CADDIE'S ROLE:Honesty in golf is what sets the game apart from others and makes it attractive to sponsors and spectators

WE WERE having dinner a few nights ago in a local restaurant in Versailles. It was unseasonably hot and night-time was about the only time you could get some respite from the heat and engage in some banter about the day on the golf course.

One of our colleagues has a ban on “divots” at the dinner table so unless we discussed something that was not specific to the day’s play, and in particular your own player, the conversation would be redirected.

We had received e-mails from the caddies association concerning the litter problems that seem to become more prevalent when it’s hot. Either some people are too exhausted or just can’t be bothered to take a few extra steps to the bins provided alongside the water supplies on each tee. The result is the unsightly scene of empty bottles lying on the tees.

Naturally it is not the image the European Tour want to promote and they were right to remind us all of the importance of clearing up after ourselves.

In fact one of my colleagues goes to the trouble of amassing cardboard boxes each week to place in the locker-rooms as additional bins so no one has any excuse for saying they couldn’t find anywhere to put their rubbish.

The conversation moved on to a more serious issue that many of us feel should be the next directive we read about in tour-related e-mails – the rules and more importantly, the enforcing of the rules.

Golf has a head start on a lot of modern sports in the sense it has an impeccable image of fair play and such a strict code of rules that would make even the most fastidious arbiters raise their eyebrows when players call shots on themselves for seemingly innocuous actions in competition that would afford them no advantage over competitors.

Pádraig Harrington’s infamous incident of the unsigned scorecard at the Belfry in 2000 was a classic example of not trying to gain advantage but rather a player not paying attention to the detail that is required in golf when keeping score. It was a costly lesson for a young Harrington, bang in line for his second European Tour win at the time.

Golf can often teach you lessons the hard way.

So the temperature dropped and in the cool of the evening in Versailles, we ordered another bottle of wine and we began recalling incidents we had encountered which made us all wonder if perhaps the rules in golf were not being adhered to as strictly as they might be.

One of us experienced an incident only a couple of weeks ago during the tournament in Munich. A fellow bagman was certain a player had taken at least six and a half minutes to look for his ball to eventually find it and continue playing, claiming it was within the required five-minute time-frame.

The player was confronted and a rules official was called. He listened to both the player and the caddie of his playing partner, who suggested the ball was found well outside the allotted time and therefore the ball was effectively lost. The official said he had to side with the player. The trouble with siding with a player is the player has most to gain from giving a misguided account to the referee.

A caddie, observer or other player has nothing to gain by questioning or pointing out a possible rule infringement.

It seems to be increasingly obvious the whistle blower has a lot to lose by attempting to uphold the integrity of the game.

It is a simple action that most of us brought up in the sport instinctively do. Golf is an easy game in which to do the wrong thing. It is impossible to have a referee observing every player over 18 holes. That is why the rules are so strict and it is also why the punishment for infringement has to be so severe and decisively administered.

It was a timely conversation to have about a sport that all of us around the table have been involved with for most of our lives.

We had seen some of the World Cup soccer games over the past few weeks and despite marvelling at the speed and talent of the modern footballer, we (like most mature adults) have been horrified by the anarchy that exists in the game due to the fact 22 players are willing to cheat and the officials cannot possibly judge their antics without the aid of modern technology.

We wondered at what stage did the integrity of soccer begin to unravel to the depths that it has sunk to today? It didn’t happen overnight, rather it was a gradual depletion leading to the pathetic behaviour that we have witnessed in South Africa.

All of this is condoned from the top; it would be very easy to change if the will was there.

It’s a bit like the traffic lights changing from green to amber which used to mean slow down to stop. Today, this change in colour would appear to mean hurry up and speed through.

It hasn’t taken long for this trend to become the norm. How do you stop it? By harsh but fair policing.

Just like we need to have stronger decision making from those who are entrusted to maintain a level playing field in the game of golf. It seems we cannot rely on some modern golf pros to do the right thing. This gets those who have an inherent sense of right and wrong on the course wondering why they bother being so strict when they feel other competitors are getting away with questionable behaviour.

Honesty in golf is what distinguishes the game from others and makes it attractive to both sponsors and spectators.

As the evening cooled in Versailles and the bill was brought to the table we noticed the waiter had forgotten to charge for an extra bottle of wine we had ordered. It wasn’t that difficult a decision to know what to do about it. But it was an apt little reminder it is not always easy to do the right thing, and when your livelihood is at stake it is less tempting to cheat if the enforcer of the rules makes it easier for you to decide to do the right thing.