Struggles

There are a lot of promises made by unscrupulous and dishonest golf teachers and club manufacturers. If you were to believe the hype, you could find yourself very disappointed by the fact that the new club didn't have you hitting it thirty yards farther off the tee, or dead straight every time; or buying that video didn't make you capable of never slicing. Golf isn't like that. If it sounds too good to be true, it's because it is.

Bobby Jones was the greatest player of his generation--and perhaps of all time. And he had some really valuable observations and advice for all golfers. He saw no virtue in trying to develop the mythical repeating golf swing because he knew it didn't exist. He didn't believe in golfers trying to break the golf swing down, or trying to swing the club according to Hoyle because he knew the secret was in the strike--not the swing.

Bobby Jones understood that golf was a game of struggles. He understood that champions were champions because of their ability to deal with the inevitable struggles that every round brought. He believed in being determined, and resourceful, in dealing with troubles, and said he won championships because he tried harder and was wiling to take more punishment than his opponents--not because he had managed to groove the perfect swing.

Bobby finally learned, still as a young man, that perfection simply wasn't attainable in golf. You simply will never hit it dead solid perfect every time no matter what equipment you buy, or how long you labour on the practice tee. He said that he played his best no more than six times a year; and in those best rounds he would hit no more than six shots--other than putts--exactly as planned. And he was the greatest player of his time. 

If we believe Bobby Jones--and we should--we should accept and be prepared for trouble in every round; and we should not be disappointed on the days when we have more trouble than normal. With that mindset, coupled with the resolve to never give up, we can be the best golfer we can be. Or, we can buy the latest club, or video, that promises us the world. It's really up to us.

Dead Aim

I haven't been writing for some time now because my game has been in the doldrums. When you can't score, you tend to feel like you're in no position to suggest to others what they should be doing on the golf course, even if the advice you're giving comes from golf's greatest players.

But recently Steve and I rediscovered the one thing every golfer must do to play their best golf. Harvey Penick had perhaps the best advice you can give to any golfer. He said we must "take dead aim." Golf is a target game. And the best golfers are able to choose, and then commit to hitting, a specific target. That target may not necessarily be the pin, or the exact centre of the fairway, but it is a specific target.

Too many golfers stand on the tee and just try to hit the fairway. The fact is that a thirty yard fairway is simply not a specific enough target to enable you to take dead aim and for your mind body to perform at its best. It would be like playing darts and just trying to hit the board instead of the bullseye. Your target needs to be something small, like the white 150 yard marker in the middle of the fairway. When hitting into the green, the target might not necessarily be the flagstick. But it can't be vague enough to be just hitting the green.

Of course, taking dead aim means identifying your target, properly aiming your clubface at that target and then making a swing with direct intention of hitting the ball to that target. And while that may sound obvious, it is amazing how often we don't do it. When I think of taking dead aim, I can't think of a better example than Jack Nicklaus and the obvious care he took to aim at his target. Jack said that most shots were missed before the club was even taken back, emphasizing the need for setting up to hit your target and having the correct mental attitude.

After another frustrating round today, I realized that I had been caught up in thinking about my golf swing instead of taking dead aim. When I mentioned it to Steve, who was also struggling, he realized he was doing the same thing. We played the last few holes telling eachother what our target was. We didn't always hit it. But we both played better. In fact, I finished with back to back birdies.

The time to think about your swing is on the practice range. When you hit the links, it's time to take dead aim. That's the way to play golf.

Teach Golf as it is Learned

So many golfers, myself included, spend an inordinate amount of their time focussing on their swing. This search for mechanical excellence never seems to end for many of us when it is quite possible that many of us would be better off learning to play with what we have. 

In his book, Golf is my Game, Bobby Jones wrote about the state of the game in his day. About teaching, he wrote:

    "It seems obvious to me that writing about the golf swing has become too technical and complicated, and even the most earnest teaching professional presents the game to his pupil as a far more difficult thing than it really is. It is equally obvious that what the game needs most if it is to grow in popularity is a simplification of teaching routines which will present a less formidable aspect to the beginner, and offer the average player a rosier prospect of improvement.

    The trouble could be, and I think it is, that golf is not taught as it is learned. It is taught more as a science or as a prescribed set of calisthenic exercises, whereas it is learned as a game."

Today, we still see the vast majority of teachers focussing on helping golfers improve their golf swing, as though this was the way for them to improve as players. To some extent, I suppose, they are giving golfers what they think they want or need; namely a path to a sound, conventional golf swing. And Bobby said he would never discourage anyone from pursuing that goal with a qualified teacher.

