To My Magnificent Agents, Staff and Friends:
The inspiration for this week’s message came on Wednesday morning while I was reading the The Advocate. A short story appeared in the opinion section of the newspaper. It’s headline immediately drew me to it. It read, “A standard for honesty.” In case you missed it, here is the story:
Wisconsin boy who proudly won a junior tournament near his
hometown. Shortly after, though, Zach Nash noted that he had
15 clubs in his bag.
The teenager had not noticed the extra club, a five-wood
belonging to a friend; Nash had not used it in the tournament.
He had already gone home, and no one would have known of his
lapse. But only 14 clubs are allowed, so the medal for the golf
tournament went into the mail.
In today’s world of cheating and trimming and ahead at all
costs, there remains a higher standard in golf. “I knew it was
wrong.” Nash told the Los Angeles Times. He deserves the
commendation that has come with upholding a standard of
integrity.
After reading this, it surely seemed to be the ideal type of story for a Weekend Motivation. However, this being Wednesday, I had a few days to think about it prior to penning my weekly thoughts. And, while I certainly don’t want to denigrate in any way young Nash’s act of honesty, as those days passed, I began wondering why a simple act of honesty should rise to the level being heralded as heroic behavior. Pondering this compelled me to know more about what actually happened so I “Googled” Zach Nash. There were 869,000 search results. Obviously, Zach Nash’s act has definitely catapulted him into a national celebrity.
In reading many of the posts, blogs and stories I discovered a several interesting facts. First, The Advocate’s story implied that Zach Nash on his own discovered the errant club violation and then made the decision alone to return the championship medal. After reading a few of the more extensive news reports, it would appear the The Advocate was, at best, inaccurate and, at worst, dishonest in its reportage.
The complete story is that, Zach didn’t discover the extra club. After winning the tournament, he drove with his grandparents to the Rivermoor Gulf Club where they were members and where Zach plays 36 holes a day, every day, in the summer. Zach wanted to show his medal to, and share his story with Chris Wood, who was the golf pro at the club and also Zach’s golf coach. While they were having a soda and talking about the victory in the clubhouse, Wood looked in Zach’s golf bag and said, “Whose club is this?”
The club belonged to a friend that Zach had played a round of golf with the day before the tournament and somehow the 5-wood had ended up in Nash’s bag. Upon seeing the club, Zach knew immediately that he had violated Rule 4-4 which states that “the player must not start a round with more than 14 clubs.”
Although unintentional, Zach understood that his violation should negate his victory. “I kind of started crying in the clubhouse,” he said. “I was really upset.” Coach Wood responded, “You know what this means?” Zach answered, “Yeah, I have to disqualify myself.”
Nash then went home to discuss the situation with his father and his Uncle Sam, who had taught Zach about both the fundamentals of golf and the ethics and etiquette of the game. Their discussion didn’t take long. Everyone agreed that the only option for Zach was to notify the tournament authority and disqualify himself.
Again, without disparaging Zach’s actions, the fact is that Zach didn’t discover the extra club. A golf professional did. And, once that discovery was made, according to the rules Zach had no choice but to do what he did.
That Zach’s decision to do what he was supposed to do is now being heralded nationally as a standard for honesty, an heroic act, and the personification of selflessness and sacrifice doesn’t diminish Zach’s sense of character and honor but it does call into question ours.
Have an AWE-full weekend!
Bill Bacque