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.

Congratulations are in order for former President George H.W. Bush, who will receive the USGA’s Bob Jones Award in February. It’s given for distinguished sportsmanship in golf, and for emulating the golf attitude and spirit of Bob Jones.

“I’m very flattered to receive this award,” Bush said in a statement. “Golf has meant a lot to me. It means friendship, integrity and character. I grew up in a family that was lucky enough to have golf at the heart of it for a while. My father was a scratch player and my mother also was a good golfer. It’s a very special game.”

In addition to politics, the Bush family has a distinguished history in golf. George H.W. Bush’ grandfather, George Herbert Walker inspired the Walker Cup, and was president of the USGA in 1920. His father, Prescott Bush was USGA president in 1935.

Bush joins Bing Crosby and Bob Hope as the only non players to be given the award.

Bush will be honored Feb. 9 at the USGA’s annual meeting in Houston.

A retired couple in Virginia recently completed their quest to play golf in all 50 states.

What a neat idea!

Patriot Golf Day was a huge success:

The inaugural Patriot Golf Day (Sept 1, 2007), inspired by Capt. Dan Rooney, a PGA Professional and USGA member from Broken Arrow, Okla., has resulted in donations of more than $1.1 million to support the families of veterans who have been injured or perished in the line of duty in Iraq or Afghanistan.

The nationwide campaign, conducted Sept. 1, was originated by Rooney, founder of the Fallen Heroes Foundation. Patriot Golf Day is jointly supported by The PGA of America and the USGA. This past year, contributions were received from more than 3,200 golf facilities nationwide. On Patriot Golf Day, golfers at public facilities added an extra dollar to their greens fee, and private facilities asked for donations.

Patriot Golf Day will be renewed in 2008 during Labor Day weekend, Aug. 29—Sept. 1, before Rooney reports in the fall for his third tour of Iraq as an F-16 pilot in the 125th Fighter Squadron of the Oklahoma Air National Guard.

Read More Here

A word of warning to people buying golf equipment over the internet: if the price is too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true. A San Diego man recently pleaded guilty to selling fake Callaways over the internet. He apparently had done more than $500,000 in business, and police seized another $1 million in inventory from his home.

Orange County sheriff’s investigators raided a warehouse in San Clemente on Oct. 31, 2006, netting an estimated $1 million in bogus goods including clubs, golf bags and other items marked with such names of Carlsbad-based Callaway,Titleist, and Cleveland golfing equipment that did not carry serial numbers that would attest to their authenticity, said sheriff’s spokesman Jim Amormino.

A ``Big Bertha’’ Callaway golf club that would normally sell for $400 or more was offered on eBay for $200 to $300, Amormino said.

The goods did not seem to be inherently substandard, and investigators have not received any complaints from people who bought them, he said.

Law enforcement was tipped off by a Callaway golf executive who noticed the clubs were priced below wholesale, Amormino said.

If they’re selling as “new” for half the price of a brick-and-mortar shop’s retail, you have to be suspicious.

What I find really interesting is that the man had not gotten any complaints about his clubs. But maybe that’s not surprising, considering that China makes the clubs for most of the major companies. Chinese forgers would have ample opportunity to measure and de-engineer name brand clubs and then make their own.

If the golf companies would make their clubs in the US, perhaps they wouldn’t have so much trouble with knock offs.

Normally, the guy who finishes 23rd in a tournament doesn’t make the news. But in this case, Bob Charles’ finish at the New Zealand Open simply is amazing.

Sir Robert James Charles (he was knighted in 1999) is 71 and was playing on the 53rd anniversary of the first of his four New Zealand Open victories.  He first won the event in 1953 as an eighteen-year-old phenom. The last of his NZ Open Championships was in 1973.

A sports hero in New Zealand, the lefty won 66 tournaments in his career, including the 1963 British Open. He tied for second in the 1968 PGA, and third in the 1964 US Open. He won six PGA Tour events; the remainder were Asian, European and Champions Tour events.

When he made the cut at the New Zealand Open, he became the oldest to do so on the European Tour.

Charles had retired from the New Zealand Open in 2004, but agreed to play this year to honor the event’s 100th anniversary.

I’m glad he did.

Phil Mickelson says that if golf is added as an Olympic sport it should be for amateurs

“The earliest it would be in the Olympics is 2016, the absolute earliest possible,” he added. “Hopefully I’ll still be playing and maybe have a chance but I think it would be better if it was for amateur golfers as opposed to professional.