There is, however, often a problem with this approach--this swing focussed approach to learning golf. Bobby Jones wrote: 

    "It is folly for either teacher or pupil to expect that any swing can be perfected in an afternoon, a week, or even a season. It is significant that Stewart (Stewart Maiden, Bobby's teacher) did not try to fill my head with theories. He merely put me in a position to hit the ball and then told me to go on and hit it."

Bobby Jones believed that you learned to play golf by playing it. Sounds obvious, but if we examine what is happening today, we might wonder. Bobby wrote:

    "I have always said that I won more golf tournaments because I tried harder than anyone else and was willing to take more punishment than the others. More immodestly, I will say now that I think a large factor in my winning was a greater resourcefulness in coping with unusual situations and in recovering from or retrieving mistakes."

Bobby credited his success to his ability to play the game, not on a perfect, repeating golf swing--something he believed was impossible to obtain. And I think teachers who really want to see their students improve would do well to emphasize the playing of the game over the swinging of the club. At every level we see golfers with unorthodox swings beating golfers with textbook swings. Why? Because they play the game better.

While I am not a teacher, I have seen players I've attempted to help make improvements in their game by working, not on their swings, but on course management, learning to play bunker shots, and choosing the right clubs and shots when they find themselves in trouble, or when they are around the green. Golf is a game. It is best learned, as Bobby Jones said, by playing it.

No Grousing Rule

Do you grouse? I know I do. I hit shots, and even before they've stopped rolling, I'm moaning that I pushed it, or hit it fat, or didn't hit it. And sometimes those shots that I've "groused" about turn out just fine. It's a bad habit that is no doubt annoying to anyone forced to listen to my complaining.

Today I played at English Turn in New Orleans with David. I asked him to join me as we were both singles. On one hole, I hit a ten-foot birdie putt and immediately moaned that I hadn't hit it. Sure enough, the putt just made it to the hole and dropped in. 

David said: "You owe me two bucks for grousing."

He explained that this is a rule with the guys he plays with back in Detroit. You owe each guy in your group a dollar if you grouse and the shot turns out okay. If it turns out really good, it's two bucks. I think it's a heckuva good rule. And it would soon teach me to keep my grousing to myself.

We had a great day on the course. After starting the day with a chip in for birdie on the first hole, David capped it off by making a great birdie on the 476 yard par four 18th--bookend birdies. His second shot on 18 from 208 yards into a pretty stiff breeze ended up about five feet from the pin. The guy can really play. As for me, I did manage to play the back nine in even par for a 77. But I played from the whites. David played from the tips.

I'm planning on instituting the grousing rule next year when I tee it up with my buddies back home. Hopefully it will motivate me to keep my moaning to myself.

Hyde Park Golf Club

I must admit that I'm a Donald Ross fan. I love his golf courses whether they beat me up or not. This trip to Florida I've made my usual stops at the Ross munis in Palatka and New Smyrna. I wanted to play the Bacon Park course in Savannah as well, but they had a tournament scheduled for the day we headed to St Augustine from Murrells Inlet, just south of Myrtle Beach, so I had to just drive right by.

Of course, a lot of Ross courses are private. So, unless I'm prepared to drive to them and try to ingratiate myself with a member and get an invite to play, I'm pretty much out of luck. Them's the hazards of not being a man of means. But I discovered another Ross muni in Jacksonville, called Hyde Park, and Marvin and I played it the other day with two of his buddies, Elder and Mike.

The day was about as perfect as it could be. Around seventy two degrees, with just enough breeze to keep me from sweating too much and to make the southern boys think about putting on a jacket. Mike and Elder played the senior tees, but I decided to play with Marvin from the whites at sixty one hundred and change. Sixty one hundred doesn't sound like much, but it's plenty for an old cripple like me when it's a Ross design. 

Since I only drive it about two hundred yards these days, I was approaching most greens from around 150, which generally means I'm using my, usually trusty, five hybrid. But on this day my hybrid was not cooperating. A hook into the trees on the first hole led to a disgraceful seven, thanks to a fatted pitch and three whacking it on the green.

