By now, everyone has heard about Michelle Wie's disqualification from the Samsung World Championship. The day she was DQ'd was a terrible day for her, but it was also a black mark for the game of golf and a bad omen for parents everywhere.

Whether you or your kids golf or not, you lost something, and you may not even know it.

On the seventh hole of the third round, Michelle Wie found her ball to be unplayable. According to the rules, she was allowed relief under a one-stroke penalty and could drop the ball within two club lengths of the golf ball's original position while being no closer to the hole, which she did.

Just behind her stood a reporter from Sports Illustrated who believed that the drop might have been illegal because she appeared to be closer to the hole. He said nothing at the time. Michelle completed her round and signed her scorecard.

After the tournament was over, the reporter approached a rules official and told him of his concerns. The rules official took Michelle out to the seventh hole and using a string, measured off the distance based on her best recollection. He determined that she had dropped the ball 12 to 15 inches closer to the hole.

She should have taken an additional two-stroke penalty for this but did not, thus she signed an incorrect scorecard and in accord with the rules was disqualified.

Golf is a game of honor where the spirit of the rule is every bit as important as the letter of the rule.

Michelle Wie was disqualified from her first tour event as a professional. She handled it with grace and dignity — an important lesson for all of us — but Michelle learned a sad lesson of her own.

She said, "From now on, I'll call a rules official no matter where it is, whether it's three inches or 100 yards."

In a game where golfers are taught to self-govern and call penalties on themselves, this is a hard lesson indeed.

Soon golf will be like every other sport, with referees who function more like police officers. What Michelle learned is that someone from the gallery can dictate her fate if she is not careful, and so the only governance of any worth comes from an outside authority, a rules official.

Two weeks ago, I bought my daughter her first complete golf set.

I thought golf would be an excellent game for her. Golf teaches discipline, honesty, and most of all, honor.

Despite what happened with Michelle, I plan to teach my daughter to golf the way I learned the game.

Like life, golf really only needs three rules: Play the ball as it lies, the course as you find it and if for some reason you cannot, then you call the penalty on yourself and take appropriate action.

I am confident that, like Michelle, my daughter will act with integrity.

Michael C. DeMattos is on faculty at the University of Hawai'i School of Social Work. He lives in Kane'ohe with his wife, daughter and two dogs.