Octuple Bogey

I don't want to sound ignorant here but I've always kind of wondered why majors are held in so much higher esteem than your garden variety PGA tournaments. I mean when Tiger is measured against Jack, it is the number of majors that is usually used as the yardstick not the overall number of PGA tournaments won. Sam Snead actually won more PGA Tournaments than Jack, 81 to Jack's 73, but he is never mentioned as the greatest golfer since he has fewer majors and no U.S. Open wins. About the only things I can think of are that at a major all of the world's best players, including those from the European side, are going to be there, and the courses are usually set up so as to be more challenging. But other than that... I mean, pardon me if I'm being disrespectful, but there are players that have won nary a tournament but have a major, two in one case I can think of, to their name and then there is Mickelson who had a boatload of victories but no major for all of those years... Tiger wins about 1/3 of all tournaments he enters so of course he is going to have a lot of majors to his name period -- I'd bet his chances of winning a major aren't a whole lot less than that of less prestigious tournaments he enters if you look at the statistics/record books. I can't help but think that the nefarious label "best player to never win a major" hasn't somehow actually had opposite it's intended effect on Mickelson when it came to endearing him to fans. (I'm kind of actually wondering who the next player will be who earns that label.) Any thoughts on any of this...

Yeah, that would be kind of disturbing. I've never been hit by a high velocity shot myself but I've been struck on the leg with a few pitch shots that went horribly awry. It doesn't hurt and in one case I saved a guy from going in a bunker that way. Just a few weeks ago though I did almost get beaned by some guys wild shot while standing on the 18th tee. It came so close to the left side of my head I actually felt the wind as the ball flew by. I told the guy that hit the shot not to worry, that I'd hit somebody before with an errant shot and that it happens to the best of golfers. I'd bet every PGA pro out there has hit a spectator at one time, but then again those spectators are packed in rather close to their line of fire like a bunch of sardines. I used to work summers at a golf course when I was in college and the tractor I used to collect range balls used to get hit a few times every time I did a pick. It is surprising just how much power those balls can hit the cage with and even though I was protected it always came as a rather unpleasant surprise each time. Kind of jarred you from your thoughts each time.

A) Decide what club I need if it is a par three. I don't agonize over it I just go with my gut feeling based on how far I've been hitting my irons that day and that month. I decide whether it is better to err long or short when I'm between clubs and if it doesn't matter I almost always go with the longer club and take an easier swing since I am more likely to hit it solid and straight with that club. B) I tee up the ball to the exact height I want it. About half a balls diameter above the ground for a long iron and just a few millimeters for a wedge or 9-iron. C) I find my target line. I stand behind the ball, hold out my right arm with the club pointing at my intended target and then lower the club. That helps me pick out a target on the ground, say a clod of dirt or divot that is near enough to my ball that I can use it to line my body up when I address the ball. D) I take exactly one practice swing. E) I adjust my grip until it feels comfortable, remind myself mentally not to overswing the club, mentally tell myself that I've successfully done this same shot thousands of times and that a straight shot is the easiest one to hit, and then swing the club. F) I watch as the ball flies on the correct arc towards the hole, lands a few feet from the flagstick and then rolls into the hole for yet another ho-hum ace.

Any of you ever hit another player, (unintentionally I hope), with a golf shot? I've done it once, I think in 2003 or 2004. I was in the trees on the right side of the fairway and I hit the ball off of the toe with a three-iron and it went on a beeline for this guy on the adjacent fairway less than a hundred yards away. I barely even had time to yell fore before it hit him. I think it hit him on the thigh or waist and when it did he dropped like he'd been shot. He had me really concerned for a few moments... I thought I'd be perhaps paying his hospital bills, but after a few moments it was apparent he was going to be alright. I apologized and repeatedly asked him if he was O.K. but him and his son just ignored me, it was almost as if I wasn't there. Then the son said, "So much for a relaxing Sunday round of golf" and they walked away. Kind of strange if you ask me. So anybody else have stories to relate on this subject?

I do hate to say it but I usually feel kind of sorry for the women the muni course starters randomly tee me up with. I've played with a lot of different women, even a couple older female bodybuilders I knew, (and first class eccentrics), and they just don't seem to generate much distance at all. It is profound how much of a disadvantage they usually are at. I don't know why they just don't get discouraged and give up the game. I mean their husbands usually outdrive them by at least 100 yards on every hole and then tell them "great shot". What the hell does that mean? I wouldn't be sure what I'd tell them. I mean it almost seems contemptous for a guy to blow one 250 down the pipe and then compliment his wife on a 135 yard bunt with the driver down the middle that will never get her to any par four green in regulation even from the reds. But it also seems kind of discourteous not to say something if that is the best they can do. I just don't get it. The other thing worth mentioning is that only men seem to show up alone and without a tee time to the course to play with random strangers. I do it all of the time. Only twice in my golfing life, (18 years of it and probably over a thousand rounds), do I recall ever seeing women do that and both were good players, one of them a collegiate golfer on an athletic scholarship. For the record she did beat me by a few strokes and was a good several strokes over par, mainly because my putting sucked next to hers. I had nothing over bogey, she had a triple and a double. You know there is a problem with women golfers when a hacker like myself, without ever taking out a wood, can almost beat one on a university golf scholarship.

