Time for the PGA Tour to Shut the Door on Golf Cart Exemptions

On Tuesday October 21st Erik Compton will join dozens of professional golfers at Crandon Golf Club in Key Biscayne, Florida for the opening round of the PGA Tour's Qualifying School, commonly referred to as Q-School. For four days the men will grind out every pitch and putt in one of the most pressurized environments in professional golf. Compton will be the only player allowed use of a golf cart.

In May the 28-year-old Compton underwent the second heart transplant surgery of his young life. Last October he suffered a near fatal heart attack while fishing, a setback that indicated the 16-year-old heart he received at age 12 needed to be replaced. 

The former Georgia All-American and past winner on the Canadian and Hooters Tours has given every indication that he'll work his way back into shape and regain the strength he lost during his operation, making it unnecessary for him to use a golf cart. But right now, he isn't strong enough to compete while walking the course.

Of course this isn't the first time the PGA Tour has dealt with this kind of scenario. Casey Martin, who suffers from a degenerative leg ailment, took his case all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States and was eventually granted the right to use a golf cart in PGA Tour events after the Tour revoked his right to do so. While Martin's situation is a long-term condition, it's expected that Compton will eventually become healthy enough to play without the use of a cart.

This situation hasn't created nearly as many headlines and the PGA Tour wants it that way. Tour officials granted Compton the use of a cart without much consternation. Members of the media and posters on various message boards have called this a "non-issue", mainly because Compton has yet to advance through the first stage of Q-school, let alone earn his Tour card.

It's conceivable that the Tour has granted Compton this exemption because officials don't believe he'll be able to qualify. Not that they're rooting against the young man, but it's much easier to grant him an exception to the rules now and look like good Samaritans rather than deny him the privilege and create a public relations nightmare before it becomes an issue. In the wake of the LPGA's public relations blunder centered on a mandatory English language policy, the PGA Tour is content to take an "If a tree falls in the woods" approach to this situation. But if Compton advances out of the first round of Q-School and takes another player's spot, won't the damage already have been done?

Last year Kevin Streelman barely survived the first round on the number and wound up finishing 35^th in the FedEx Cup Standings. Now I understand that Compton has overcome more adversity in his life than most of us will ever encounter and we should all be rooting for him to succeed, but not at the expense of the game's integrity and its rules.

In the 2001 Supreme Court decision that granted Martin the use of a cart in tournaments, the court ruled that federal law requires a leveling of the playing field for the handicapped, even in pro sports.

Justice John Paul Stevens wrote in the majority opinion that, "the walking requirement is at best peripheral to PGA Tour events," essentially stating that the rules of the game were relatively minor or superficial aspects of the sport.

Professional athletes represent the best of the best and weaknesses are what often create the gap between success and failure. Dale Earnhardt Jr., has not been asked to gear down by NASCAR so slower drivers can catch up; LeBron James has not been asked to not jump as high by the NBA so that lesser athletes can block his shot; and lesser hitters in Major League Baseball have not been given four strikes per at bat instead of three.

"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," said golfer Steve Pate seven years ago when the Martin ruling was announced. "It's maybe not fair, but I just think it's the way it should be."

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who was one of two to disagree in the 7-2 ruling along with Clarence Thomas, was 100 percent correct in his dissention when he wrote:

"A camera store may not refuse to sell cameras to a disabled person, but it is not required to stock cameras specifically designed for such persons. The PGA Tour cannot deny respondent access to that game because of his disability, but it need not provide him a game different (whether in its essentials or in its details) from that offered to everyone else."

It may be a stretch, but could golfers who have a tendency to slice argue that golf courses should only construct holes to that they dog leg to the right. Or if I have trouble hitting the ball out of the sand for whatever reason but I manage to calm my nerves by grounding my club, should I be able to do so?

This is not a case of whether or not sympathy, compassion and kindness are being exercised. It's a matter of right or wrong, interpreting the law and interpreting the rules. In 2001 the Supreme Court got it wrong and now the PGA Tour isn't trying to make it right.

If Compton doesn't make it to the PGA Tour he won't be deprived of his livelihood just as Martin wasn't deprived of his; Martin is now the head golf coach at the University of Oregon. However, this ruling may deprive someone of his ability to rightly pursue his dream.

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