Bobby Jones on Playing the Game Part Two

Bobby Jones famously said that golf was played on a five and a half inch course--the distance between your ears. He also said that it was easier to learn good judgement than it was to learn to swing a club like Harry Vardon. And yet, it seems that many golfers continue to spend most of their time working on their swing instead of focussing on improving their mental game.

Bobby Jones was a child prodigy. He played in a US Amateur at age fourteen and was a golfing sensation. But despite his prodigious talent, Bobby had to learn to manage his game before he began winning Major Championships. Prodigious talent wasn't enough to beat the best golfers in the world. 

Consider what Bobby wrote in his book, Golf is my Game:

    "In my early years I think I must have been completely intolerant of anything less than absolute perfection in the playing of any shot... I habitually played every shot for its ultimate possibilities, regardless of risk. This lack of discretion must have been fairly obvious; for Bill Fownes, the resourceful Pittsburgh amateur, once said to me, 'Bob, you've got to learn that the best shot possible is not always the best shot to play.'"

A player who goes for broke, hits at every pin, and tries to reach every par five in two blows, regardless of the risks, might win occasionally when he's on his game and the stars align for him. But sooner or later, the odds will catch up with him. He won't be a consistent winner. Consider what Bobby says is the ideal golfing temperament:

    "J.H. Taylor, of the famous 'triumvirate' of Vardon, Taylor, and Braid, once described the ideal attitude of the golfer as one of 'courageous timidity', with the courage to bear adversity coupled with enough caution to cause him to be aware of a limit to his powers.

     It took some doing, I'll admit, but it is a fact that I never did any real amount of winning until I learned to adjust my ambitions to more reasonable prospects shot by shot, and to strive for a rate of performance that was consistently good and reliable, rather than placing my hopes upon the accomplishment of a series of brilliant sallies."

So, there it is. Despite his prodigious talent, Bobby Jones had to learn to become courageously timid before he did any real amount of winning. He had to learn to use some caution on the golf course, not relying on winning by accomplishing a series of "brilliant sallies." 

If he was so good, why was it necessary for young Bobby to exercise such restraint on the golf course? I'll cover that in my next article.

What Makes a Good Golfer?

I played with Cal yesterday at Watchesaw Plantation East in Murrels Inlet, SC. It was a lovely day, with the sun shining, a nice breeze, and about 72 degrees.

At the turn Cal hit a poor tee shot that left him in a position where he needed to hit a hooking shot around some trees and over water about two hundred yards if he was to get close to the green. He examined his situation and then wisely hit his next shot safely to the 150 yard marker. 

As luck would have it, after completing this shot, Cal asked me what I thought made a good golfer. I quickly responded that what he just did is what makes a good golfer. He could have tried a heroic recovery shot likely beyond his capability and, in the process, made a big number. But he played the smart shot and got out of trouble, giving himself a chance to save par, or at least have a good chance at bogey.

Bobby Jones wrote about one of the old-time greats of the game, J.H. Taylor, part of the great British trio that included Harry Vardon and James Braid. Bobby wrote in his book Bobby Jones on Golf:

    "J.H. Taylor made the statement that all the great golfers he had known had possessed a quality he chose to call 'courageous timidity.' That happy phrase expresses exactly the qualities a golfer, expert or not, must have in order to get the most from whatever mechanical ability he may have. He must have the courage to keep trying in the face of ill luck or disappointment, and timidity to appreciate and appraise the dangers of each stroke, and to curb a desire to take chances beyond reasonable hope of success. There can be no doubt that such a combination in itself embraces and makes possible all the other qualities--determination, concentration, nerve--we acclaim as parts of the ideal golfing temperament for the championship contender as well as the average golfer."