In the wake of baseball’s steroid scandal, and the suspension of a couple of dozen Florida State players who were scamming a music history exam, it’s refreshing to find in golf a refuge from the cheaters.

The latest golfer to join the Honesty Hall of Fame is Brandt Snedeker. At last week’s Australian Open, Snedeker found himself in the rough on the 14th, and bent over to pick up a leaf. At that moment, the ball moved. Calling over partner Nick OHearn, Snedeker called a penalty on himself and took a double bogey six on the hole. He eventually ended up at nine under—one shot behind winner Craig Parry.

“I was trying to find out if there was any weight on the ball - I didn’t even try to move the leaf and the ball just moved,” Snedeker said.

“It was clear as day, there’s no ifs and or buts about it. I wouldn’t feel right not calling it on myself in a situation like that.

“Everybody has it happen to them once in their lifetime.”

That penalty stroke cost Snedeker nearly $200,000.

Bobby Jones, of course, once famously called a penalty on himself in the 1925 US Open, in spite of the fact that he was the only one who thought that the ball had moved. When asked why—when even tournament officials said there was no infraction—he had done so, Jones replied:

“You might as well praise me for not breaking into banks. There is only one way to play this game.”

Lucky for us, that spirit still pervades golf.

There’s a terrific column on this in the Sydney Morning Herald.

GOLF GIFTS & GALLERY Santa Holiday Decor

A pair of Minnesota entrepreneurs are suing the USGA after that organization rejected their invention, accusing it of a conspiracy to keep their brainchild off the courses and off the market.

The device in question is called the Windage. Designed as a golf ball sized bulb, when pressed it blows a cloud of talc into the air, showing the golfer the direction and speed of the wind.

It’s the gadget equivalent of tossing a few blades of grass in the air—or for smokers, of blowing a puff—and watching the results. And that’s why Brian Trachsel and David Healy thought the USGA would give Windage their seal of approval.

But golf’s self-proclaimed governing body rejected the device, saying that it violates Rule 14-3(b), which prohibits artificial devices to gauge or measure conditions affecting play.

Trachsel and Healy now have taken the case to federal court, suing the USGA and “unnamed co-conspirators”.

I am of course, not a lawyer; nor did I recently sleep at a Holiday Inn Express. But it looks to me as though they have a case. The USGA has, after all, approved such things as laser range finders and GPS units, which absolutely are artificial devices that measure conditions (distance) during play. I’ll bet a jury would have a hard time drawing distinctions.

But if there are few distinctions between a GPS and the Windage, why is the one rejected? The cynic in me says that the laser finders and gps units were approved because those companies have deep pockets and could potentially have caused the USGA legal difficulties. The Windage guys are, on the other hand, relatively small potatoes. A Windage sells for just six bucks.

So now the USGA has a lawsuit on its hands. Again. They have in recent years been sued over several rulings—most recently over the Bionic Glove. That one ended in an out-of-court settlement.

And I’m betting the Windage lawsuit also will be settled out of court. The USGA doesn’t want to go to court over these issues because the potential is that it could lose the power to dictate golf equipment.

I have in the past compared the situation to the War Powers Act passed by Congress back in the 1970s. It’s never been challenged, because neither side wants to find the answer. If the President won a challenge to the Act, he would gain tremendously. And if the Congress won, the President’s power in other areas would be seriously curtailed. Neither side can afford to take a chance on losing. So they sidestep the problem by coming to an agreement every time.

I think that the same tenuous agreement exists between the manufacturers and the USGA. The USGA can’t take a chance on finding out that it doesn’t have the power to dictate equipment. And the manufacturers don’t want to find out that it does.

You can read more about the case here.

Michielle Wie apparently will skip her spring semester at Stanford and concentrate on rebuilding her LPGA resume.

Wie, who skidded badly through an embarrassing and injury-wracked 2007 season, will skip the spring semester at Stanford and play against the women in an attempt to resuscitate her once-limitless fortunes, her coach said Thursday.

“I think she just wants to reestablish herself,” said David Leadbetter, who is in the midst of a 10-day teaching session with his prized pupil. “Obviously, after such a terrible year, her biggest goal needs to be getting her form and confidence back. You do that brick by brick.

A New Zealand entrepreneur has invented a new form of golf called Golf Cross which features a football shaped ball and goal posts instead of a hole.

Due to its egg shape, the GolfCross ball flies perfectly straight when placed upright in its special rubber tee cup, essentially making a hook or slice impossible. A player can fade or draw the ball by angling it to the side or perform such unlikely maneuvers as a snake shot, which propels the ball one way in the air and the reverse on landing.

The scoring system is the same as traditional golf, though there are some different rules. For instance, a player whose ball lands in the yard—a designated area around the goal—can angle the goal opening to make his opponent’s final shot more difficult.

Inventor Burton Silver has made a career out of thinking with the right side of his brain. He’s also the author of book such as “Why Cats Paint: A Theory of Feline Aesthetics,’’ “Kokigami: The Intimate Art of the Little Paper Costume,’’ a description of Japanese paper decoration for the genitals, and `“The Naughty Victorian Hand Book: The Rediscovered Art of Erotic Hand Manipulation.’‘

Hoo boy.

The big advantage of the game is that they’re smaller, can cost as little as $100,000 and require much less maintence.

While odd, this appeals to me much more than Frisbee golf.

More in the Bloomberg News

A great Ben Hogan story (and perhaps apocryphal)

During a pro am, Ben Hogan’s partner expressed admiration for the way Hogan’s seven iron checked up on the green. Thereafter, he kept pestering The Hawk for tips on how to pull off such a shot. In his usual taciturn way, Ben ignored his partner as long as he could.

Finally, Ben asked the man how far he actually hit his seven iron. “A hundred twenty,” the amateur replied.

Ben glared at him. “Then why the hell would you want it to stop?”

If you’re still looking for a gift for a golfer, your best bet at this time is to get a gift certificate online. Here’s what I’d suggest. Figure out what you’d like to get—a box of balls, a shirt, a club—and browse an online store for prices. Then get a gift card for something close to that amount.

Here are a few of my favorite stores:

GolfSmith is my favorite golf store—both as a brick-and-mortar store, and online. I’d love to get a gift card from GolfSmith.

A close second for me to GolfSmith is Golf Galaxy. They’ve got a good selection of golf gift like bar glasses and the like. They’ve also got the Maltby Golfworks line of components and clubmaking materials

Hirekogolf.com offers an incredible variety of custom golf clubs. Most notably to me, they carry the venerable DynaCraft line of custom components. You can either order the parts, or get them made for you to your specs.

GolfLocker is a great source for golf apparel and shoes.