The following begins with some simple comments about rules and the integrity of games and ends with some very limited reflections about the integrity of the game of golf.
Every sport or game has a set of rules within which players must perform. One could call these the constitutive rules of the game (to distinguish them from rules or general principles that direct one on how to play the game well). Constitutive rules often determine the size of the playing field, the requirements for equipment (like balls and rackets), and numerous other details for scoring and playing the game. Without constitutive rules, there would be no game at all to play.
The rules determine the conditions under which players must perform or act, and the players' performances and actions determine the value, quality, and meaningfulness of the game. To make a good game, the rules must in some way accommodate the natural abilities of human beings so that the performances of the players have value and meaning. What exactly is this value, quality, and meaning? It is not necessary to have precise definitions. Let's just use our intuitions and say that a valuable and meaningful game at least tests the physical or mental abilities of the players in some specifically significant and interesting ways and enables a fair comparison of performances.
One way in which the integrity of a game may be challenged is when human abilities change so that the rules of the game can no longer guarantee the same kind of (or same level of) value, quality, and meaning in players' performances. For instance, one can imagine how the integrity of tennis could be undermined. Imagine that certain training techniques and strategies have been developed that allow tennis players having certain physical endowments the ability to serve aces almost everytime. Imagine that this becomes repeatable so that many top players in the game now have this ability. Matches among top players would soon become pointless and tiresome serving demonstrations. Such a situation would be intolerable. The constitutive rules of the game no longer set up conditions for meaningful and valuable comparisons among competitors. To restore integrity, the rules of tennis would have to be changed in some way to eliminate the endless perfect serves. Perhaps the service area would have to be changed.
The integrity issue is a real concern for some sports. In baseball and other sports, there is a concern with performance enhancing drugs. Such drugs can undermine the value of the game, especially the fairness of the game. In part because of the deep opening theory available, professional chess has a problem with the high number of drawn games. These days, the integrity of golf is being challenged in part because of new technology that allows players to hit the golf ball so much farther than ever before. Augusta National, the home of the Masters golf tournament, is currently changing the length of several of its holes (again) in order to make the course play as it did in the past. In the case of golf, changing the course is not really a change to the rules of the game, but the USGA is considering a rule change. It is considering making some of the equipment (like the balls) standard issue for all players.
I believe that golf has some special issues that it must deal with to ensure its integrity. The case of Tiger Woods brings up some interesting points. I watched Woods play in the Western Open (July 2005). He hit a drive that almost reached the green of a 380-yard par 4 hole. Woods was swinging as hard as he could because he was trying to catch the leaders on the final day of competition. His ball ended up about 10-yards from the green. At the tee box, spectators stood almost in silence, as they simply could not believe what they saw: voices simply said, "Oh, my God." Shortly before, Woods almost hit a 600-yard par 5 in two. His second shot was a fairway 3-wood that went 300 yards into the left green-side bunker. On another par 5 on the same back nine, Woods hit the green in two using a 9-iron from the rough for his second shot. There was something unsettling about seeing this sort of performance from Woods. It seemed that his length simply undermined the value and quality of the game. Woods did not seem to be playing the same sort of game that everyone else was playing. Something seemed wrong. Is Woods' abilities undermining the integrity of golf?
I believe that if there is one person playing golf like Woods, where his distance radically changes the character of the courses on which he plays, then there is little case for the view that the integrity of golf is being undermined. Changes should not be made to accommodate one outstanding player, or perhaps even two or three outstanding players. The abilities that Woods exhibits will undermine the integrity of golf if his abilities become repeatable by many others. Players should not be able to hit par 5's in two strokes, except in unusual circumstances. Players should not be able to almost drive par 4's.
Unfortunately, this is becoming the case. More golfers seem to be able to copy Woods. As one golf observer writes: "By spending more hours at the gym, visiting their sports psychologists religiously and applying every bit of technology that club and ball manufacturers have developed in recent years, the pack chasing Woods have neutralized his distance advantage." If this is the case, then the integrity of the game of golf is in jeopardy and the rules (if not the courses) need to be changed.
