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Posted on 09/21/2008 7:10:07 PM PDT by Doc Savage
I have been playing golf now for 50 years. I have played all over America, in several European countries, and South America. I started as a caddy at the Chicago Golf Club in Wheaton, Illinois, one of the five founding members of the USGA, and the site of the 2005 Walker Cup that Anthony Kim and J.B.Holmes were teammates - and I attended.
I've played at many of the finest private and public course in the U.S. I have been a lifelong member of the USGA, and attended many regular and championship tournaments. I have followed the greats of golf in galleries. I play often and always try to improve.
My grandfather taught me the game of golf. I learned the rules and etiquette of golf at an early age and have always tried to uphold the traditions and proper code of behavior I learned as a young man.
But I have seen the effect money and television have had on the game and I can't say I like it or appreciate it. Especially the advent of the boisterous, drunken fan behavior that has diminished the classical nature and politeness of the game.
There was time when excellent play was rewarded by polite applause; when knowledgeable fans enjoyed the strategic points of the game and how it was played.
The fans are now allowed to dress in outlandish costumes that mock propr dress and decorum. They shout boorish, nasty insults at foreign players in some insanely misguided attempt to intimidate them; they call playersand their families in the middle of the night to harrass them.
Somewhere along the line it has all gone quite wrong. Perhaps it was when John Daley won the PGA Championship while smoking, drinking, cursing and divorcing his wife, Now it appears that near illiterate country bumpkins are the exalted behaviour templates as they suck up their massive guts overhanging their belts and spit copius amounts of 'Chawin' tabacky' at the ground.
How classy to see some fat mentally-challenged golfer riding his driver like a horse off the first tee and slapping his bulbous ass screaming 'Wahoo!"
Allowing this type of flagrant and demeaning behavior and encouraging the same has brought this game down to level of an NFL football game. I suspect the next Ryder Cup will precipitate brawls both behind the ropes and in the ropes. The civility that Tom Morris once played by is long since gone. And once innocence has been lost, it cannot be regained through any measure.
As for me I will continue to applaud politely, move away from the drunks and ruffians as best I can navigate, and attempt to enjoy the game from a strategic perspective. As for the lot of you I expect to see you dressed outlandishly, drunk in your cups, belching screaming, harassing, demeaning, and belittling foreigh competitors.
I frankly wouldn't blame them if they did not want to return, One sufferes enough abuse on a daily basis. Adding to it is pain beyond pain!
I felt ashamed for the game and for the polite fans who love the game as they watch Boo Weekly gallop on his driver down the first fairway whoopinhg and hollering like a 4 year old.
Chants of USA are inappropriate while the other contestant is still on the green attempting to putt out' ==yet they persist and annoy.
There is no place in the classical game of golf for drunken excess leading to bad behavior. The goal of all Liberalism is to reduce our lives, our icons, our mores, our ethics and our common behavior to the lowest possible level. Placing poorly educated, grossly overweight country bumpkins on the American team contrasts quite well to a superbly fit European squad. Only "The Mechanic" who at 44 suffers from a 'Barrel Chested physique has slipped a bit.
Drunken, rowdy, even criminal behavior must be met with maximum force and severe penalties. Captain Azinger, with his constant exhortations to the crowd gave them license to step over the line of proper behavior.
I have always cheered (politely of course) a well played shot by the opposition; being quiet and respectful of his desire to focus and play well.
I watched the European press conference and to a man they were gracious in defeat and complimented the play of the America team. The hatred directed at Mr. Westwood was intolerable and obnoxious. He is a fine player who was trying to win for his team and was quite rightly upset and irritated by the outlandish behavior of animalistic 'fans" egged on by Mr. Weekly's poor behavior
I blame Happy Gilmore...was he playing this weekend?
if it is in new york then that’s what they do.......
Dear salty, this will interest you :)
Golf Ping
“some fat mentally-challenged golfer “
Sir,
The man’s name is Boo Weekly. For you to refer to his as anything other than that would indicate the you are intimately familiar with him or you are engaging in the same behavior as the people that you are criticizing.
Your points are well taken; however, the only concern that you should have is your behavior.
“My grandfather taught me the game of golf. I learned the rules and etiquette of golf at an early age and have always tried to uphold the traditions and proper code of behavior I learned as a young man.”
I learned golf on my own and I believe it to be a sport intended for gentlemen and that does not mean one is rich.
Golf is a thinking man’s sport that challenges the mind and body and it has ironies like life.
One can do every thing right on a hole and still take a double bogey.
It’s a sign of the times...
The days of the great Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Byron Nelson, Arnold Palmer, Billy Casper andi the Great Jack Nicklaus are gone.
Tiger Woods I love and he is great for the game.
I only wish he would put more emphasis on the style and grace of the game.
