Today I witnessed the best short game i've ever seen in my life

[tmf9]

Well I was planning on getting in a quick 9 in today, just going to walk by myself, and there was a 55 year old man (guessing) with the same idea.  I waited for him so hit his tee shot, and he told me I could go ahead and hit mine as well.  So I did, and hit it pretty good and the man said "hey you just want to play with me" I said fine by me, I don't really play well by myself anyway.  What i witnessed in these 9 holes today really blew my mind, this guys short game was unreal! On the first hole this guy holed about a 15 yard bunker shot, I figured it was mostly luck.  Boy was i wrong, the third hole he made a 10 yard chip and I believe on the seventh hole he damn near holed a 40 yard pitch.  It was truly unbelievable, he only two putted once in the nine holes and drained two 25 footers.  I believe he had 8 putts for the nine holes.  I asked him if his short game was always that good and he simply said "it was one of my better days"  I was truly amazed, probably the most impressive thing i've ever seen on a golf course.  I swear if my short game was as good as this guys i'd be playing d1 golf right now lol.

[mailman]

I was watching one of the young guys at my club the other day and he's a sub 19 yo version of your old guy by the sounds of it :)

Regards

Mailman

[tmf9]

I wish I could be the 19 year old version of the man i played with!

[dfreuter415]

More than 40 years ago my two brothers and I decided to play a quick 9 holes at a local muni near our house. A gentleman, 88 years old was playing alone and we asked if he would like to join us. The three of us (17, 17 & 16) had a combined age that was 38 years younger than this man named John. He was about 5'6" and weighed 140 soaking wet. The three of us averaged 6'2" and 180 pounds or more.  John consented to play with us and said that he would not slow us down. All four of us walked the course that day.

Well, let me tell you.... John hit the ball about 130 yards max, but it was straight as an arrow, and always in play. My brothers and I could hit it more than twice as far as he could, but we were usually in the trees, creek, or adjacent fairways that were indigenous to the course layout. With the short distances of this muni, he was on every green in regulation or one over, never three putted, and showed us that day that you didn't have to be long off the tee to post a good score and enjoy the game. In addition, the stories he told us about his golfing experiences made our two hours together seem like just a few moments. We thought that we were doing an old man a favor by letting him play with us that day, but in truth, we were the lucky ones.

Now that I am a sexagenarian, occasionally when I play alone and someone asks if I want to join them, I think back to that day and hope that I can be as gracious as that 88 year old gentleman and reflect the joy of golf that he obviously had.

[MS256]

When I first started playing I was forced into developing a good short game. I joined a club and the first day a couple of guys asked me if I wanted to join them. I had only played a handful of times and as you can imagine I had no idea what I was doing but I could at least hit the ball a long way and they didn't seem to mind my triple bogies too badly so we became daily playing partners.

Most of the time we just played for fun, but we were very competitive and wanted to win, and other times just to increase the interest we played for $1 a hole.

The only way I could walk away a winner was to never let a short game opportunity go to waste. I couldn't beat them in total strokes because I had too many bad holes but I could hold my own just fine in match play.

There isn't a doubt in my mind that playing every day straight up with people way better than me helped me more than anything else, and forced me to make the short game the best part of my game.

[SWBYPS]

Yea....Its not uncommon to see guys like this as they get around that age and older. Sometimes they cant hit it 200yds...but its straight. They get up around the green (and they are seemingly always laying somewhere just off the front of the green) and its lights out. Especially if they are on a course they have been playing 3 times a week for 10 years.

[grubby98]

I will play at least once a week with the morning seniors at my local muni.  They all seem to have great short games.  One that I mainly play with and joins us on your weekend money games has the best short game I have ever scene.  He rarely doesn't get up and down and has at least a chip in every round.  It is nothing for him to drain a few 20-30 foot putts as well.  He shoots 70-75 daily.  His longest shot is about 235-240 off the T. I always laugh and say if I had his short game I would be one hell of a golfer ( its nothing for me to have a few 2 chip and then some 3 putt holes every round.)

