Golf: the good and bad

Thanks to Chris Henry's blog at EagleParBirdie for this post. Over two articles Henry highlights a disruptive influence creeping its way into golf and "two figures who maintain their heroic stature."

The first centres around a story on the antics of John Daly at the recent PODS Championship. The Tampa Tribune told how the American, after he had failed to make the cut for the event, hung out at a Hooters bar by the 17th hole.

Reporters covering the event described this area of the course as "raucous", understandably as it is believed the bar served unlimited wings, beer and parking for $69!

This leads to Henry expressing concern as to the present conduct of the watching galleries at US golf events: "Aren't tailgate parties meant for parking lots rather than golf tournaments?"

Golf, of course, has always been seen as a civilised and highly skilled sport and so rowdy spectators plied with beer can hardly be seen as welcome. With atmospheres "akin to a stag party" the real spectators who genuinely come to watch and learn from the pros at first hand are losing out.

Henry sums up the problem: "Now, golf tournaments are beginning to attract people who couldn't give a s***t about golf but are coming out because they can get free wings, beer and hooters all day."

Henry counteracts this with a posted article on the great work done for the underprivileged by Tiger Woods and Ernie Els. Despite some players offering nothing back to the game that has served them so well, these two leading players have set up organisations which "offer under-privileged kids the opportunity to learn a game while [also] developing as human beings."

The Tiger Woods Foundation and the Ernie Els and Fancourt Foundation, Henry argues, show that two of golf's most prominent figures are willing to leverage their talent "for leadership in a way that empowers lives."

These two articles both reflect on the morality of golf as a sport, much more than would ever be seen on mainstream sports news sites.