I‘ve played on three new courses this year and I haven’t enjoyed them that much. In what appears to be a disturbing trend, golf course designers seem to be building the hardest and most unfair golf course possible.
Not sure where traditional golf course design has gone but it seems that super deep bunkers in the middle of the fairway, severely tiered greens and putting surfaces running at 13 on the Stimpmeter appear standard practice. Oh, and I nearly forgot to mention deep and nasty rough lining each fairway.
Although it can be entertaining for five minutes, I have found these super difficult courses boring and uninteresting to play. I can’t help but think what problems handicap golfers have to go through. A round of golf becomes a serious mission – maybe even four hours of torture.
Here’s my idea.
Each golf course should create a Unique Playing Proposition (UPP). The course designer or staff should come up with a short paragraph that uniquely identifies the golf course from its competition. Here’s an example.
Course X has been designed to be extremely difficult. It has deep rough, fast greens and is exceptionally long. Don’t even think about playing here if you’re not playing on single figures.
The UPP could be placed on the back of scorecards or on a sign next to the first tee and would offer three distinct advantages.
- It would pre warn you about what you’re about to experience. There wouldn’t be any unwanted surprises and just maybe help you understand why a certain hole is 420 metres, uphill, with an upside down saucer green and plays into the prevailing wind.
- It would give the course owners a marketing edge. The UPP would help them identify their target market – it would then be a matter of selling the golf course to those golfers who fall into the target market. It’s much easier to sell to a unique group rather than everyone.
- And maybe golf course architects would build better golf courses. They would have to think about the UPP prior to starting and then build accordingly. At the very least it might help us understand what they were thinking.
Bethpage Black, host to this year’s US Open, already do this. The message below leaves the golfer under no doubt about what the golf course is about.
Last week while on holidays I played at Moonah Links. Although I found it incredibly tough, long and almost an unfair golf course, I knew before I teed off that that was to be expected. Designed for the Australian Open, Golf Australia wanted a course that was tough – and it has been marketed that way. Sometimes marketing can go a long way.
I haven’t been a fan of traditional golf media for some time. I pretty much don’t read the magazines, mainstream books or listen that closely to what the golf commentators have to say. To be honest I find it boring and most of what I hear (or read) is garbage.
My faith in the media did not improve last night. Here in Melbourne we have a 24 hour sports radio station. They cover a wide range of sports and give smaller sports (compared to AFL Football) a chance to let their fans know what is going on.
Wednesday night is golf night.
The commentators were talking about US player Ryan Palmer. Palmer won on the PGA Tour for the first time last week. The two commentators seemed more concerned about his funky action rather than his great win. What was even more annoying was their insistence that the Australian coaching system is better than that in the USA.
What the? I think we (Australia) have had a shocking run in golf of late. If we want to be compared to the best then we need to count Major victories as the measuring stick.
In the last 10 years we’ve had only 1 major winner (Geoff Ogilvy US Open 2006). Compare that to 27 for the USA in the same time period.
These commentators were deadly serious in saying that we produce better players because we are technically more gifted. What rubbish! They also went on to say that the American players spent all their time chipping, pitching and putting like there is something wrong with that. The US players might not have the prettiest golf swings but they are better players because they don’t neglect the scoring game. I also think they don’t let ego get in the way as much as Australians do – they’re happy to win ugly if that is what is needed.
Tiger Woods probably makes the comparison a little unfair, he has won 12 Majors since 1999. So here’s a rundown of all the Nationalities who have won in the last 10 years.
USA – 27
South Africa – 4
Ireland – 3
Argentina – 2
Fiji – 2
Australia – 1
New Zealand – 1
Scotland – 1
South Korea – 1
Spain – 1
The only nation that has performed worse in this time frame would be England. They seem to have a similar group of young players as Australia. All “technically gifted” but who can’t seem to get over the line. I would add that Lee Westwood has been a little unlucky.
My annoyance with these commentators is that they are giving the wrong message. The game is so much more than technique. Young listeners are getting the wrong message. The number one skill is playing the game – the swing is only a small part of it, it will never be the entire game. If you can’t trust your swing, chip and putt you have no chance. If you spend the majority of practice time on your swing you will not become the best player you can be.
The radio show was finished off with a young player being interviewed about a recent trip to the USA. He said it had been a useful learning experience. Warming up before one tournament he looked around and couldn’t believe how poorly the US players swung the club. The guy next to him “had a swing like a dog” but went onto shoot 63.
Us Aussies still have a lot to learn. Give me the US coaching style and mindset any day.
Golf can be a difficult sport. No matter how hard you work at it and how much you want to play well, some days the ball doesn’t go where you want it to.
And this is frustrating. And if you don’t have a strategy your mindset and attitude can take a pounding. I should know, I recently experienced one of the absolute low points in my career. Here’s the story.
Playing in a semi-important club event I let my frustration get the better of me. After a few too many poor shots, bad bounces and bad scores I threw my putter off the green. I was annoyed (only at myself) and yes it was a stupid thing to do. I didn’t break the club and no real damage was done. I probably looked like a goose and I’ll have to learn to live with that.
Making matters worse some players on another hole saw my antics. The entire event probably looked pretty bad and my club throwing event was reported to the powers that be.
Long story short: I have been told not to do it again.
The event has made me take stock of why I play golf. It should be for fun, enjoyment, the challenge and a little exercise and in this instance I let myself down.
So what’s the solution to getting your game back on track?
In my case I took some time off late last week and traveled down to the Mornington Peninsula to play some golf with good friends. Although we are all competitive, I decided to play for fun and not worry about the score or how I played.
