Five years ago Van Houten was a sophomore at Mount Gilead High School competing in the 2005 Ohio division II state golf championship when he realized his playing partner had written down the wrong score on the 10th hole. Although Van Houten was already leading by seven strokes he told a tournament official about the impropriety and that his score should have been a 6, not a 5 as written, for that particular hole. Since he had already signed his scorecard Van Houten was disqualified from the tournament.

His actions five years ago prompted Sports Illustrated to give Van Houten a spot on their top 10 sportsmanship list for the last decade. In a statement on the George Mason website Van Houten states, “I am honored to receive the Sports Illustrated sportsmanship award,” Van Houten said. “When it was all happening, all I could think about was losing the state championship, but not turning myself in was never really an option. I pointed out my mistake to the officials and ultimately, was disqualified. I never thought anything good could possibly come out of making such a costly mistake and I had to mature quickly to deal with the media about the story. The whole situation helped me grow as a player and as a person.”

I love a happy ending! To access the Sports Illustrated article click here.

Post by Michele Minten