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In
this photo taken Aug. 30, Zack Nash, 14, poses for photos in
Waterford
. Nash is returning the first place medal he won Aug. 11 at the
Dretzka Invitational, after he realized he inadvertently played the
match with an illegal number of clubs in his bag.
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MILWAUKEE - Zach Nash was shocked when he
discovered he had one too many golf clubs in his bag a couple hours after
winning a junior Wisconsin PGA tournament.
But rules are rules, and the 14-year-old from
southern Wisconsin made a decision that might surprise some people: He
disqualified himself and surrendered his medal.
"I knew right away I couldn't live with
myself if I kept this medal, so it was pretty instantaneous," Nash said
during a phone interview from his home in Waterford on Wednesday, his first
day of high school.
Nash shot a 77 to win the boys 13-14 age
division at the Milwaukee County Parks Tour Invitational, which is run by
the Wisconsin PGA Section, on Aug. 11. He beat 31 other players in his
division, all while his grandparents from Iowa were watching.
After his victory, Nash went to the Rivermoor
Golf Club — where he played 36 holes nearly every day this summer — to
practice more and talk to one of his mentors, Chris Wood, the club's head
golf professional.
"I was showing everybody my medal and
then Chris and I went and we were having a soda and he said 'Hey, whose club
is this? And I said 'my friend's.' And he said 'This makes 15.' I was in
shock after that," Nash said.
The penalty for breaking the rule, called
rule 4-4, is two strokes for each hole played with more than 14 clubs, with
a maximum of four penalty strokes. But since he didn't notice his extra club
during the tournament, a penalty wasn't added. That meant he signed an
incorrect scorecard, which he knew disqualified him.
Nash said golf prides itself on honesty and
players calling penalties on themselves. While the decision was clear, he
said he couldn't help but cry a bit in front of Wood. Wood had to call
Nash's father, Bob, to pick him up.
Later that night, Nash called Andy
Landenberger, junior tour director for the WPGA, to explain what happened.
He sent back the medal, which Landenberger said he would present to
runner-up Dane Reinhardt, who shot an 80.
Nash, who has been golfing for about three
years, said a friend spent the night at his house before the tournament and
left a 5-wood club, and he put it in his bag not realizing it made a total
of 15.
Wood said Nash made him and the club proud.
"I think most people — not just kids
— would have tried to justify in their mind having the extra clubs in
their bag and not using them as an excuse to not call and disqualify
themselves," Wood said.
Nash's father said his son is a regular
teenager — he talks back to his parents, picks on his brothers — and was
a bit surprised the teenager didn't consider, just for a moment, keeping the
mistake to himself. But he said he did the right thing and he and his wife
were proud.
"When I first heard it, when he told me
the whole story, I thought, 'Wow, you are doing the right thing,'" Bob
Nash said. "You have to keep doing what's right. But in the back of my
mind, I'm thinking 'If you didn't say anything the standing wouldn't
change.'"
The boy's honest deed was first reported by
the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Nash started his freshman year Wednesday at
Waterford Union High School and plans to go out for the golf team.
He played in another tournament on Tuesday
— and counted his clubs three times. The faux pas has made him a better
golfer, he said.
"It kind of got me to be more aware of
all the rules, especially 4-4," he said.
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