The Golf Cart Debate

            Yesterday in class, I found our debate about the “just-ness” of allowing a disabled player to ride a golf cart very interesting and thought provoking.  I can see why this incident was a hot topic considering it’s arguable that riding a cart to and from balls/holes violates the integrity of the sport of golf.  My first opinion about the situation was that it was unjust because, at least in professional sports, it seems unjust to compensate for disabilities.  For example, we do not allow a short person to wear stilts so he can play on the Lakers, even if that advantage simply puts him on everyone else’s level.  I think that there are times when compensating for a disadvantage/injury is acceptable in sports, just not at a professional or extremely competitive level.  It could be said that it would be unfair to not allow the golfer to use a golf cart because it simply brings him up to the level of all the other golfers.  It can also be argued that it is physically straining to walk the course in golf, so not only would the golfer be put on everyone else’s level, but he would actually be given an unfair advantage in that he would not be as tired when he took his shots/puts.  At first I believed that giving this man with leg problems a golf cart and not allowing others to use one is unjust because it violates the integrity of the game. 

However, when we began to discuss the details and rules of the game of golf, the fact that carts are allowed to speed up the game in some circumstances made me change my mind about my position on the moral dilemma.  If carts are allowed in certain situations, then it seems that the actual use of a golf cart does not violate the spirit or integrity of the game.  To use my example from before, there are no special circumstances where basketball players are allowed to use stilts because it would violate the spirit of the game, so it seems that this is not a fair comparison to the golf cart dilemma. 

I think it can be argued either way for or against the use of golf carts in professional golf; however, it is necessary to first establish what the main physical strength/point of the game is in order to determine if, in fact, allowing cart use violates the integrity of the game.  Because sports are an arena where moral and political values are played out, it needs to be explicitly stated in the rules of golf that cart use is or is not okay.  The idea of cart use for specific circumstances makes the game feel more arbitrary and thus decreases its value to humankind.  What do you guys think?  Would you let the golfer use a cart? 

-Maddy Clements