Golf teaches life lessons
The ride home from Windy Knoll Golf Course was such an emotional one for the Tippecanoe boys golf team.
The Red Devils had left the course having qualified for this week's district tournament at Pipestone with a fourth place finish, taking the final spot among the qualifiers. Then reality struck.
The team had noticed one of the scores was incorrect on the scorecard, and it did not match up with what was online, where a Tipp golfer had reported a six when he indeed shot a seven on that hole.
Due to the clerical error, the Red Devils made the decision to self-report the honest mistake, which would disqualify that golfers score. Due to the stroke penalty, Tipp dropped into fifth place overall and gave up their spot in the districts. Max Gustavson did still qualify as an individual, but Tipp coach Aaron Jackson had to make the calls to report the error and end his team's run in the postseason.
Ironically, this incident exemplifies the whole purpose of high school sports, learning life lessons and dealing with adversity. Jackson was very proud of the decision his team made to accept the error, and not one single golfer refused to accept the responsibility.
“We got in the van and the teammates called everyone out,” Jackson said. “If you report a lower score than you had on a single hole, the rules of golf say it was a disqualification. The kids knew that we had to step up and do what was right and disqualify ourselves even though it was going to cost us a trip to districts.”
“It was very honorable for the guys to do that and do the right thing. You are never wrong for doing what is right.”
The crazy thing is that nobody would have caught the error, and if the Tipp players had stayed quiet about it, they would have advanced to districts. But the right thing to do was to report it, and this group made the easy call, making Jackson really proud of their decision.
“The game of golf is built on integrity, and the tournament director called me twice and said how impressed he was that the kids called themselves out and reported it. We did what was right, and Troy got in.”
*The Tipp girls golf team advanced to the Division One district tournament by finishing second in a 14-team field at Echo Hills September 18. Tipp shot 372 with the following scores: Ella Berning 75, Kylee Schreiner 91, Bristol Kovaleski 103, Mya Schreiner 104, Ava Hanrahan 103. Districts were held at Pipestone Golf Course in Miamisburg on October 7th.
