MOUNT GILEAD, OH -- Five years and three knee surgeries later, the signature moment -- literally -- in Adam Van Houten's stellar golf career still earns him acclaim.

Sports Illustrated ranks Van Houten's self-disqualification from the 2005 state high school golf tournament as one of its 10 most memorable acts of sportsmanship in the last decade.

The scenario, ranked seventh on the SI list, took place Oct. 15, 2005, at Foxfire Golf Club at Lockbourne. Then a Mount Gilead sophomore, Van Houten shot an even-par 144 over the two-day tournament to win the Division II title by an almost laughable seven strokes. But Van Houten didn't leave laughing.

While waiting for other golfers to finish, he checked the scorecard he signed and discovered a playing partner had written down a 5 for Van Houten on the 10th hole -- when he actually shot a 6.

The rules are clear. Once you've signed your card, there is no opportunity to correct it. Disqualification was the mandatory penalty, although the one-stroke discrepancy wouldn't have mattered on the leaderboard. Van Houten still blew away the field.

Owning up to the mistake, even though it cost him the state title he had obviously earned, blew everybody else away. And, judging by the SI rankings, it still does.

"I don't ever talk about it. I don't talk about how I won and then lost," said Van Houten, a sophomore member of the golf team at George Mason University near Washington, D.C. "But a couple of my teammates read the Sports Illustrated story online and asked me, 'Is this real?' "

That same question was asked in 2005. Van Houten didn't look for the spotlight after his remarkable display of integrity, leaving the course before the media found out what had happened. But it didn't take long for the spotlight to find him.

The Ohio High School Athletic Association rewarded him with its Sportsmanship, Ethics and Integrity Award at the state basketball tournament. A near capacity crowd at the Schottenstein Center gave Van Houten a standing ovation during the announcement at halftime of one of the championship games.

Van Houten also was invited to St. Louis to receive the Citizenship Through Sports Alliance National Sportsmanship Award.

"Since we left the course immediately, we didn't even think it would make the local papers," Rick Van Houten, a mortgage loan officer at Chase in Mansfield, said of his son's forfeited title. "Then he got the OHSAA and national awards. After all this time, you never think something like this Sports Illustrated thing would happen. But a buddy of mine said after the tournament that Adam would earn more fame than if he had won, and that has obviously turned out to be true."

Van Houten learned about the SI rankings through his mom, Jodi, who works at Mount Gilead High School. Someone from the magazine called the high school to check the details about Van Houten's story. He guesses the national award he received probably piqued SI's interest.

Two other stories making the decade's top 10 -- Spencerport (N.Y) high school basketball coach Joshua Harter, for agreeing to let an opponent use an autistic player at the end of a 2006 game, and Texas A&M for adopting several athletic teams from decimated Tulane University in 2005, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina -- received national acclaim at the ceremony Van Houten attended in St. Louis.

"I thought this was all over with. I hadn't heard anything in a couple years," Van Houten said. "Now this Sports Illustrated story is probably one of the biggest honors of them all."

Still, Van Houten would trade all the plaudits for that 2005 state title.

"In a heartbeat," he said. "That's what I worked for my whole life. No award around could replace that."

A three-time Central District Player of the Year and three-time state qualifier, Van Houten's skills earned him a golf scholarship at George Mason. But his honesty also made an impression on coach Steve King.

"I was immediately interested in Adam through his golf experiences and results, but I was drawn to his character more than anything else," King said after Van Houten signed with the school. "Anyone who will disqualify himself out of the state championship, knowing that the only person who knew of his mistake was himself, is a person that I want to build my golf team around."

Marshall Tinsley, George Mason's team captain, heard Van Houten's story while the former Morrow County star was on his recruiting trip to the school.

"When he told me he turned himself in, and lost the state title because of it, I'm thinking, 'OK, you're a good guy,' " Tinsley said. "Now, I'd do the same thing. I don't know if I would have done it back then, just because you're usually not that mature at that age. ... I'm not sure I would have even realized I did something wrong."

Van Houten is taking a medical redshirt this year, recovering from surgery that removed 25 percent of the meniscus from his right knee. It was the third operation he's had on the knee. The first cost him his senior basketball season at Mount Gilead. The second was last February.

"My swing has changed," he said. "I've been playing with a torn meniscus so long, I'm used to favoring my left leg. Now I've got to get back to distributing my weight evenly. I haven't played since September, so I'll have to see how things play out when the snow melts."

Van Houten is a sports management major who would love to someday work in the front office of an NBA team. During his layoff from golf, he has stayed active by competing on George Mason's bowling team. It's basically an NCAA sport without the accreditation, with the national tournament televised by ESPN. Van Houten participated during the holidays.

He carries a 216 average, which comes as no surprise to anyone who knows his family. His sister, Taylor, competes on Mount Gilead's team, and their dad spent time on the Pro Bowlers Association tour.

"With all the time off , I figured I might as well do something," Van Houten said. "It's something I can do virtually pain-free."

This article is courtesy of the Mansfield NewsJournal.