To make a long story short, I shot 43 on the front and, after a string of bogeys, 42 on the back. It wasn't pretty, but I did cap it off with a nice 4 hybrid shot to about five feet on the last hole that I managed to covert for my only birdie. As for Marvin and the lads, they got a little more bang for their buck. Marvin was 97, Mike was 102, and Elder was around 107. But we had a helluva good time. It was my first time playing with Elder and he was a lot of fun. 

I can't wait to play Hyde Park again. It's got some terrific holes and it's my kind of place. I'm really a muni kind of guy. For now, though, it's off to the Gulf Shores, AL; and a week in New Orleans.

Coming Home in the Dark at St John's Golf and Country Club

My buddy, Marvin, and I played St John's Golf and Country Club between Jacksonville and St Augustine yesterday. We've played the course before and have thoroughly enjoyed it. The staff are friendly and accommodating. The course is well-designed and very "playable", with enough room off the tee, enough water, bunkers, and trees to make you think, greens mostly open on the front to allow you to run it up, and fast greens that can initially be a shock to your system depending upon where you normally play. (I four-putted the first hole.)

We had a 2:20 tee time, so beating the darkness was always going to be a challenge at this time of the year. The starter was good enough to get us off a little early by pairing us up with Randy and another Marvin, two brothers from Jacksonville. And it was quickly apparent that these two brothers, though grizzled veterans like us, could really play. They were not just pretty faces.

Suffice it to say, we had a grand time, making a few birdies and a few "others." But, as we feared, we ended up finishing in almost complete darkness. The strange thing was we played really well in the gloom. On the last hole we drove into total darkness, found our balls and the three of us--my man, Marvin had quit because he was freezing--hit our second shots to a green we couldn't see. Marvin suggested I aim at the left edge of a back bunker and gave me the yardage. My buddy, Marvin, used his phone to illuminate my ball and I flushed one into the dark. Randy said he flushed his as well. Marvin had made no comment on his, so we had no idea whether it was a good one or a stinker.

Upon arriving at the last green, we found all three of us on the dancefloor. Marvin was about twelve feet from the hole, slightly long and right of the pin. Randy was about four feet left of the pin, and I was three feet past the pin, directly behind the hole. I could have holed it for the same money. Just goes to show you that playing in the daylight might be slightly over-rated. Still, St John's is best enjoyed in the light of day.

We exchanged numbers and will hopefully get to play again sometime this winter. Those brothers were not only pretty damned good players, they were good company.

The Golfer's Mind

Golf is a game of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter. There is an ideal attitude for a golfer. Bobby Jones wrote about this. He wrote that a golfer must be prepared for the making of mistakes. Not only that, but a golfer must not be discouraged on the days when he makes more of them than usual.

When you are hitting it solid--and the putts are dropping--golf can seem almost easy. But, inevitably in this game, the wheels will start to come off. It happens to the best players. What defines the best golfers is how they react when this happens. The best golfers refuse to become discouraged; and they refuse to give up.

I've played a couple of rounds with my friend, Charlie, and his wife, Kathy, from Toronto. We are down in South Carolina, escaping the crappy weather in Canada. Riding with Charlie, we've discussed this attitude that is so important for golfers--this acceptance of bad shots and the refusal to give up. Charlie admits that he does not possess what he calls "the golfers mind." He is more apt to become frazzled after a poor shot, and, in that state of mind, often allows one bad shot to beget another.

Yesterday, playing the River Club, I went out in 39, which was okay given that I putted poorly. But, at the turn--which in our case was the first hole--the wheels suddenly came off. I couldn't find the center of the clubface and I couldn't chip and putt worth a damn. After four holes, I had dropped six shots to par. Charlie was having his own struggles as well.

I said to Charlie, after finally making a par on five, that we should try to play the rest of the holes in even par. Charlie just smiled, not convinced that such a thing was likely, or even possible. I made pars at six and seven--only by virtue of some scrambling. On eight, a nice par three over water, I failed to get it up and down for par from the front edge and needed birdie on the last to reach my goal of finishing the last five in even par.

Rather than become discouraged after missing an easy up and down, I announced that I was going to finish with a birdie. I hit a good drive, but thinned my approach into the front bunker. Now, I had to hole quite a lengthy bunker shot to make good on my promise. I focussed as hard as I could and struck the sand perfectly. I watched in amazement as the ball rolled right into the middle of the hole, not even touching the flagstick.

As crippled as I've become, my game is not likely to do anything but get worse. I can't change that. But at least I can keep working on developing that "golfer's mind" that is so important. It's amazing what you can overcome if you don't give in to discouragement, and refuse to quit.