of his suspension.
The Swiss golfer will now have to sit out a huge portion of the season on the second tier circuit in European golf, and his reputation will take a big hit from being found guilty of such a transgression.
Golf is still a sport built on trust and honesty, and being found guilty of moving your ball on the greens a number of times during the same tournament goes massively against the spirit of the game.
Official statement from the European Tour group on Cedric Gugler
“The European Tour Group announced today that Cedric Gugler has been sanctioned for breaching its Code of Behaviour in a tournament on the HotelPlanner Tour.
“An Independent Disciplinary Panel, which met on November 3, 2025, found that Gugler had conducted himself in a manner that fell below the standards of behaviour and ethical conduct expected of Tour members during the first round of the Raiffeisenbank Golf Challenge at the Kaskada Golf Resort in the Czech Republic on June 12, 2025.
“He was disqualified from the tournament after playing his ball from the wrong place on putting surfaces on multiple occasions.
“The Independent Disciplinary Panel – comprising Philip Evans KC, sports administrator Ian Larsen and Legends Tour Member Markus Brier – ruled that Gugler’s conduct was a serious breach of the Tour’s Code of Behaviour by virtue of a reckless infringement of the Rules of Golf.
“Because of the serious breach, he has been suspended for the first 10 HotelPlanner Tour events of the season, beginning on January 29, 2026, the day of the Tour’s first tournament of the 2026 season, the SDC Open in South Africa.
“He will be permitted to return after the first ten events have concluded, a date which will be determined once the 2026 HotelPlanner Tour schedule has been finalised and announced.”