I Like your article and I always go for it if I get a chance.
You only live once.
““When a defining moment comes along, either you define the moment or the moment defines you.”
Tin Cup
I am also disgusted with the way golf audience members are behaving.
Only watched the last hour of the Ryder Cup and was amazed at the boisterous activity amongst the American team of golfers. I have watched the Ryders for year’s and I don’t remember so much hoopla from the team. I like Paul Azinger a lot but to take a victory lap was over the top.
Congrats to the USA team, they did a fine job.
I hope you don’t drown in the next rainstorm since your nose is so far up in the air!
Fans never behaved like this in 1913,when Frances Ouimet won the U.S. Open,or in 1930, when Bobby Jones won the Grand Slam;)
“Placing poorly educated, grossly overweight country bumpkins on the American team contrasts quite well to a superbly fit European squad.”
Absolutely. 16 1/2 to 11 1/2.
I watched the entire Ryder Cup and found it exciting and compelling. The fans added to [not detracted from] the event. It is time for these elitist sports like tennis and golf to become part of the real world. I have no problem with the display of nationalism. It is, after all, the American team we are rooting for.
Boo Weakly is a character. There are people close to the US team who think that aside from the points that he won, his greatest contribution was the fact his off beat sense of humor kept the team loose. If that helped us to a win, I am all for it.
Regarding physical fitness, I would point out that few tour players took fitness seriously until Tiger came along. I would remind you that the American with the most Ryder Cup points in history is Billy Casper and he was also never accused of being fit. I also recall another somewhat over weight young pro came on the tour in the 60’s who did quite well. Matter of fact his body shape was very similar to Boo Weakly. Do you remember a young Jack Nicklaus?
Is it Boo’s antics that bother you or his poor old Alabama country boy act that gets on your nerves? The one thing I know for sure is that he’ got game!
I never understood why golfers need absolute silence to hit a ball that is standing still, while a baseball player has 50,000 fans scrwaming at him while he tries to hit a ball moving at 90+ mph.
What is this all about? Who is this guy Ryder? This is week 3 of the NFL season, people. And the whiner who wrote the article spells like a foreigner. Who cares what he thinks?
Email me if you want on the Golf Ping List:
Visit PGA.com, an excellent site.
In the words of Herm Edwards, "you play to win the game." Lee Westwood, who was Weekley's playing partner, had already indicated that he was troubled by Weekley's behavior and, in fact, seemed to be affected during Friday's play. Weekley was playing the moment to his advantage.
In John McEnroe's book, he indicated that lots of his tantrums and shouting matches on the court were staged as a way to disrupt his opponent and get them outside their comfort zone. Weekley's behavior was more of the same.
But you're way off base on the weight/shape issue. As JonH alluded to, Nicklaus wasn't nicknamed "Fat Jack" in his early years for nothing. And Billy Casper was even fatter than Jack. Would you have kept those guys off the Ryder Cup teams in the '60s? I'd imagine not. Yet both of these legends were fatter than any "grossly overweight" (your inaccurate words) player on our '08 RC Team.
And it case it's passed your notice, the Euros have had their fair share of fat players in recent history as well. ...most notably, (RC legend) Colin Montgomerie and Darren Clarke. So don't pretend out-of-shape pro golfers are purely an American phenomenon.
I watched the European press conference and to a man they were gracious in defeat and complimented the play of the America team.
Yeah, so? American RC players were similarly gracious and respectful in defeat in '06, '04, and '02. Again, you appear to be suggesting that these qualities are possessed only by the Euros. Strange.
As for Weekly's on-course behavior, well, he's a character all right. But is Boo's riding his club down the fairway (which he only did once, incidentally) really that much different than Chi Chi Rodriquez wielding his putter like a sword after making a long putt? And Chi Chi was doing that bit in the '60s. Point is there have always been characters on the PGA tour.
....just as there have always been Stuffed Shirts.
Sergio got hammered by Anthony Kim on Sunday. Kim was having so much fun thrashing the little price that Anthony did not realize he had won the match. He was on his way to the next tee to continue the thrashing. I was hoping some of the American fans would have picked up on the European chant. Something like "No way, no wayyyyyy. No way this south in Dixie."
Yep, Sergio was screaming at the top of his lungs and the Euro fans in the crowd were singing and carrying on as if they were at a soccer match. But that of course flies in the face of the popular conception (apparently shared by Doc Savage) that European golfers and their fans are as a rule cultured, polite, and respectful. ....compared to those “drunk, boorish, boisterous, poorly educated, country bumpkin” Americans, at least.
Watching A. Kim thoroughly kick Sergio’s posterior yesterday was the highlight of the tourney for me. ....along with watching that wanker Faldo stammer, stutter, and attempt to hold back tears of grief and embarrassment in his post-tourney interview.
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