Carl the Grumbler Shoots his Age

I like to tease Carl about being "the Grumbler," but he can still play pretty good golf for an old budgie.  I had a message from Billy and it seems Carl shot 71 the other day while I was away playing somewhere else.  Carl is 72 years young, so he actually didn't just shoot his age, he bettered it.

I know Carl has shot 72 at least once this year as well, but I think this is his first under par, and under-his-age, score of the year.  Bill told me that I'd better get my game together, and I'd better get back out playing with them right away, because he didn't want to hear Carl tell him, blow-by-blow, how he shot 71 again.

I phoned Carl to congratulate him, and he told me the round could have been a lot better since he actually missed three or four short putts.  I guess the glass is still half empty for the Grumbler.  Actually, he was very happy to have "brought it in" this time because he knew he was close.

Carl admits that he tends to be too aware of what he's shooting and often makes some bogeys coming down the stretch to cool off his hot rounds.  He may be a grumbler sometimes, but Carlos can still play some golf.  He swings like he's falling off a ladder, but he can chip and putt with the best of them, even if he can't help thinking about the putts that got away.   

Bill's right; I'd better up my game if I don't want to have Carl taking any more of my money than he already does.  Congrats, Carlos.

Against the Wind

Wind is a big part of the game.  In fact, for the famous links courses in the British Isles, and particularly the Old Course, the wind is the main source of protection against the top pros going real low.  The wind also adds interest to a golf course that you may play regularly, because a strong wind, or a different wind, changes the way each hole plays.

While cross winds are probably the most difficult winds to play, the average golfer tends to get in trouble playing against the wind.  Bobby Jones, as always, provided some excellent insight into playing against the wind in his book Bobby Jones on Golf.  I know, as I get older, I find myself wondering whether I'm not always playing against the wind. Some days it seems every hole is into the wind for me.

Bobby Jones wrote:

There is probably no shot in the game that bothers the average golfer so much as any shot into a head wind, where distance is of importance.  Of all the hazards likely to be encountered on a golf course, wind is the most formidible for nine-tenths of those who play the game, because of its disturbing effect upon the mind.  It is simply impossible, and understandably so, for an inexperienced player to maintain his mental equilibrium in the face of a strong wind.

Two things are most natural to do in this situation; one, to press the shot in order to make up the distance the wind takes away; the other to try to hit the ball low so that it will escape the effect of the wind.  The first of these, pressing, is, of course, fatal; the second is all right for the expert, but usually bad for the ordinary player, because he does not know how to accomplish his aim.

Now let's just stop and look at the thing for a moment.  There is no way for me or anyone else to tell a man how he can hit a golf ball as far against the wind as he can with it, or in calm air; it simply cannot be done; so let's not consider this as a possibility.  If we suppose that a certain player, at his ultimate, can reach a four-hundred-yard hole in two shots when there is no wind, then if the wind against takes ten yards off each shot, his limit will be reduced to 380 yards, and the four-hundred-yard hole will be beyond his reach.  Most likely, if the hole actually measured twenty yards more than his limit, in calm air, he would not worry about reaching it; then let him regard the wind as adding just so many yards to the hole.

I prefer to regard the wind hazard in just this way--to treat it as part of the golf course--and to direct my efforts toward doing the best I can with respect to it.  The main thing I think about is holding the ball on line.  I try to get as much distance as I possibly can, with safety, but I never try to do more than I can.  Direction is always of the first importance, and since an opposing wind magnifies errors in striking, it allows fewer liberties than could be taken at other times."

Bobby goes on to advise us, as the saying goes, to swing easy when it's breezy.  He writes:

"I think the best advice, when hitting a shot into a breeze, is to take things even a bit more quietly than usual, the very opposite of pressing.  Primarily, of course, the reason for this is to give better direction, but it will also be found, surprisingly perhaps, that in this way the actual loss of distance will be lessened."

