From the S&S archives: Golf: The business of gentlemen

A promising young quarterback admits to having a gambling problem and has only the FBI to hide behind.

A journeyman running back is booted out of a team tryout because a chemical substance is found in his blood during a routine examination.

A pair of teammates on a major league baseball club are arrested for possession of marijuana.

Pick up a newspaper or magazine and headlines like these are being written about athletes in every sport.

Every sport, that is, except golf.

Golfers struggle, too, but not with drugs or alcohol. They struggle with their game.

"That's because golfers are more mature ... we're professional," says veteran Bob Toski.

"We don't use drugs,' we don't drink — at least not excessively.. We don't have money troubles; we're not self-centered," he said. "... Like I said, we're professionals.

"In golf, you get paid for what you earn, not $500,000 up front and then you moan and groan about not starting. There are no prima donnas in this sport. No way. Golfers are in the same boat; they all go out there and try to hit the ball the farthest, aiming for the green. You're either good at it or not. There are no pretenders."

ARNOLD PALMER, who still commands a loyal legion of autograph-seeking followers, is the picture of a gentleman golfer. His conservative looks, green sports jacket resembling the many he won in Masters Tournament championships and a yellow Izod sweater, are typical for a professional player.

"Look at me. Do I look like I have a lot of problems?" he says.

Palmer feels that the team aspect of other sports contributes to the pressures which cause pro athletes to get into substance abuse.

"We're not under pressure from our peers; ours is all individual. We're up there in the final scores and the money-earnings list because we got there on our own. No one helped us."

To him there has never been a problem with drugs or alcohol on the Tour. He says he has never heard of any PGA Tour player being addicted to or even using drugs casually.

"EVEN IF A GOLFER DID have a problem, it wouldn't get magnified a thousand times," says Palmer, "because we're gentlemen. There's no need for the publicity. Let the guy work out his problems on his own."

Orville Moody is a former Army sergeant who, before he became a well-known figure on the PGA Tour, was the club pro at Camp Zama Golf Course in the 1950s. Now a big winner on the Seniors circuit, the former U.S. Open champion has an even better explanation for golf's exclusive shield from bad publicity.

"We're businessmen and we play golf with other businessmen," he said. "Some of the men I play golf with are worth millions of dollars. We play with these guys in pro-ams; we have to be nice to them. There's no room for alcohol, drug or money problems."

Veteran Gene Littler, the quiet man from San Diego who resembles an older Gary Hart, says, "I don't crave attention. That's just the way I am. I'm out there to get the job done on the golf course. That's why I always keep my private life separate from my game. I think most golfers do it that way."

It's that aura of privacy that makes golf one of the few traditional sports remaining. Excluding design improvements in clubs, golf has stayed virtually untouched in its own cozy world.

Earlier this month at Tama Hills Golf Course, the four golfers — Toski, Palmer, Moody and Littler — played a nine-hole exhibition and conducted a clinic afterwards. At Tama, the traditions of golf were just as evident as if it were a major tournament.

Few sports, if any, allow the spectators to view the action so closely and with such freedom, giving the fan the chance to walk wherever the golfer goes.

Playing is at a leisurely pace, with nine holes taking two to three hours to complete.

Etiquette is top priority when it comes to playing and spectating. At tournaments, signs normally hover over the gallery to warn fans that a player is ready to putt and needs silence for his concentration. At Tama, no signs were needed because the fans already knew from experience.

"That's what makes golf so special," Palmer says. "I'll never get tired of it. And the game isn't just for rich people anymore. Look at Japan, this is the perfect market for it. That, of course, is happening around the world. That syndrome of it only being for rich people is gone.

"Sure, my body gets tired once in a while, but I still enjoy it as much as when I first started."

TOSKI ADMITS golfers aren't your normal athletes, in mind and in body.

"I'm 58 years old and I can run up a hill and stay with anyone," he says. "That's because I'm actually thinking, talking, walking golf every day of my life. It's in my blood."

Sometimes, though, the pressures of the PGA circuit can take its toll on a player. Golfers must stay. at the top of their game in order for them to be competitive, mainly because their incomes are based on how they do at tournaments.

The average week begins with a plane ride to the next tournament site, checking out the golf course, practicing putts and drives, playing in a pro-am prior to the tourney and then four rounds of grueling golf, measuring skills against the best in the world.

"I'm just like the average golfer," Littler said. "You enjoy it when you're playing well, but when you're not, it can be shear torture. Sure, I get tired of the Tour. Everyone does."

A fan reminisced with Littler for a bit, recalling a thrilling victory in the Colonial National Invitational in Fort Worth, Texas, back in 1971. Littler scratched his head, joking that he remembered getting the paycheck but not how he won it.

"A lot of guys can remember every shot that ever won a tournament for them. Heck, I have a hard time remembering what happened last week."

Being able to handle the pressures of a pro career is the key, Moody says. It has to be dealt withface to face rather than hiding from it.

"JUST. BECAUSE you're under a lot pressure doesn't mean you can't perform to the best of your abilities," he says. "When I was on the Tour, it was sometimes draining to go from place to place and not get your roots planted, but that's what makes golfers different from other athletes, we're able to cope with it."

Toski is not only a player but a teacher. He's widely-known for his Golf Digest School.

"As a teacher I'm very well received in Japan," he says. "It's amazing how other golfers around the world keep up with the latest in golf instruction and how to make themselves better competitively.

"As a player, they can't really evaluate me here, because this is only the second time I've played in Japan. And as a person, they appreciate my philosophy about the game."