Sorry, Sergio. Gary Player’s comments about the use of performance enhancing drugs by some Tour players was, for a moment, a bigger story than the golf at the Open Championship at Carnoustie.

Now taking over those headlines is the story of Royal & Ancient official Graham Brown who made racist jokes during his speech at a dinner for the Association of Golf Writers. Those jokes made him seem both Royal and Ancient and apparently some people were offended.

Boy, where do I start with this one?

From The Guardian about Brown’s speech:

…included jokes about “Nips” and “all Japanese looking the same”, another about black caddies at Augusta and a story about two disabled golfers. The speech followed a toast proposed by the former BBC golf correspondent Tony Adamson which included a joke about a player punching his wife in the mouth.

Hilarious! Tony Adamson threw a good one in there, too. What isn’t funny about spousal abuse? I guess BBC golf correspondents aren’t expected to live up to the same high standards as R&A officials, because no one seems to be up in arms about that gem. Or maybe it’s just so embedded in golf tradition to belittle and trivialize women that no one was offended by that little nugget. I wonder – does the AGW include any female writers? Are women even allowed in that tent?

I guess it’s at least progress that people are upset about the “jokes” regarding Asian, black and disabled people. It’s probably safe to assume all the people at the butt of those “jokes” were men, hence the attention.

Wait, did I say something about “high standards” of R&A officials? Ahem.

Brown was removed as an official at the Open Championship, but not asked to resign.

So how did the R&A CEO Peter Dawson respond to the heat? From an AP story:

Dawson distanced the R&A from Brown’s jokes but said he would not be asked to resign.

“First of all, this was a private dinner. Graham was a guest invited in a private capacity and was speaking as such. He was in no way representing the R&A,” Dawson said. “We know Graham Brown very well, and I can say absolutely that he is certainly not a racist as an individual. But I have spoken to him today. He is horrified at the impression he has left and horrified at learning the effects of some of his remarks.

“The R&A would not wish to be associated with that kind of thing.”

Yeah, I bet they wouldn’t. As for Brown not being a racist, I’m not sure that argument flies. Sure, maybe you don’t have to be a stupid person to do stupid things, but I’m pretty sure you have to be a racist to make racist jokes. And what’s that part about not being a racist “as an individual?” Dawson just said Brown wasn’t representing the R&A, so what else but an individual was he when he made those remarks?

And I don’t think a “private dinner” allows for offensive remarks the same way “private clubs” can pick and choose which individuals or groups can join.

A lot has been written about golf being an elitist sport and that it has come a long way since the days of the white boys club. I think this is a big step backwards. Just because a tradition is “time honored” doesn’t make it right. That no one seems to care about the “joke” about a player hitting his wife, that the R&A seems to want to protect this bozo, and that only some people were offended proves we haven’t come far at all.

Next post.