Bobby goes on to advise against efforts to hit the ball down, or punch it, when playing into the wind, explaining that these efforts, at least when made by the average player, more often than not result in a shot that may start low, but tends to baloon up into the wind because of the added spin. He noted that what we really want is a shot that bores into the wind and keeps going forward when it lands. When talking about that shot, he tells us:

"This sort of flight is not accomplished by hitting the ball down.  The best stroke is one that takes the ball almost squarely in the back, while the club head is moving just about parallel to the ground; it applies only a very little backspin to the ball; and the more it can be made a sweep, instead of a sharp hit, the better."

This is great advice for the average player for every shot, not just for into the wind.  I was interested to learn that Tom Watson, who knew a little something about playing in the wind, to which his five Open Championships attest, didn't bother with changing his swing, or altering his trajectory, when playing in the wind.  He simply took more club where required to do so and made his normal swing.  That would seem to be a great idea to follow.  Why try something fancy, when taking one or two more clubs and making your normal swing will suffice?  Golf is difficult enough without complicating things, or trying to get fancy.

I like playing in the wind.  As the Scots are quick to point out, nae wind, nae golf.

Playing Your Own Ball

I was playing a match the other day against Steve and Spiro, where I was playing their best ball.  We have a lot of fun with these matches, that include lots of good-natured teasing and trash talk.

I had about a ten footer for par on one hole and knocked it in.  Steve and Spiro had shorter par putts, but they were both longer than six feet.  I said to Steve, after making my putt, "That just made yours a little longer, Steve my son."

Steve stood over his eight footer and knocked it right in the center of the cup.  Steve looked at me and smiled, saying, "I play my ball, not yours."  Spiro then calmly made his putt for par as well.

This reminded me of the great quote from Bobby Jones, who said, "The golfer very soon is made to realize that his most immediate, and perhaps most potent, adversary is himself.  Even when confronting a human opponent, the most crucial factor is not the performance of the opposition, but the effect of this performance upon the player himself."

I thought I might have been able to rattle Steve by holing that ten footer, when he probably expected me to miss.  But, as Steve aptly pointed out, it wasn't an issue to him because he was playing his own ball.  What happened with my ball was of no account to him.  

It's easy to say that you are just playing your own ball--not being affected by your opponent's play--but it's not as easy to do.  Good on ya, Steve.

Playing From the "Long Shit"

Jeff and I made the hour and a half drive from Picton to Bellemere Winds, a lovely course that looks over Rice Lake near Keene, Ontario.  We were paired up with two lovely and charming young women, Laura and Cindy, who kindly invited us to accompany them.

Every round of golf is a new adventure, and today was no exception.  My first tee shot found the fescue and it served as an accurate foreboding of just what sort of day it was going to be. On the first hole, I heard Laura calmly inform Cindy, who was asking where the ball went, that the ball was, in fact, in the "long shit."  Cindy, of course, had plenty of company, as Laura, Jeff, and yours truly also found ourselves in the "long shit" on the first hole, and more than a few times thereafter.

You are generally able to learn something from every round, if you are paying attention.  Today I learned two things: I shouldn't give up my day job, and this game is much more difficult if you keep hitting it in the "long shit."

As for Bellemere Winds; it's a lovely course, but you would be well advised when playing it to avoid the "long shit."  And, believe me, there's one heckuva lot of the "long shit" to avoid.

To Waggle or Not to Waggle

I played with Steve, Brian, and Tim again today at one of our favourite "away courses," Shelter Valley Pines near Grafton, Ontario.  A fun day was had by all.

Tim is an aspiring comedian who is something to behold on the golf course. His game is somewhat erratic, with the occasional birdie, followed by the inevitable sevens and eights.  We were saying afterwards that some of his antics on the course would be great for his act.  He is a great guy, but he's sometimes awfully hard to watch, particularly if you are having a bad day and just want to get on with it.  

Tim, after finally deciding on a weapon and the shot to play, sets up to the ball with murderous intent.  He takes a few waggles, eyeing up his target, digs himself in like a batter in baseball, and then freezes over the ball, staring it down like it's a venomous snake.  He's a lefty, and likes to set up right next to the tee marker on the left side of the tee box, likely in an effort to accommodate his fade, which is really more of a slice.  After this ritual, he sets his club behind the ball and takes a vicous swing.  It is only after the dust settles that you realize this was, in fact, a practice swing.  Your first thought is, "he missed it!"  The process then repeats itself, this time with the ball being struck.  The results are not very predictable, but his full finish is; even if the shot fails to get past the ladies tee, as it did on several occasions today.  You can pretty much count on Tim holding that finish.  He holds the finish like a champ.

