Controversy at the 18th Founder Cup in Orchard

Now I am no where near good enough to join a fancy tournament so I haven't. I'm not quite ready to embarass myself in front of a bunch of competitive golfers. I do just fine (embarassing myself) during a regular round of golf. But I've met other golfers who love the thrill of a tournament. They love the competition. They love the challenge. Most times there's no prize money and that's just fine. These guys don't do it for the money. They don't even do it for the trophy. They do it for pride and glory. It's poetic when you think of it that way.

Well, I heard through the grapevine that there was some controversy in the recently concluded 18th Founder's Cup at the Orchard Golf and Country Club. Apparently some golfers are up in arms and upset with how the tournament went down. So much so that I've even been asked to share an anonymous statement on the matter. I'll be doing that in a bit. First though I want to share the facts:

1) The Orchard Golf and Country Club has one of the highest active golf members in the Philippines.

2) The Orchard Golf and Country Club Founder's Cup is said to be one of its biggest annual tournaments held by the club.

3) The rules are made available and presented to members well before the start of the tournament.

4) Somewhere between after the tournament had started and prior to the awarding ceremony, the rules on a penalty were changed by the Orchard golf committee.

5) This change by the golf committee caused the rankings of teams and players to change such that some of those that were supposed to win did not and those that were not supposed to - did.

I don't know about you but whenever you change the rules halfway through anything, there's something fishy. Where there's smoke, there's fire. Here's the anonymous statement:

"ORCHARD FOUNDER'S CUP MARRED BY CONTROVERSIAL RULING

Talks are spreading wild that the results of the recently concluded Founder's Cup at the Orchard Golf and Country Club were rigged to favor certain participants.

In an abrupt move, the Rules Committee of Orchard, suddenly scrapped a long standing rule requiring participants to put an "X" on their score cards when playing for a double net bogey. While the corresponding penalties had all been imposed as shown on Orchard's website and filgolf.com, they were altogether deleted just minutes before the awarding ceremonies on the lame excuse that many violated the particular rule. The decision was met with disgust amongst those who diligently followed the rule which was nothing new nor complicated. Some golfers commented that rules are rules regardless of the number of violators. Violators were rewarded while those who complied with the rule were penalized. The supposed winners eventually ended up as losers. Those in Class B and C were adversely affected as the supposed winners were deprived of their trophies.

Many regarded Orchard's move as a disgrace to the integrity of the game. Decency and fair play were disregarded to favor particular personalities. It was truly a sad day for golf!!!"

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