I made my greatest contribution to the sport of golf more than 30 years ago, when I moved from Montana to the East Coast. Stop playing.

The truth is that he was a lousy golfer and was not willing to put in the time and effort to improve much. When he played on the courses in the Rocky Mountains of Montana, he paid more attention to the scenery than to the game. I approached the task of hitting a golf ball the same way I approached hitting in the minor leagues. My idea was to hit the thing as hard as I could without unduly worrying about where I was going after I hit it and then run like hell, which was necessary if I was going to track the ball and get off the field before the next sunrise. . (It never occurred to me to rent a golf cart.)

The only reason I took up golf in the first place was because, in college, I dated a girl who was a really good golfer. She grew up in a small town on the Great Plains. The golf course there was so primitive that the greens had no grass; they consisted of sand, to which oil was applied to retain the dust. After finishing putting, she was expected to use a sand smoothing tool for the next golfer. My girlfriend had still finished second in her state high school tournament, even though she had few opportunities to practice on real grass fields.

Other golfers used to stop and watch, admiring my girlfriend’s swing. At least that’s what they said they were admiring. I didn’t care about her. She could play better than almost every man we encountered, and regardless of whether it was her swing or something else that first caught her eye, viewers soon recognized her ability.

I thought the novelty and chauvinism towards young female golfers wore off a long time ago, sometime between my college girlfriend and Michelle Wie. Then I started reading that high school athletic officials in Idaho are considering dropping Sierra Harr from the Castleford High School men’s golf team.

Harr, a junior, helped the team win a state championship last season. She finished seventh overall in the men’s tournament, having won the women’s state title a year earlier. Not enough girls came to golf to allow Castleford to field a team last season, so Harr’s only options were to play individually or join the boys’ team.

Federal law has required schools to provide equal sports opportunities for boys and girls for the past 40 years. While this does not require schools to offer both genders a team for every sport, it does put the onus on schools to find ways to accommodate students who want to play a sport that is not offered for their gender. Usually this means allowing girls to play with boys when it is impractical to form an all-girls team.

In Broward County, Florida, 17-year-old Erin DiMeglio has taken a few snaps at quarterback this season for South Plantation High School, a formidable team that includes, and is up against, players destined for Division I varsity teams. I. While she is apparently the first female quarterback to play for a Florida high school, The Associated Press has estimated that more than 500 girls have been on the grid at other positions.

DiMeglio, who is a college basketball prospect, is only the team’s third quarterback and is likely to see limited action. This is understandably a relief to her parents, who have good reason to worry that her daughter will be fired by rival players much bigger than her. But DiMeglio has the support and acceptance of his teammates and the enthusiastic support of the team’s fans, who yelled at his coach to put her in the season-opening game against rival Nova. (She did, by two running plays.)

If fellow players accept girls on boys’ teams and fans accept them, why do some Idaho sports officials seem to have a problem with that?

It could be anachronistic sexism, I guess, the kind that still can’t allow a woman to be able or should be allowed to compete athletically with men. The kind that could still look at a woman’s performance and see the woman instead of the performance. Maybe that’s the answer, but I doubt it.

I suspect that the objections stem from a misplaced definition of what is “fair.” Under this logic, it is not fair that a girl can compete in a boys’ team in sports while we would not accept the presence of a boy in a girls’ team.

But what the players and the public understand, even if the coaches and school officials don’t, is that the girl does not have an unfair advantage when playing with the boys, while the reverse is not necessarily true. Nature endowed children, in general, with greater size and greater strength. Most girls have to make up for these disadvantages with skill, coordination, practice, and determination. There is nothing unfair about Erin DiMeglio playing soccer with her male schoolmates, or Sierra Harr playing golf with hers.

Perhaps one day a strange situation will arise in a place like Idaho, where a school has enough girls interested in golf to make a team, but not enough boys. If that happens and a boy wants to play for the girls’ team, the correct answer might be to say yes. If not, there are alternatives, such as fielding combined teams of children from multiple schools.

Harr reports that she, like DiMeglio, has found acceptance from her male peers. “The boys on my team treated me as an equal,” he wrote to Idaho school officials, “and if any of my competitors disapproved of me playing golf with the boys, they were kind enough to keep their opinions to themselves and treated me with respect.” respect. The only negative reactions I received were from some rival coaches.” (one)

I am reaching a point in life where I am considering taking up golf again, this time with my wife. It would be nice to spend time with her outside, enjoying the scenery while we chase that little white ball. I go out to Idaho from time to time. One day I might even find myself on a golf course with Sierra Harr.

She seems like a very nice young lady, so I’m sure she’ll be patient with me until I can let her play. She knows better than anyone that a lot of guys just can’t keep up with the girls on the field.

Source:

1) Yahoo! News, “Idaho golfer struggles to play with kids”