At first, being one who likes to play quickly, I would find myself being faked out by Tim's routine, starting to move to my next shot, only to realize that this first, deliberately vicious, swipe was, in fact, only his practice swing. I've pretty much got it now, but tend to try not to watch this routine as much as possible in case some of it wears off.  If there is a real positive, in discussing Tim's pre-shot routine, it's that his practice swing certainly matches his regular swing.  Both swings are identical, and they are all business.  There's no patty-caking it where Tim is concerned.

This, eventually predictable, pre-shot routine by Tim got me thinking about all the ways in which players set up and prepare to hit the ball.  I must admit that I find it quite fascinating to watch the varied contortions and rituals most players will go through just to hit a ball with a stick.

One thing that was perhaps made popular by Ben Hogan was the waggle.  His book Five Lessons contributed to a generation of wagglers, but he was certainly not the father of the waggle as I discovered by reading Bobby Jones on Golf.  Tim's definitely a waggler.  But, come to think of it, we don't see as many waggles on the PGA tour these days, other than perhaps Jason Dufner.

The question is, therefore, should we waggle?  Is there any virtue in it, or is it simply an affectation that contributes very little to the success of the shot?  Bobby Jones saw some real virtue, not necessarily in the waggle alone, but in staying in motion prior to starting the swing.  In a chapter entitled Staying in Motion, Bobby wrote:

"The function of the waggle and the movement of the body preceding the actual beginning of the backswing is to avoid or destroy tension in the position from which the swing is to make its start.  Smoothness is an essential quality of the correct golf stroke, and since a smooth start cannot be made if the muscles are tense or the posture strained, it is of the utmost importance that the player should be completely relaxed and comfortable as he addresses the ball.  Provided the waggle and the player's manner of falling into his first position accomplish this, it matters little what form the movement takes.  Practice among first-class players varies from one waggle of the club to Sandy Herd's famous seventeen. (I once counted them.)

My own preference is for a manner of addressing the ball that wastes little time.  Having decided upon the club to use and the shot to play before stepping up to the ball, I can see no reason for taking any more time in the address than is necessary to measure one's distance from the ball and to line up the shot.  The more one fiddles around arranging the position, the more likely one is to be beset by doubts that produce tension and strain.

It is far easier to maintain perfect relaxation if one keeps continuously in motion, never becoming still and set.  It sounds farfetched, I know, bit I have have had a few players tell me that after forming the habit of taking great pains in addressing the ball, they reached a point where they simply could not take the club back...

I do not think it wise to prescribe any definite number of waggles. (Bobby wrote that, when he took more than one, he could expect trouble.)  That depends too much upon how long is required for the player to settle into a comfortable position; but it is important to make the movement easy, smooth, and comfortable, and to form the habit of getting the thing done without too much fussing and worry.  In many cases, it will help to determine for awhile to just step up to the ball and hit it."

I don't really think about my pre-shot routine.  I know I always step in from behind the ball, first aiming my club face.  I know I also tend to start every swing with a forward press, but I'm never really conscious of whether I waggle or not.  I don't really think Bobby would recommend some of the deliberately elaborate pre-shot routines we see these days.  Whether we choose to waggle or not, I think he would definitely prefer that everyone, especially amateurs, be resolved just to "miss it quick."  All I can say is, "Amen to that."

In the picture, below, Tim is on the left, Brian is on the right, and I stand, like a rose between two thorns, in the middle of the seventeenth tee at the Sanctuary Club on Cat Island, near Beaufort, South Carolina. 

Are We Entering Another Golden Era of Golf?

