Golf builds character and sportsmanship…

On June 25-18, 2023, the US OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP will be played at the Los Angeles Country Club. It is the annual “open” national championship in the United States. The first US OPEN was played on October 4,1895 on a nine-hole course at the Newport Country Club in Newport, Rhode Island. It was a 36-hole tournament and was played in one day. Only 10 professionals and one amateur were entered . The winner was a 21 year old Englishmen by the name of Horace Rawlins who had arrived in the US earlier that year to accept a position at the country club. He won $150 in cash out of a total purse of $335. Since 1898 the competition has been 72 holes of “stroke play”. It is staged and managed by the United States Golf Association (USGA). The US OPEN is open to any professional, or to any amateur with a USGA handicap index not exceeding 1.4. That means that if you can’t shoot…even par or under…about 50% of the time, you will probably never get the opportunity to play in the event, unless you become exempt by winning or coming in runner-up in one of several prestigious amateur tournaments the previous year or the current year. The exemptions for amateurs apply only if the players remain amateurs as of the tournament date, except for the US Amateur Champion. The USGA conducts 109 qualifying sites in 44 U.S. states and Canada.

I enjoyed watching golf on TV in my twenty’s and thirty’s, but when it was time for the US OPEN, it was more like the Super Bowl for me. The fact that both golf professionals and amateurs played in the same tournament, was absolutely captivating. I couldn’t get enough of it and I often thought about playing in one…so I could say I did. I guess it just wasn’t meant to be. By the time I started playing “serious” competitive golf, I was already too old to compete with, shall we say, the more youthful “skilled” amateur golfers in their twenty’s and thirty’s. I was 42 years old before I won my first golf tournament and and I remember how excited I was when my name was announced as the winner. I was presented with a “green jacket”, (that I still possess), a $250 gift certificate and I was asked to speak to about 250 people, including the participants and their significant other. It was the beginning of a wonderful journey for me as an amateur golfer.

The only USGA amateur championship I attempted to play in was the Mid-Amateur Championship for golfers from 25-49 years of age, back then. I always regret not attempting to qualify for the US OPEN and attempting to break a course record. I heard about another golfer who did shoot a course record 62, but the final outcome was not what you would expect…

One of the qualifying sites for this years US OPEN was played at the Illini Country Club in Springfield, Illinois last week. A fifth-year University of Illinois golfer, Tommy Kuhl, posted a course setting record of 62. This is truly remarkable. Unfortunately, Kohl’s goal of playing in a US OPEN will have to wait another year before attempting to qualify again. The qualifier at Illini Country Club was played with the greens that were “aerated” and Tommy repaired several aeration marks during his round. The USGA Rules of Golf allow for players to repair “almost” any damage on the green, (Rule 13.1c(2)). That rule does permit players to repair aeration marks, unless, “local rules are enacted”. Kuhl said, he was reminded of the rule by a teammate at the event and subsequently reported the violation to a USGA rules official. “I felt sick to my stomach after realizing I committed a violation”, Kuhl said. I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I didn’t tell the rules official. I should know better. It comes down to me. I should know that rule. Khul was having another interview with the Golf Channel when he said, “I tell people it’s all on me. It’s not the tournament directors fault or the people running the tournament or the course or superintendent. It’s all on me. I should know the Rules of Golf. Yeah, the rules are pretty silly at times, but I should know the rules”.

Congratulations to Tommy Kuhl for his record setting score of 62 in a USGA qualifier for the 2023 US OPEN, but, more importantly, his self-reporting of the violation to the USGA rules official. Fifty years from now Tommy Kuhl will be known more for his character and sportsmanship by self-reporting his violation than his 62.

“For when the one great scorer comes to mark against your name, he marks not that you won or lost, but how you played the game”. Grantland Rice