We've all heard critics claim for years that golf is not an athletic sport.

Well, tell my 50-year-old body that now. More than ever I'm feeling the effects of being out of shape. More than ever I'm hitting a wall with three or four holes to play. More than ever I need a nap when I get home.

Basically, I'm suffering from golf burnout right now worse than I ever have before — and I know it's because I don't feel athletic enough or have enough golf stamina to play a lot or practice enough. It's not just age, sore joints and tired muscles. It's conditioning. I confess, I'm out of shape.

Even though he's never been one of my favorite golfers, I've always admired Tom Kite. When he was in the prime, he was the Lou Gehrig and Cal Ripken Jr. of golf. He could play week after week and finish in the Top 10 week after week. While others were going through the normal up-and-down cycles, he seemed to never wear down.

We hear stories about golfers who practice for hours and hours. I can't do that. But I know some who can, and most are guys who also hit the gym and exercise.

If you watched Hank Haney on the Golf Channel try to fix Charles Barkley's swing, one of the first things he did was try to get Barkley to lose some weight and hit the gym.

I think Haney's other client, Tiger Woods, is the best player in the world, and maybe the greatest of all time, because no golfer is more athletic or has ever been more fit.

OK, there are a few fat guys who are outstanding golfers. But I still like my chances to play better if I get in shape. I'm convinced that golf is a game suited better for the better athletes.

Sandbaggers or cheaters?

I want to continue on with Mike Sorensen's column last week on sandbaggers, but I'm going to call them what they really are — cheaters.

If you are not trying your hardest every round or posting every score you shoot, you are a cheater. If you pick and choose which scores to post, only post the high scores and leave out a few of the low ones, don't adjust your scores, or just outright don't post scores at all and then compete in tournaments — you are cheating. It's no different from writing an incorrect score on your scorecard or kicking your ball out of the rough.

And don't think you are fooling anyone. People notice. I do. I always check tournament winners to see if there's anything fishy about their handicaps. I've found two golfers — not scratch golfers but who play like scratch golfers — who have won multiple tournaments this year yet have no other scores posted. Therefore, we're supposed to believe that the only time they tee it up is in a tournament, and they can still shoot 70, 71 or 72 with an 8 handicap?

To those — like these two guys — who are winning hundreds of dollars each summer with a dishonest handicap, what you are doing is no different from walking into a golf shop and walking out with a new set of clubs without paying. You are shoplifting from golfers who are playing by the rules. There's no reason to feel proud about that, about stealing.

E-mail: jimr@desnews.com