You Need Some Luck

Gary Player is reputed to have been the man who coined the phrase, "The harder I practise the luckier I get."  Sam Snead also said words to the effect that you get out of this game only what you put into it.  This is true.  But it doesn't tell the whole story.  The game of golf also involves luck.  The best player doesn't always win.

In fact, Jack Nicklaus said that golf is the only game where you can win twenty percent of the time and be the best player in the world.  If you want to win all the time, better to take up tennis, or some other sport that doesn't involve luck the way golf does.

Sam Snead should have won more than one US Open.  He was unlucky.  Tom Watson should have won at least one PGA championship.  But it just wasn't in the cards.  Golfers need to be able to accept the fact that no one ever promised that golf would be fair.  All you can do as a golfer is try your hardest and accept that sometimes the putts will drop and sometimes they won't.  That's golf.

I was watching our new Canadian phenom, Brooke Henderson, as she became the first Canadian woman to win a Major since 1968.  As she putted it in on the eleventh hole from off the green, some ninety feet away, Annika Sorenstam was heard to say that no matter how good you are, you need some luck to win a Major. Brooke was not only good, she was lucky.  She made a hole in one.  She made that improbable putt.  But she also put it all out there and came away with the championship.  And we, particularly Canadians, celebrate her success.

I had some recent success at a much lower level this past week.  As I looked back on it, I remembered good shots.  I remember driving it straighter than my opponents.  But I also remembered a tee shot that just stopped short of a hazard thanks to the wind and resulted in a birdie instead of a bogey.  I remembered at least three key putts that barely fell in the hole instead of lipping out, including the winning putt.  I was lucky.  I could have just as easily lost had I not had some good breaks.

So, while hard work will likely be rewarded in this game, never forget that you need a bit of luck--a few good bounces--if you're going to win.  And maybe that's one of the reasons why golf is the greatest game there is. You cannot control the outcome.  A perfect drive might end up in a divot.  A terrible shot might bounce off a tree and end up in the hole.  You have to be a bit fatalistic.  You have to realize that to some extent the outcome rests in the lap of the golfing gods.  

I'm okay with that.  I think the golfing gods are a benevolent bunch.  They will eventually reward the right attitude.

Give Luck a Chance.

I played in the Quinte Cup today.  It is apparently the oldest inter-club competition in North America.  I wrote an article called "Why Worry," which expressed some concern that I was playing poorly and had to play in the number one spot for our club.

This year things went well and I won all my matches, including winning on the last hole against Brian, a fine player from Napanee, to clinch the Cup for our club.  This year, I'm a hero.  Next year, I might be a dog.  That's golf.

What helped me today was Bobby Jones' advice to play Old Man Par--not your opponent.  Old Man Par is still usually good enough in my circles.  In any case, it was edifying not to have screwed up.  This was as much good luck as it was good management.  But all you can do in this game is, as Harvey Penick once said to Davis Love about his putting, "Give luck a chance."  If you just keep hitting it, and don't give up, sometimes good things can happen.

The Repeating Golf Swing

Whether I like it or not, I am prone to thinking about my swing.  Golfers, myself included, often dream of finding the perfect, repeating golf swing.  They read instruction manuals, haunt the range, take lessons, and never find it.  I say they never find it, because there is no swing, including Iron Byron, that hits the ball perfectly every time.  That's just the way it is.  And yet, the search continues.

My favourite golf writer, Bobby Jones, had something to say on the subject that I think is very important to realize. He also offered some great advice on how, instead, we should approach every round of golf. Bobby wrote:

    "We hear a lot these days about the repetitive or repeating golf swing.  It seems to be a new term in the golfing jargon.  Obviously, like the semi-automatic shotgun, it is a fine idea.  If a golfer could only set himself in the same position each time and, by pulling a mental trigger, release the identical swing, he would be a happy fellow.  Even though the swing might be bad, at least he would know where to look for the ball.

