Professional poker player Dusty fights

USGA to remain an amateur golfer

The case of the amateur golfer/successful online poker player versus the United States Golf Association will have a preliminary hearing tomorrow in a US District Court in Portland, Oregon.
The golfer's name is Dusty Schmidt. He wants to compete - anywhere - as an amateur golfer, but the USGA - as powerful in American golf as the R&A is on this side of the Atlantic - claims that he forfeited his amateur golfer status when he devised, then publicised a $1 million challenge to anyone who could beat him at 72 holes of golf and at poker.
Schmidt has filed a complaint seeking a temporary restraining order on the USGA action that would allow him to keep his amateur status and play in a series of events in the Pacific Northwest.
Schmidt admits he's no angel but says he is an innocent victim who simply wants to compete in the sport he loves. But the USGA case claims he is a self-promoter who flouted the rules for amateur status with his golf-and-poker challenge.
"At the end of the day, I'm trying to get my amateur golfer status back. I am trying to fight for my right NOT to make money playing golf, basically," he said. "I just want to play golf, and I believe I should be allowed to play golf."
Schmidt was a promising young golfer in Southern California who turned pro after a year at the University of Irvine. His pro golf career ended abruptly when he had a heart attack at age 23.
During his rehabilitation, Schmidt took up online poker, i.e. poker played for cash on the Internet.
Shmidt, now 28, estimates he's made $3 million gambling online and lives a comfortable lifestyle. But what he says he really wants to do is play golf competitively but as an amateur.
The USGA revoked his amateur status on June 11 when they got wind of the "Million Dollar Challenge" that Schmidt proposed in April through a website he co-owns, 10thGreen.com. The challenge was also the subject of a press release.
The crux of Schmidt's argument is that no one took him up on the golf+poker challenge, so he never did play anyone for money.
In court documents, the USGA maintains that Schmidt's challenge violated a rule aimed at actions "detrimental to the best interests of the amateur game," and another related to gambling and the spirit of the rules.
"Having promoted his prize money golf/poker contest for two months and having obtained tremendous publicity for himself, his entrepreneurial website and his prize money scheme, Mr Schmidt cannot unring the bell no matter how hard he tries," the USGA said in court documents.
Schmidt, who plans to represent himself in court, realises that in this one the odds are stacked against him.