Golf Fore the Good

Last week, after random testing of twelve competitors at the World Amateur Team Championship in South Africa, the USGA announced the results of all samples were negative.

The NCAA has an established year round drug testing program. The latest published results (2003-2004 season) indicated no doping with regard to golf.

Opinions on whether drug testing is needed for golf are mixed. When I think “doping” and I look at the current list of NCAA banned substances (without a background in pharmaceuticals wading through the list is a bit daunting) I wonder if bigger, stronger, faster can truly help to elevate a player’s game. Granted, players do seem to be getting bigger and hitting it further but isn’t it drilled into our heads from day one that it is not about how hard we hit it but rather about tempo and swing arc and eye/hand coordination? There is no denying a power game can certainly help on today’s longer venues but if the touch isn’t there so goes the game. If golf was all about power then all the longest hitters would be cleaning up; and, in general that just isn’t so.

Beyond what we refer to today as “performance enhancing” drugs is it possible drug testing in golf will or should be rewritten to include other substances? Consider the anti-anxiety medications used to treat the following symptoms; feelings of panic or uneasiness; uncontrollable, obsessive thoughts; repeated flashbacks or thoughts of traumatic experiences; palpitations; an inability to stay calm; irregular heartbeat; the fear you are losing control. Any of these sound familiar? Has there been a player in history who hasn’t suffered from one or another of the proceeding during a clutch round? How many would give anything for a magic pill? Now won’t that open a whole other can of worms?