VANCOUVER — The saucer pass, an unusual chip shot invented by Abbotsford’s James Lepp and featured on last’s fall’s Big Break reality TV series, has been ruled illegal by golf’s governing bodies.

Dale Jackson, who chairs Golf Canada’s rules committee, said the shot was ruled to be non-conforming at a recent meeting of the joint rules committee of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club, the United States Golf Association and Golf Canada.

“The rule that would be breached is Rule 14-1 that says in part the club can’t be pushed, spooned and scraped,” Jackson said. “Pushed and spooned don’t apply here, but scraped here basically means you are intentionally dragging or pulling the club along the ground before it hits the ball, which is what he does.”

Lepp’s saucer shot is a hybrid of sorts, part hockey snap shot and part golf chip shot. Lepp, a former NCAA champion and multiple B.C. Amateur and Canadian Tour winner, came up with the shot to combat the occasional yips he was suffering when chipping off tight lies near the green.

He used it with considerable success on last fall’s Big Break series on Golf Channel and Lepp has videos of the shot posted on his website for Kikkor Golf, the shoe and apparel company he owns and operates.

Jackson said Golf Canada initially thought the shot was legal.

“We had dealt with the issue in Canada when James did his demonstration videos on his website and we felt it was a conforming stroke at that time,” Jackson said. “We (Golf Canada) had discussed it among ourselves but had not communicated with James about it. We were never asked for a formal opinion on it, but we are rules people so we talk about this stuff. That was our view.

“But when he did it on the Big Break the USGA got a bunch of calls and they came to a different conclusion and as a result of that the powers that be, the R&A, the USGA and Golf Canada, who all sit on the joint rules committee, considered it and viewed it as non-conforming.”

That committee meets twice a year and is comprised of three USGA officials, three from the R&A and one Golf Canada representative.

Lepp has occasionally used the shot in competition. He moves his right hand down the shaft of the club and holds it more like a hockey stick than a golf club. During the swing, the club never leaves the ground. For short chips, he grounds the club about 18 inches behind the ball and slides it along the grass. The motion is similar to a wrist shot in hockey, which Lepp has played recreationally for years.

Jackson said he hoped to speak with Lepp soon about the ruling.

“I anticipate he won’t be entirely pleased about this,” he said.

Contacted by The Vancouver Sun, Lepp declined to comment until he had received official word and an explanation of the ruling.

But in an interview late last year, Lepp was convinced that his saucer shot was legal.

“It’s a legal strike,” Lepp said. “The ball is not on the face of the club like it would be on a scoop.”

bziemer@vancouversun.com

Twitter.com/bradziemer