Disqualified...By Himself

Gary D'Amato's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel column offers a true glimpse of sportsmanship.

After winning the boys 13-14 age division at the Milwaukee County Parks Tour Invitational, a Wisconsin PGA-sponsored event, Zach Nash rushed to the country club where he plays 36 holes a day to show off his medal to the local golf professional, Chris Wood.

That's when he realized his mistake. "We were standing outside, having a soda and talking and [Wood] looked in my bag and said, 'Whose club is this?'" Whoops. Nash had played the tournament with 15 clubs in his bag, one more than what is allowed.

"I knew the rule, I just didn't make it a point to count my clubs," he told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "I didn't use the club once in the tournament."

After all the penalty strokes were added to his score, he should have officially shot an 81 (four strokes more than the 77 he actually shot). But since he didn't realize the mistake until later, he signed an incorrect score card. The penalty for that is disqualification.

Then came his big win: "Zack quickly agreed that his only option was to call the Wisconsin PGA Section and disqualify himself. He left voicemail and e-mail messages with Andy Landenberger, junior tour director for the WPGA," D'Amato writes.

When asked if he was tempted to keep his medal and title, he responded, "I couldn't live with myself if I did that."