[kcarile]

I have had a similar expirience. My highschool golf team I'm on has 4 seniors this upcoming season. Myself and my 3 friends that I have grown up playing with. It's going to be our senior season but that's a different story. This past year we were preparing for a tournament and our friends dad always comes out to play with us. He's about 5'6 150 and hits his driver around 210. Usually straight maybe a slight turnover draw. But his short game is unreal. He is a animal on and around the greens. All he does is put and chip after work until dark. He as an addiction.. He practices more than we do.. I saw him hole as many chips in one practice round than I have my whole life.. He probably made 9 chips.. Just little bump and runs that find the bottom. I ended up shooting a 78 from the tips at 6900 or 7000 yards.. And he shot 82 from the tips. I hit my driver 280 or 290. He hits it 210. I was amazed haha. Prolly one of the funniest rounds ever.

[tmf9]

Goodluck on your season man, I had my senior season last year, and that along with senior year was one of the funnest times of my life.  But yeah I've had similar experiences with old guys beating my brains in from 50 yards and in but this guy was something else.  I talked to a few guys around the club about them and they said if he went a round without holing a chip or pitch it was a bad day for him

[VegasRenegade]

Originally Posted by dfreuter415

Now that I am a sexagenarian, occasionally when I play alone

If you tell everyone you are a sexagenarian, I suspect all the young ladies will want to play with you.

[SWBYPS]

Originally Posted by kcarile

I have had a similar expirience. My highschool golf team I'm on has 4 seniors this upcoming season. Myself and my 3 friends that I have grown up playing with. It's going to be our senior season but that's a different story. This past year we were preparing for a tournament and our friends dad always comes out to play with us. He's about 5'6 150 and hits his driver around 210. Usually straight maybe a slight turnover draw. But his short game is unreal. He is a animal on and around the greens. All he does is put and chip after work until dark. He as an addiction.. He practices more than we do.. I saw him hole as many chips in one practice round than I have my whole life.. He probably made 9 chips.. Just little bump and runs that find the bottom. I ended up shooting a 78 from the tips at 6900 or 7000 yards.. And he shot 82 from the tips. I hit my driver 280 or 290. He hits it 210. I was amazed haha. Prolly one of the funniest rounds ever.

That my friend is an example of a middle aged man doing everything he can so he can still compete on some level with the young guys (mainly his son) and show them that the old mans still got it. You will know exactly what im talking about in about 25 years.

[TourSpoon]

Originally Posted by tmf9

I asked him if his short game was always that good and he simply said "it was one of my better days"  I was truly amazed, probably the most impressive thing i've ever seen on a golf course.  I swear if my short game was as good as this guys i'd be playing d1 golf right now lol.

I love his answer!

I played with an older guy like this once who hit a 25 yard pitch over a bunker and stopped it to 2 feet on the first par 5. When he did it again three holes later, I asked him how he hit that shot figuring he flighted a sandwedge. He told me that he learned it when he was younger and preferred to hit this little medium trajectory cut pitching wedge from that distance because he could really control it. I was just amazed at his consistency. After I holed a bunker shot, I felt worthy enough to ask him where he learned to play and he told me about his amateur career that really took off in his 40s. He played a lot of FSGA and USGA events and won a few. It was really cool playing with him that day. He is the kind of guy that you want to meet on the course when you get paired with someone.

[dave s]

Something I learned as a broke college student:  On nice days and when I was all caught up with school work and had some free time, chipping and putting at a local course was free entertainment.  Regular 'cheap date' for myself, I guess.  Quiet time to work on stuff, figure things out on my own and learn how to get up and down from a bunch of self-induced predicaments.

What I know now:  As we get older, a sharp short game is the easiest way to keep the scores respectable.

Honestly, I don't get around 9 holes with 2-3 putts.  You might have witnessed the only guy on the planet who possesses that skill!

dave