People always like to argue in favour of their favourite player when it comes to discussions about who was the greatest player of all time, and what era produced the best golf.  We all tend, naturally, to be biased in our views in favour of our favourite player, or players.  But, I suspect, only three or four names will generally always be considered in any discussion of who was the greatest player.  As for golf's greatest era, unless you are really long in the tooth, or you are a student of golf history, you tend to go with the era you know best, namely your own.

I suspect most golfers, or golf fans, would have on their list of the greatest players ever in golf's modern era Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods.  I would probably add Byron Nelson to that group, if only because of his unbelievable 11 wins in a row, and 18 wins in one year.  That has to be the greatest golf ever played in a year's span.  Furthermore, I believe the records show that, when playing against Hogan and Snead, Nelson was most often the better man.  

The fact that Jones, Hogan, Nicklaus and Woods were all from different eras, we will never have the luxury of seeing any of them go head to head.  And, in the case of Hogan and Nelson, Hogan rose to dominance only after Nelson took a relatively early retirement.  That, of course, means the debate as to who was the greatest player ever will continue forever.  The argument can never really be settled.

What prompted me to write this was a piece Sam Adams just wrote in the blog, Essentially Golf, which made the point that, regardless of whether we ever see a Tiger resurgence or not, golf's future looks extremely bright.  He also made the point that the golf we have witnessed from Jordan Spieth this year in the Majors, and in particular his dominant performance at the Masters, which tied Tiger's record score on a course that was tougher than the course Tiger played, puts Spieth's season firmly in the running for one of the greatest we've ever witnessed.  From a scoring standpoint it was, in fact, the greatest.

So, we really need to give Spieth and some of these new men some respect.  The numbers tell us that Tiger, even in his prime, would probably not have dominated in today's fields the way he did from '97 to 2008.  He would no doubt have won his fair share, and we would likely still be talking about how great he was, but I'd be willing to bet that Spieth and McIlroy in particular would not have folded like cheap suits the way so many other top players did against Tiger in his prime.

The same argument could be made with respect to Nicklaus' generation when talking about Tiger.  Nicklaus faced fields that might not have been as deep in terms of sheer numbers of good players. But Nicklaus certainly faced more great players while earning his 18 Majors and amassing his astounding record of top threes in the Majors than did Tiger.  Think about who Nicklaus faced.  He faced Palmer, Player, Casper, Johnny Miller, Tom Watson, and Trevino, to name but a few.  Most, if not all, of those men have significantly more impressive resumes than anyone Tiger had to face, other than possibly Mickelson.  Okay, Big Ernie was no slouch, and Vijay was pretty amazing as well, but let's face it, Nicklaus faced some incredibly strong competition in terms of guys who didn't back down from anyone.  And, I didn't even mention Raymond Floyd.  Nicklaus faced some great players who wouldn't, and didn't, blink.  They were hard men.

But then, so did Hogan--who played against Snead, Nelson, Demarat, and many others--face some hard, battle-tested men who were genuinely in the category of great players.  Actually, so did Bobby Jones, who faced Walter Hagen and Gene Sarazen, to name but two.  I think, in terms of facing champions, Tiger might have had the easiest run of all the great players in terms of having to deal with two or three world-class champions to stare right back at him at the Majors.

The reality is, however, as time goes on, the fields might get deeper, but like in every generation, the few truly great players find a way to rise to the top of the heap and make a special name for themselves.  And, at the end of the day, when striving to be called a great player, all you can do, and all you should have to do, is beat the guys you play against.  

Tiger was truly great. No one in their right mind would dare suggest otherwise.  But, looking at the golf scene today, in terms of excitement; in terms of fields full of talented, fearless players; there is reason to believe that we are entering an era that just might someday be looked back upon as being a golden era--an era perhaps like the era of Hogan, Snead, and Nelson; or Nicklaus, Watson, and Trevino.  An era of big-time players enjoying big-time rivalries.  

