Golf: Bad behaviour never acceptable, but youngsters don't deserve big stick

Why are Kiwis such a punitive lot? From the rather inaptly named Sensible Sentencing Trust to the "ban 'em for life" brigade that inhabit planet talkback, every time someone steps out of line or makes a misjudgement we want them hung, drawn and quartered.

You'd have thought in a country with such a proud history of egalitarianism and of the welfare state, we'd have a more compassionate tendency. In sport, this manifests itself in our desire to censure any player who crosses the line.

The catch is, of course, that the line is ever-changing. When we are suffering at the hands of one of our rugby foes, the calls inevitably go out for a change in attitude. We need to bring back the "mongrel" to assert our dominance. Of course when our "hard man" gets himself sent off and/or banned, he becomes the "idiot who cost our team the game". He then faces calls to be dispatched into the wilderness to serve a lifetime penance.

In golf, many of our media analysts have been demanding sterner treatment of our so-called wayward youth. Three of our top amateurs have recently been disciplined for conduct considered unbecoming of a New Zealand representative. Their treatment by NZ Golf's officialdom was allegedly of the slap on the wrist variety. Drunken behaviour, a bad technique for tooth brushing or bad language on the course must be met with an iron fist if "standards" are to be maintained, say the naysayers. Today's youth just don't seem to have the necessary respect for either their elders or the traditions of the game.

Thank goodness for a little bit of disrespect. If each generation didn't routinely disregard a number of traditions, we'd still live in a golfing world where some of the most highly regarded clubs practise flagrant racism, where men and women are segregated and "professionals" are regarded as second class citizens and forbidden from joining (oops - I guess that's still an accurate description of a number of "traditional" golf clubs).

I am not for a moment advocating either drunken behaviour or doubtful toothbrush etiquette, but I'll stop short of condemning swearing on the course because I think it should, on occasion, be mandatory. It just seems to me that indignation and moral outrage come a bit too easily to some.

I'll have to disagree with some of my esteemed fellow columnists and suggest that NZ Golf handled things pretty well. Any more draconian action would have resulted in two of our three leading youngsters missing their (perhaps) one and only opportunity to represent their country in the World Amateur Championship. Surely that would have been an over-reaction: an attempt to satisfy the high and mighty rather than any sense of reasonable and appropriate justice.

I personally like the idea of players being more expressive, showing us more of themselves. But if this is to be championed, we need to stop being so judgmental when the boundaries are misjudged. Can we really expect more control on one hand and less on the other? The recent admittedly inappropriate behaviour of some our leading amateur players smacks more of juvenility than anything and, given that they are teenagers, should hardly come as a great surprise.

On a more positive note, it was good to see the re-emergence of Philip Tataurangi in last week's Australian Open. His scoring was less than inspiring but that was hardly surprising given the appalling run of injuries he's had.

For one relatively young, Philip's continuing battle with fitness must be a real concern. Never a player constrained by consistency, he has proved himself capable of competing with, and beating, the best. To do so on an interrupted schedule will get harder, and we can only hope he will enjoy a prolonged period of physical stability to bed in his true game.