"The admission that HGH will be omitted from the testing threatens to undermine the credibility of the new system."

The Telegraph's Simon Hart says that plans to start drug testing without covering HGH, the most prominent of performance enhancing drugs in sport.

The introduction of random drug-testing was seen as a way of silencing the whispers about drug use in the sport, but now it has emerged that when the system goes live on July 1 the golfing authorities will not even be testing for HGH, despite evidence that it is one of the most widely abused performance-enhancing drugs in sport.

The omission opens the door for potential cheats to avoid steroids but to take the hormone without fear of being caught. Although HGH appears on golf's list of banned substances, both the European and PGA Tours have confirmed that players will only be required to submit urine samples. However, HGH can be detected only by taking blood samples.

"At this time the policy will involve only the collection of urine samples," European Tour spokesman Mitchell Platts said. "Blood sampling may or may not be added at a later date."

HGH could theoretically give players a physical edge because it enables people to train harder and for longer and to recover more quickly. With so much emphasis in the modern game on power and length, it is easy to see how some players might be tempted.

The admission that HGH will be omitted from the testing threatens to undermine the credibility of the new system. When Player made his allegations, he named HGH specifically as a drug he had heard was being used by at least 10 top golfers.

More importantly, God forbid, this could impact the all important quest to get golf in the Olympics. I can't believe Hart could miss such a key point! 

The story is accompanied by a Paul Casey commentary in support of testing and Lewine Mair's perspective on the testing process.