Tiger never really had himself a rivalry, like Nicklaus, or Hogan.  He often won with relative ease.  He won fourteen of fourteen Majors where he had secured the third round lead. A mind-boggling achievement, but I think it's only fair to say that the excitement of those wins was somewhat diminished by their predictability and the relative ease with which Tiger won them.  Yes, we were witness to brilliant golf, but there wasn't much drama.  His wins were often secured with an atmosphere of inevitability.  Once Tiger secured the lead in a Major, at least until a fellow named Y,E. Yang came along, Tiger knew, we knew, and, more-importantly, his opponents knew, that it was pretty much all over but the crying.  Golf is much better for the fans when we are glued to our seats, holding our collective breath, as we watch to see who will win.  We want to see great players.  But, we want to see them truly tested.  Nobody really likes a foregone conclusion, or a blowout.

With Spieth and McIlroy we just may finally get another great rivalry, supported by a large cast of superb players who will be there to steal the show if those two aren't at their best.  Both Spieth and McIlroy have shown that they are capable of truly dominant performances like we saw from Tiger.  Surely, sooner or later, we will see these two heavyweights face eachother in the last round of a Major.  Now that is going to be a treat.

We may just be entering another golden era of golf.  Golf doesn't look to be in much trouble at all, if this year is anything to go by.  I would argue that it just doesn't get much better than this.

Bobby Jones on Swinging the Club Head

There are exceptions to every rule.  But, generally speaking, what is most obvious when watching the better players swing the club is the timing, rhythm, and fluidity of their swings.  Very few really good players look like a caveman killing his lunch when they strike the ball.  The better players swing the club head.  The poor players try to use the shaft of the club to transmit force to the ball.  As Bobby Jones put it, they might as well be swinging a broom handle, rather than a finely crafted golf club.

In his book Bobby Jones on Golf, Bobby elaborates on just what it means to swing the club head:

"Two of golf's most eminent instructors, MacDonald Smith and Ernst Jones, built all their teaching around the one conception, 'Swing the club head.'  There are other details to be thought of, of course, in developing anything like a sound swing, but in the end it will be found that this is the prime necessity.  Those who are able to sense what it means to 'swing the club head' will find that they can thus cover up a multitude of sins, and those who sense it not will find no amount of striving for perfection in positioning will quite take its place.

In order to make easier the discovery of this sense of swinging, the club must be swung back far enough so that there will be no need for hurry or quickened effort coming down.  This is the one point I have tried to stress more than anything else--the necessity for an ample backswing if one is truly to swing the club head.  The man who allows himself only a short backswing can never be a swinger, because his abbreviated length does not allow space for a smooth acceleration to get him up to speed by the time the club reaches the ball.

Rhythm and timing we all must have, yet no one knows how to teach either.  The nearest approach to an appreciation of what they are is in this conception of swinging.  The man who hits at the ball, rather than through it, has no sense of rhythm; similarly, the man who, after a short backswing, attempts to make up for lost space by a convulsive effort initiating the downstroke has no sense of rhythm.

The only one who has a chance to achieve a rhythmic, well-timed stroke is the man who, in spite of all else, yet swings his club head, and the crucial area is where the swing changes direction at the top.  If the backswing can be made to flow back leisurely, and to an ample length, from wherevthe start downward can be made without feeling that therevmay not be enough time left, there is a good chance of success.  But a hurried backswing induces a hurried start downward, and a short backswing makes some sort of rescue measures imperative.  A good golfer will not like to be guilty of either...

Stiff or wooden wrists shorten the backswing and otherwise destroy the feel of the club head.  Without the supple connection of relaxed and active wrist joints, and a delicate, sensitive grip, the golf club, which has been so carefully weighted and balanced, might just as well be a broom handle with nothing on the end.  The club head cannot be swung unless it can be felt at the end of the shaft.

So swing, swing, swing, if you want to play better golf; fight down any tautness wherever it may make its appearance; strive for relaxed muscles throughout, and encourage a feeling of laziness in the backswing and the start downward.  Go back far enough, trust your swing, and then--swing the club head through."

It's funny, but as I read this instruction, I think of Freddie Couples and his full, lazy, rhythmic swing.  No wonder I like to think about Freddie when I feel I'm getting too quick, or like I'm lurching at the ball, instead of swinging through it.  That Bobby Jones was sure able to paint the picture.