College golf coaches will make time during their annual conference next month for a topic normally associated with higher-profile sports.
Gambling.
A study released recently by the NCAA found that male college golfers are far more likely to wager than other athletes.
Twenty percent of Division I men’s golfers were “frequent’’ gamblers, according to the survey, done anonymously in 2008 with more than 19,000 student-athletes in 11 sports. “Frequent gambling’’ is defined as once or more per month. The golfers' rate was up from 14 percent in a similar survey in 2004. Eight percent of men’s golfers were defined as “heavy’’ gamblers, meaning once or more per week in ’08.
In women’s golf, 1.3 percent of respondents were “frequent’’ gamblers, the most of the 11 women’s sports surveyed. Female athletes, like society at large, are far less likely to gamble than their male counterparts, according to research cited in the study.
The proliferation of fantasy sports leagues, online gambling and the ease of payment – via credit cards or third-party transfers – contributed, according to the findings.
“We take this issue very seriously,” Louisville coach Mark Crabtree, president of the Golf Coaches Association of America, said in a GCAA news release. The findings will be a priority during the Dec. 7-9 meeting, Crabtree said.
The site of that meeting? The Riviera Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
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