Michigan Golf Journal August 2019

kids would do that, to immediately just call (a stroke) on yourself. But it never crossed my mind not to.” Raymond is the son of a former PGA Tennessee member, and his high school coach is Lee Houtteman, winner of last year’s Michigan PGA Championship (see related story on page 24) and a Michigan qualifier into the PGA Tour’s Rocket Mortgage Classic. As proud as Houtteman is by Raymond’s actions, he never expected anything different. Houtteman said Raymond, his teammates and other players around the Northwest Conference are all taught to play the game correctly and by the rules, so the result was nothing out of the ordinary. “The only way the sport works is if a guy on hole 14 is playing by the same rules as a kid on the other side of the golf course on Hole 3 – and you have to have confidence that everybody is playing that way,” Houtteman said. “It’s great to know that, at least in our conference, guys are playing by the rules, playing the same game and nobody’s shaving strokes.” You Go Girl: This story reminds me of another great show of respect for the game 10 years ago, when then senior Jacqueline DeBoer at Grand Rapids South Christian discovered an extra club in her bag at the 4 th hole of a 9-hole match. It was a demo club she tested the day before but had not used during the round. No one else would have known, but once DeBoer caught the error, she flagged down a competitor’s coach and called a four-stroke penalty on herself (one stroke per hole). She finished with a 38, including the 4-stroke penalty. The situation caused the host coach to recognize her honorable actions after the match, and in front of all the competitors, the coach teared up while sharing the story with her peers. DeBoer (now Mulder) went on to win the 2009 Division 3 state championship that season, as did her team, before earning a scholarship to Ferris State where she graduated with a nursing degree and is now working on her Doctorate. Raymond and DeBoer prove that true champions are also people of honor. Jacqueline DeBoer in 2009 with the late Coach Rod VanDyke, GR South Christian 17 August 2019 www.michigangolfjournal.com