Golf, to its own detriment, has historically been the sport (or activity, depending on who you ask) of white, affluent men.
But it is fast becoming recognized for its value as a sport, and it is just as quickly transforming into a global phenomenon for more and more people of diverse backgrounds.
Golf requires accuracy, precision, physical strength and conditioning and the mental activity and toughness to overcome your most recent failure.
The recognition of this skill set is why the International Olympic Committee has returned golf to its rightful place among Olympic sports as of the 2016 Rio De Janeiro Games. This will be the first Olympic golf event since 1904.
And as it gains recognition as a sport, golf gains popularity on a global stage.
The Masters, played this weekend and won by Adam Scott, is a perfect example of the new international nature of golf. Scott is from Adelaide, Australia. This was his first major championship and he became the first ever Australian Masters winner. 2009 champion Angel Cabrera, who lost on Sunday in a two-hole playoff as gracefully as anyone could, is from Argentina. The rest of the top ten was rounded out by three Americans, two more Australians, a Dane, a Spaniard and a Briton.
The crowd outside the top ten was even more diverse. 14-year-old Guan Tianlang of China, the youngest golfer to ever play in the tournament and youngest to ever make the cut in a major championship, spent his first two rounds in a group with 61-year-old Texan Ben Crenshaw.
Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., host of the Masters, has historically been a symbol of the elitist side of golf. It is a private golf club, which means that the very rich, powerful and exclusive membership gets to select whom they allow to join.
For instance, Augusta did not have a female member until 2012, when former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and highly successful businesswoman Darla Moore were accepted. The club also did not have a black member until 1990.
Excitingly, while Augusta only enters the 20th century, golf enters the 21st. The PGA of America, the success of the professional tours and initiatives like The First Tee that are aimed toward involving kids in golf have made the sport more appealing and accessible to a wider range of people, which will in turn fuel better competition and better athletes playing the game.
Almost as exciting as the future of golf was this year’s Masters itself. It had all the makings of a good story, including the heartbreak and triumph of the sudden-death playoff and some good, old-fashioned controversy.
The controversy arose after the second round. Tiger Woods, three-time winner already this year and heavy favorite entering the tournament, hit an excellent wedge shot into the 15th green. The result was not so excellent, however, as the ball hit the flagstick and kicked back into the water guarding the front of the green. Woods, forced to take a drop, did so two yards behind the spot of his original shot.
Though not aware he was breaking the rules, this was an illegal drop
After his round was already completed, the circumstances of the drop came to light and he was assessed a two-stroke penalty, which meant he had submitted an incorrect scorecard.
The poor practitioner of that infraction used to be immediately and indiscriminately disqualified until rule 33-7 was created in 2011. This allows tournament officials the power under “extraordinary circumstances” to retroactively penalize a player without disqualifying him. This rule was exercised before the beginning of the third round, meaning Woods had the penalty added to his score while being allowed to finish the tournament.
It was widely suggested that Woods should in fact have been disqualified. But golf continues to prove it is making an effort to become less rigid and more fun, whether that is by finally progressing in its inclusion practices or by relaxing its sometimes-Draconian rules.
Tim Carroll
Sports Contributor