Men's Golf Announces Anti-Doping Policy

by Wrmjr

The World Golf Foundation announced today a list of banned substances for all major men's tours.  Tim Finchem, PGA Tour Commissioner and World Golf Foundation Chairman said that the list of banned substances will include anabolic agents, hormones, stimulants, narcotics, beta blockers and masking agents.  The Foundation decided not to adopt the entire list from the World Anti-Doping Association because it would cause an increased administrative burden and because the group did not believe that the other substances would impact golfers' performance.  Finchem also said that any punishment issued by any of the member tours would be recognized by all the others.  The tours or associations that are part of this agreement are the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour of America, the USGA, the European Tour, the Royal & Ancient Golf Club (aka St. Andrews), the Augusta National Golf Club.  The LPGA is also a member of the foundation, and it announced last its anti-doping policy last September.

Finchem has said that there is no evidence of players taking any of these banned substances, though Gary Player recently made headlines when he claimed that players are taking performance-enhancing drugs.  My personal feeling is that there probably are some people who are trying to gain an advantage by using these substances or to get over an injury quickly.  I'm not sure that these drugs would necessarily affect the balance of play in a golf event as much as they might in some other sports (power lifting, for example).  Still, I think it is a good step forward that the major golf organizations are addressing the issue pro-actively.