     The struggle for good form in golf has purpose, because a sound, simplified swing can perform with greater regularity.  But one of the external beauties of the game is that it will never be susceptible to such rigid control.  The feel of the club is altered from day to day by changes in the weather, and the player's senses respond differently because of the myriad influences within his own make-up.  It is important to test out this feel every day, either before the round or as early as possible in the play...even an average golfer can help himself a lot by hitting a few balls before starting a round, not really practising in the sense of trying to learn anything, but merely in order to find out how his clubs and his swing feel on the particular day.  In any case, he will do better on the course if he will try to play in the way that feels most comfortable instead of trying to remake his swing as he goes along.

     Lacking the opportunity for this bit of practice, or even with it, I should always recommend that the start of any round be taken quietly.  No matter what the length of the first hole may be, the first drive and the first few long shots should be struck well within the player's limit of power.  He can always step up his rate of hitting as he gets the feel of his clubs.  Some of the best tournament rounds I have ever played have started in just this way, with the first few drives kept down the fairway and the second shots played for the centre or main body of the green.  A long putt has gone down, or a second shot wandered up close.  Then, with a stroke in hand and confidence assured, the rest can come quite easily."

Jack Nicklaus was one who followed this advice.  Playing easily and comfortably as he started, and able to step it up once he'd found the groove.  Mr. Jones' final piece of advice is also worth remembering.  He wrote:

     "If I should be limited to one bit of advice to offer to a golfer before the start of a round, it would be, "Take your time".  And it would mean to take your time and avoid hurry in anything; to walk to the first tee and from shot to shot at a leisurely pace; to pause before each stroke long enough to make a considered appraisal before deciding upon the shot to play; and, above all, to take a little more time if things should begin to go wrong."

Every round is a new adventure.  Even the greatest players in the world don't know how they will play from round to round.  Bobby Jones said that he was certain of the fact that he would play his best no more than six times a year, and in his best rounds he would hit no more than six shots exactly as he wanted, other than putts.  If that was true--and there's no reason to believe it wasn't--we should realize that we are never going to have the perfect, repeatable swing, and we should be prepared in advance to have to do some scrambling every time we play.  That's golf.

Why Worry?

Billy Casper once said, "Golfers are the greatest worriers in the world of sport."  It's true.  I tend to be a chronic worrier, and golf affords you lots of time to worry.  You spend only a fraction of your time on the golf course actually hitting the ball.  The rest of the time can be spent worrying if you aren't careful.

The great Australian player, Peter Thomson, said, "Worry is poison."  And how true.  What problem was ever made better by worrying about it?  

Some people think they don't worry when they play.  But Bobby Jones said, "Some people think they are concentrating when they're merely worrying."  Golfers tend to worry.  They worry about their swing.  They worry about the bunkers.  They worry about the water and the out of bounds.  They worry about how they look.  It's a wonder we love the game so much when it worries us as much as it does.

Yesterday Scott told me I'm playing in the number one spot for the club in the Quinte Cup this coming Sunday.  I've been playing poorly the last week and my immediate reaction was to begin to worry.  But then I read the following quote from Harry Vardon: "To play well you must feel tranquil and at peace.  I have never been troubled by nerves in golf because I felt I had nothing to lose and everything to gain."

I've played in several Quinte Cups.  I've played well in some.  In others I've played poorly.  But thinking back on it, worrying about it only ever made things worse.  So I'm going to go out on Sunday and, no matter what happens, just keep hitting it.  That was another piece of advice from Harry Vardon. 

On the other hand, I sure hope I don't screw up.

Clean Balls

Harry Vardon, who was the best player of his day, often offered sage advice.  He once said, "Always use a clean ball."  

It may sound like nothing, but it is actually helpful.  You would never see a pro play a ball with dirt on it. I am often too lazy to worry about cleaning my ball before my tee shot if there isn't any obvious mud on it.  But I think I'm going to start following that advice.  There's nothing like looking down at a perfectly clean golf ball.  

There's a story about Harvey Penick having a guy come to him for a lesson just before he was to play in a big match.  The guy's swing was awful.  There were lots of things Harvey might suggest to help him; such as changing his grip and aligning himself better.  But Harvey couldn't think of anything that would improve his swing in time for his big match.  Instead he told him to make certain he always uses a clean ball.  He knew that advice wouldn't hurt him and it was something positive to think about.

