I remember nervously asking Paul and Jennifer Gibbons at my interview, "does it matter if I can’t play golf”, to which Paul answered, “you can learn”. Up until that point I have to confess golf had not interested me very much. It was a sport which seemed to take up most of the day and didn’t have a great deal of excitement - how wrong could I be?

As a youngster I played many sports including rugby, cricket, tennis, squash, table tennis, waterpolo, and swam competitively, but golf was just not a sport which interested me.

After leaving school I went into the hotel trade and as I rose through the ranks along came numerous invitations to play in supplier golf days - how I wish I had known then what I know now and what I had been missing out on for all of those years.

I was reading an article the other day which said “golf is a game of only 34 rules but with a million variables”, and we can get bogged down by those million variables when we are out on the course. However, I believe you can break it down even further to its fundamental core, and that is honesty!

There are a number of famous examples of this:

Bobby Jones, 1925, US Open

The situation:

On a greenside chip from a steep bank, Jones' ball moved ever so slightly just before impact.
The penalty:

Rule 18-1 poses this question and answer: "Q. A ball lying in long grass slips vertically downward. Or a ball is accidentally stepped on and pressed down, say, a quarter of an inch in the grass or into the ground. In each case, has the ball moved? A. Yes, unless the ball returns to its original position. The direction of movement is immaterial."
The result:

Even though nobody else saw the ball move, Jones called a one-stroke penalty on himself. Because of this, he failed to win the tournament outright, instead dropping into a playoff with Willie Macfarlane, to whom he lost in 36 holes.

Ian Woosnam, 2001, The Open

The situation:

After completing his opening hole - a par three on which he made birdie - Woosnam stepped to the second tee box only to have this exchange with his caddie, Miles Byrne.

"You're going to go ballistic," Byrne told him.

"Why?" Woosnam asked.

"We've got two drivers in the bag," the caddie replied.
The penalty:

Rule 4-4a/6 states: "Q. A arrives at the first tee, counts his clubs and confirms he is carrying 14. He then removes his driver from his golf bag, leaves the bag beside the tee and checks in with the starter. At this point, X, a player in another match or group, by mistake puts his putter in A's golf bag, which was identical to X's bag. A then drives from the first tee. During play of the first hole, A discovers that X's club has been put in his (A's) golf bag. Does A incur a penalty for starting the round with more than 14 clubs? A. Yes."
The result:

Woosnam fired the extra driver into a nearby tree, gave himself a two-stroke penalty, and soon fell out of contention in the tournament.

Mark Wilson, 2007, Honda Classic

The situation:

In the second round Wilson's caddie, Chris Jones, divulged the loft of a hybrid club Wilson had just used to a playing partner.
The penalty:

Rule 8-1 states no advice may be given by anyone other than the player's own caddie.
The result:

Aware of this rule, Wilson slapped himself with a two-stroke penalty. He went on to win the tournament in a play-off.

The simple fact of golf is for me summed up in that one word, and it is one of the fundamental reasons why I have come to love the game. It is the only game in the world which on a day-to-day basis is played without umpires, judges, or officials (this is of course not the case in the large tournaments). Golf is a game of honour and integrity. As such, golfers are expected to be self-policing, and call penalties on themselves.

When you have sliced your ball into the rough and you can’t find it, you could just drop another ball and not say a word. You could play out of the bunker and double hit the ball and nobody may notice. It would be very easy when you are out on the course to miss-count the number of shots taken, just to improve your score.

This self-discipline is at the core of the game of golf, and in reality, you are only cheating yourself. Woe betide you if you get caught - and eventually you will - just like Auric Goldfinger did in the classic James Bond film, when Odd Job rolls a ball down his trouser in the rough at Stoke Park. He gets caught out by James and finally gets his comeuppance on the 18th.