This is not always easy to do. But you need to have faith that by swinging freely and letting go that your system will take care of the golf part. This is how I’ve always played my best golf and it rarely fails to deliver. The tricky part is having the discipline to do it time after time.
It also helped that I was playing on unfamiliar courses in tough conditions. The challenge was what I needed to refocus my commitment to automatic golf and forget about results or score I shot. I would be lying if I said I played the best golf of my life, but I did play well and I really did enjoy myself.
Golf is a difficult sport and there’s nothing you can do about it. You can get stressed, panic and play safe. Or you can step up to the ball and make the best swing that you can make without a care in the world. The choice is yours.
Sometimes a bad round, situation or poor shot is the “kick in the bum” that you need to get you back on track. A slight refocus is all that is needed and normality can be restored quickly. This is my way of turning a negative into a positive.
A special thanks to Craig Funch at The National Golf Club for looking after us and making the day such a good one.
I thought the PGA Championship this morning was fantastic. I had an inkling that it was time for Tiger to be overtaken in a final round and it proved to be true. Y.E Yang winning will be great for golf and think of the frenzy this will cause in some parts of Asia?
The one thing that really impressed me came from Nick Faldo. His comments after Yang produced the shot of his life on 18 really struck a chord with me. I paraphrase
Sometimes the best way to make par is to play for birdie.
I couldn’t agree more. It can be difficult to swing freely when the pressure is on. The tendency is to play safe and change your natural game. Both combatants today played exceptional golf and truly went for their shots. There was no choking or playing safe. Tiger will probably get criticised but he couldn’t have done much more. Here’s a brief rundown of the last few holes.
Hole 13, par 3 – Tiger hit an incredible 2 iron to about 10 feet and just missed the putt. Yang found the bunker and made a good putt for three.
Hole 14, short par 4 – Yang chipped in for eagle and Tiger made birdie (side note: Holes don’t need to be 450+ metres to be good).
Hole 15, par 5 – After hitting a monster drive, Tiger mishit his second (he had a tricky downhill lie but went for the green). His pitch was an excellent shot but it came up slightly short, the birdie putt only just missed. Yang played the hole well and matched Tiger’s par.
Hole 16, par 4 – Both players hit good tee shots. Tiger found the green and Yang hit an awesome approach that only just cleared the water and finished about 15 feet from the pin. Both players made 4.
Hole 17, par 3 – Yang found the green and Tiger hit a 7 iron that covered the flag. Unfortunately for him it flew too far and into a difficult lie. He couldn’t get up and down. Yang made his only mistake and three-putted.
Hole 18, par 4 – Two great drives (many struggled with this tee shot) and then Yang hit the shot of his life. A three rescue to 10 feet. Tiger also hit a good shot, it only just missed the green to the left. He tried to make his chip – missed it and the event was Yang’s.
Tiger played great golf. He went for every shot and I don’t think he could have played any better. On any other day an extra putt or two would have fallen and an approach shot finished closer to the hole – it usually does but this time it didn’t.
When many before him have failed, Yang played golf like he wanted to win. He actually played the kind of golf Tiger usually does. He swung freely and was up to the challenge. And this is exactly how to deal with pressure and make sure you finish each round in style.
Instead of playing safely and changing your style, here’s what you can do. Take a deep breath, focus on what you want to achieve and then go for it. You might not make a birdie but I guarantee that you’ll maximise your chances of taking a par. And when you want to finish off a good round, par is almost always good enough.
I‘m getting asked more often about playing consistent golf. Lukey, a long time reader, called today and was concerned his game is not has consistent as he would like. He got me thinking and here’s my take on the subject.
Consistent golf is not possible if you try and replicate the perfect swing. Too many of us analyse and try and make copies of our good shots – it seems like the right thing to do, but often leads in failure.
Consistent golf requires that you stop trying to be perfect. You must break free from what you think is the right thing to do and follow your instincts. Here are three steps that will help you find a more consistent golf game.
- Swing in a way that feels good to you. This is the time to do what YOU really want to do, not the advice of some coach, text book or some theory that is lodged deep in your mind.
- Stop analysing. This means the good and the bad. If you can reach the 18th green without thinking about your swing you’ve done well. Try it. It’s a lot of fun.
- Break free. Do something different. Break a rule or two. If your game is not consistent now then you’ve got to do something differently to see results. This step is breaking the shackles and allowing you to explore what is possible.
The paradox of golf is that you can’t play consistently by trying to do so. You have to give up some control to find it. This is the hardest step in the learning process. Children have no problem with it – as adults we feel the need to control, analyse, take our time, try really hard and be perfect.
If you want to find a consistent game it will require a different mindset. Let go, stop trying so hard and definitely no carbon copies allowed. Let each swing go where it wants to go. It’s the only way.
I love the term hatching. A mate of mine termed the phrase to describe someone who takes forever to hit the golf ball – they stuff around so much it appears they’re hatching eggs.
I’ve pinched it and am using it officially to describe those golfers that take too long over the ball, think too much and generally make golf harder than it needs to be. I’m working on the opposite of a Hatcher too – an automatic golfer, someone who plays the game. If you can think of a good name for an automatic golfer please let me know.
My advice is don’t be a Hatcher. It takes too much time and energy and really doesn’t help you. Modern golf instruction breeds Hatchers. Young golfers are encouraged to take their time, think about every possibility, make practise strokes and analyse each shot to death. It really is no wonder why some golf rounds take upwards of five hours.
If you think you’re a Hatcher stop it. See if you can become more decisive and play more quickly. If you can get some footage of golf from 50 years ago you’ll see the perfect role models. A look at the target, a quick shuffle to the ball, a waggle or two and then whack! The entire process over and done with in a few seconds. Less fluffing about and more time to smell the flowers. Golf the way it should be.