If you are going to offer advice to anyone, using a clean ball is one that definitely won't hurt.  It's amazing how often I've seen people putt with a ball that had sand or mud on it.  The second it takes to clean that ball could save a stroke.  It beats plumb-bobbing, or taking three practice strokes.

Finding What Works

I think it was Ken Venturi who said, "Golf is about finding what works; losing it, and then finding it again."  Right now I've lost it.

A week ago, the game was almost easy.  Right now, I don't know whether I'm punched or bored.  It's terrible.  The problem with most golfers is that we find a swing key that works and we eventually begin to exaggerate that at the expense of something else.  Instead of taking one teaspoon of cough syrup, we drink the whole bottle and we end up in big trouble.  

I managed to recover slightly today by focussing on the strike--visualizing a nail in the back of the ball and striking it down the target line. But, like any other key, it eventually needs to be replaced with something else as the charm wears off, or you start over-doing it and start hitting at, instead of through, the ball.

The last couple of holes I also tried to swing easier, just patty-caking it, like I seem to do whenever I play really well.  It worked pretty well. But, unless you make the putts, Old Man Par will still have your number.  I guess that's both the frustration and the allure of this game.  Once you think you've got it--it's suddenly gone, and the search begins again.  That's golf.  

One thing for certain is that it never gets boring.  Who wants to just hit it dead solid perfect every time anyway?  I wouldn't mind having a round like that every so often, but a great part of the game is how you recover from your misses.  There is nothing quite like getting it up and down from jail to save your par.  This game simply cannot seem to be mastered.  It's like a puzzle with no solution.

Actually, perhaps the key to mastering the game is to become resolute.  To learn to, as Harry Vardon told a young Bobby Jones, keep on hitting it, no matter what happens.  At the end of the day, that's all we can really do.  

The Secret to Lower Scores

Bobby Jones said, "The secret of low scores is the ability to turn three shots into two."  That's why the best players have good short games.  They don't call the wedges and the putter scoring clubs for nothing.  There is nothing like getting the ball up and down from a tricky spot to save par when a bogey or worse was definitely in the cards.  It lifts your spirits and demoralizes your opponent.

There are plenty of good ball strikers out there.  There are lots of big hitters.  But the guys who make the money are the ones who can chip and putt.  While this sounds obvious, it is also quite clear that it is not something generally understood by the average golfer.  If it was, you surely wouldn't see golfers constantly buying the latest driver on the market, guaranteed to give you more yards.  A good drive sets you up to score, and it's great for the ego, but inevitably you will only score if you can chip and putt.  

If this secret was really understood, you also wouldn't see golfers on the range banging away with drivers and long irons and then heading to the first tee with only a few minutes at best spent chipping and putting.  If this was generally appreciated, golf lessons would also not be devoted almost entirely to the full swing, when the scoring shots are usually with the wedge and the putter.  But most golfers take lessons to learn how to hit it farther, or straighter, not how to get out of bunkers or to chip and putt.  Learning the game from around the green first is definitely the best approach.  Teach someone to chip well and he'll soon learn to hit solid full shots.  Harvey Penick said the full swing was really only a longer chip shot.

I played with Spiros yesterday.  He's usually a high eighties, low nineties, shooter.  He drives it relatively short and crooked.  His fairway wood and long iron game is inconsistent at best.  But he often chips and putts like a demon.  As a result,  he generally gets much more out of his game than you would expect watching him hit the ball.  On the back nine his chipping and putting kicked in and he made five pars.  On every one of those pars but one he made par by chipping it stone dead.  It's lucky I beat him two and one because he almost holed it from well off the green on eighteen on a hole where he gets a stroke.  Come to think of it, he did that the last time we played as well.

If anyone wants to get the best from their game and shoot their lowest scores, they'll only do it by sprucing up their short game.  That's the secret to lower scores, regardless of what the ads might say about new clubs, working out to some golf trainer's latest video, or some new swing training method.

Of course I'm hardly one to talk.  I seldom practise at all.  I'd much rather play.  But, then again, I figure I've pretty much reached my level of incompetence.  I must admit, however, that I could use a good bit of work on my short game.  Some days I throw away shots around the green like a drunken sailor.