A tough lesson to learn

COLUMBUS - Take heart, Brandon French. If signing a scorecard with an incorrect score could cost major champion Roberto DiVincenzo the 1968 Masters, you're in some solid company.

I know that brings little solace to you, or your Lima Central Catholic teammates.

You wanted the Division III boys golf state title. It was yours, something of a birthright. Boys golf teams at LCC win state titles; they don't finish second.

But like DiVincenzo, who signed a scorecard with a 66 on it, instead of the correct 65, giving him second place at the Masters by that one stroke instead of an 18-hole Monday playoff, you got quick in signing the card, claiming a six on No. 18, when a seven was the correct score.

I'm sure there were plenty of other things on your mind, like finally hoisting that championship trophy.

You know what? You messed up. Yeah, this weighs heavier than forgetting to clean your room or put gas in the car. But it was still an honest, silly mistake.

Here are two quotes which can sum up your fortunes:

"It's a mistake. It happens," LCC coach Tom Bader said after Saturday's drama.

"What a stupid I am," exclaimed by DiVincenzo in Augusta, Ga., on April 14, 1968.

DiVincenzo wasn't looking to blame anyone. The British Open champion knew the rules, that he should have checked his scorecard. From an early age, competitive golfers are taught to check, and recheck, the scorecard. Make triple sure everything lines up.

I was at a Putnam County League match this autumn when Ottoville coach Jim Brown implored his golfers, and those on the other team, to please check the scores. He brought up the example of a golfer writing a 36 under the 18th hole in a sectional tournament, instead of under the total, forcing that player to take a 36 on one hole.

There were plenty of eyes rolling, snorts and chuckles. Everyone thinks this sort of thing happens to someone else, never to them.

I'm sad to say, though, your story becomes another example.

From briefly talking to you, some of your teammates and Bader, everyone owned up to the mistake. There were no fingers pointing or howls of protest.

There were plenty of tears, though.

Rules are strict, and they can be harsh. Rules work in terms of black and white. Unfortunately, most of our existence is spent in the area in between.

So, from that gray area, it's not hard to say LCC won the Division III state title. All year, the T-Birds ran through the competition, whether it was in regular season tournaments, the Northwest Conference, or into the sectional and district tournaments.

And even into the state tournament, where they won by three strokes, if you include French's correct 36-hole total.

But that's not the way golf - or life - works. There's no do-over. There will be no asterisk next to the 2008 state champion listing in the program, because there is no controversy.

Over the years, people will begin to forget about what happened at The Players Club at Foxfire on Oct. 11, 2008. Hopefully, you and your teammates can put it in the past as well.

Life goes on. I know it sounds trite.

But three weeks after his Masters gaffe, DiVincenzo, who claimed over 230 tournament wins across the globe, won the PGA Houston Open.

So, remember: Mistakes are a great learning tool, as long as you learn from them.