Martin case sets dangerous precedent

  Brian Thompson Thompson is going to
start using a golf cart now, but only because he’s too lazy
to walk. He can be reached at [email protected].

Now, I realize that this is a university newspaper with a
majority of its readers in the 18-25 age group, so few open this
paper every day looking for coverage on the sport of golf.

But on Tuesday, something significant happened in golf.
It’s something that can change the way in which not just
golf, but all sports are played.

In a case that has drawn attention outside of the sports world,
the U.S Supreme Court ruled that a disabled man, Casey Martin, is
permitted to use a golf cart while playing in PGA tournaments.

Now, before disregarding this as just something particular to
golf, consider what the court did. The court basically told the
governing body of a professional sport that it cannot create and
enforce its own rules.

First, a little background on the Martin saga. Martin, now 28,
was a member of the “dream team” at Stanford in the
mid-1990s, which included Tiger Woods. After his collegiate career,
he moved on to professional golf.

However, Martin was not able to compete at the same high level
he had grown accustomed to. This is because Martin suffers from
Klippel-Trenaunay-Weber Syndrome, a rare circulatory disorder that
has left him with a withered right leg. While he can still swing a
golf club normally, he experiences extreme pain when walking. The
pain only gets worse with time and Martin may face amputation later
in life.

But Martin still wanted to pursue a career in his profession of
choice: golf. The problem is that the PGA would not allow him to
use a golf cart to move about the course. It claims that walking
(often five to six miles per round) is an essential part of the
game. Allowing Martin use of a cart would provide him an unfair
advantage and ruin the integrity of the game.

In 1997, Martin sued the PGA. After years of appeals, the
Supreme Court ruled in his favor, allowing him to ride in a cart
while playing golf.

Sounds fair enough, right? A man has a disability. He just wants
to make it possible to pursue his career. After all, the Americans
With Disabilities Act was passed to allow just these kinds of
things to happen.

If Martin was a schoolteacher or a lawyer or had any other
normal occupation, I’d be all for it. But allowing Martin the
use of a cart, by means of a court order, sets a dangerous
precedent in sports.

There is a certain Darwinian element to sports. Only the
strongest, fastest, fittest, most skilled people are usually lucky
enough to compete in pro sports. If I were capable of hitting a
baseball like Barry Bonds or playing soccer like Michael Owen,
I’d be making millions of dollars instead of writing for this
newspaper. Having the ability to play at the top level is what
separates athletes from the rest of us.

As pro golfer Steve Pate told ESPN.com, “In sports,
everybody brings their own strengths and weaknesses to the game and
whoever can overcome their weaknesses and maximize their strengths
is going to do well. It’s maybe not fair, but I just think
it’s the way it should be.”

Certainly, it is unfortunate that Martin is disabled and
experiences such unbearable pain when walking. But under the rules
and norms of golf, he is not fit enough to compete. To play pro
golf, it is essential to walk the course. Moreover, it’s one
of the rules of the game. Walking five to six miles over four
straight days in 90-degree summer heat under extreme pressure makes
golf both physically and mentally demanding.

Being able to succeed under those conditions by producing great
shots is what makes golf a sport.

If we start changing the rules around, where is it going to
stop? How many golfers out there are going to ask for carts because
they have a bad back or a foot problem? Golfer Jose Maria Olazabal,
for example, almost had to retire due to a foot injury. Do we now
let him have a cart? Are we going to turn pro golf into country
club golf, where everyone gets beer and cigars as well?

“It’s a concern as to who is going to make the rules
and set them, and then how much leeway there is,” Marty
Parkes, USGA senior director of communication, told ESPN.com.
“If somebody had entered (a tournament) and then had sprained
an ankle and then wanted to use a cart, I don’t know what the
answer is.”

And what does this mean for other sports? Do our courts start
changing the rules for other sports? Former California Angels
pitcher Jim Abbott competed without the use of his right arm. He
had to cradle his glove on his deformed arm while pitching with his
functioning left arm. He had a severe disability yet still thrived
under the normal rules of baseball.

But what do we do for guys like Abbott now? Does he only have to
get two strikes instead of three for a strikeout? Or does he get to
stand closer to the plate when he pitches?

Sports ought to be able to set their own rules and guidelines.
Obviously, if the rules were blatantly discriminatory, the courts
should get involved. But when the rules focus on how the game is
played, it’s up to the sport itself to make and enforce the
rules.

I sympathize with Martin. People like him are role models for
those who pursue their dreams despite having all the cards stacked
against them. But allowing the courts to change the rules of a
sport is flat-out wrong.