I might have a chance to beat him at 18 holes of golf... with conditions. He must drink 10 beers immediately prior to the golf round, must be blindfolded, have one arm tied behind his back, and must not be allowed to use any club besides his putter during the round. I'd say that would probably be about an even bet as to who might win... Seriously though... I'd say bowling, but I actually kind of doubt that. It is the only sport I can claim to have even a shred of natural talent at. But it is definitely not my favorite sport...

I've never thought much about it. I've always liked Mickelson and he's definitely a fan favorite and he seems to treat his fans well... but I've heard a few times that among his fellow PGA Tour players he is very unpopular. Seems strange that somebody so well liked by fans is so unpopular among his fellow Tour players. There is no one player that I really want to single out for my personal dislike. Compared to what athletes in other sports have done to mar their image the worst of the worst on the PGA Tour really do not seem that bad. In general golfers seem have more class than other professional athletes.

Never intended to do a specific exercise for golf. It might sound rather nuerotic but I've been doing a set of over 200 consecutive standard push-ups on at least a semi-daily basis for the last five years. I can't help but think it has somehow had an effect on my golf game. I seem to hit the ball substantially farther now than I did ten years ago -- enough that I hit my three iron at least as far on average as I used to hit my driver. I don't think arm strength really has as much an effect on driving distance as people think it does, but maintaining the push-up position does work the core muscles and those are the muscles that I've heard not only generate power in the swing but help maintain stability and control. I've also heard that good strength actually helps players develop a better sense of distance control in the short game shots, i.e. pitching and chipping. Until about five years ago I never broke 80 on a standard par 72 and since then I've done it many times and I generally have driven the ball off of the tee on most holes with a three-iron and I rarely, if ever go to the driving range anymore. I've played the game for 18 years and I used to spend every summer hitting hundreds of balls at the range in a week and spending countless hours on the practice green as well as reading about swing tips and mechanics all of the time. I scoff at most swing tips now, preferring to go by feel and intuition alone. I still like to practice putting and the short game. Yet my game has flourished in the last five years. I can't help but think that this form of exercise has somehow been very beneficial to my game. But I suppose it's not for everybody because it is a lot of hard work and it may take months to build up the endurance to do that many in one set.

Exactly my thoughts. Everybody in any tournament in any era is playing the same course with the same options for buying equipment. If Tiger was playing in the 1930s he'd still be better than the rest of them. As for the competition being better or worse, I don't know. How do you honestly measure that? I mean Jack had Arnie, but what about the rest of the pack who occasionally step up to challenge the superstars? Collectively they actually win a majority of the tournaments. Are those 200 or so guys better now or back then?

In my opinion Tiger is the man. He can't claim to be the greatest golfer just yet because he doesn't have as many majors or tournament wins as Jack, but he's getting close and he's getting better and he's got a lot of years left in his career. I think that provided he doesn't injure himself permanently it is almost a foregone conclusion that he will be the best that ever played the game. I mean he is a freak among freaks of nature. His handicap is +8, he wins 1/3 of all PGA tournaments he enters, he broke 50 when he was three years old, he won the U.S. Amateur three straight times, he almost never misses a cut on the PGA Tour, he's holed better than 1000 straight putts within three feet during tournament play, he's run away with majors with winning margins of well over half a dozen strokes, and his playoff record is nearly spotless. What else do I have to add?

It might depend on how you practice it. Personally, I find it the most interesting part of the game to practice. For me the key is to find a way to score the practice so I can see if I am meeting my goals. My favorite thing to do is to drop a quarter somewhere near the center of the practice green and putt from there to each of the nine holes in sequence two times for a total of 18 holes. Each hole must be at least six feet away from my quarter. I keep a total score assuming a par of 36 or two per hole. I usually average about +1 to the total par but have through amazing luck once been as low as -8 to the total "par". I think this is good practice because you are always hitting a different lag putt every time and you usually have to putt the ball into the hole from varying distances with varying breaks after the first lag putt. It is not particularly good, however, if you need practice from the distance of about five to fifteen feet since you won't face many putts from that distance with this game. A problem that sometimes occurs, however, when the practice green is busy is that a person "monopolizes" one of the holes so you can't putt to it. Another drill, which I find particularly brutal is to drop ten balls in a circle around a hole at a distance of about three feet and putt them all into the hole. There are a couple of ways to score it. You can see how many you can make in a row. I've made 34 once. Or you can just see if you make the ten and then move back to four feet and make ten of those and then go back to five feet, starting over every time you miss. Phil Mickelson apparently likes this drill, but his standards are ten times higher than mine since he starts over if he doesn't make 100 three footers in a row. I've never found the drop three balls and putt to a random hole very interesting. For one thing, I don't get three tries to hole the same putt on the course so I don't find it entirely realistic. If I practiced putting that way I'd get bored pretty quickly myself.

I suppose it's up to the person in question. Myself, I always preferred to keep some sort of score just to see if I was improving. I recall keeping a faithful score on my very first round when I was 15. A 13 on the first hole, a bogey 4 on the second, a 17 on the third, and a bunch of scores between 10 and 15 on the next few holes before a thunderstorm rolled in. The key is not to worry about what other people shoot but to stay in your own game and keep setting your own goals as you improve, goals that are realistically within your grasp. My goals now when I go out are to break 80 and/or shoot a round without a score worse than bogey. The first summer I played it was to get a single par on any hole in any round or to shoot better than 70 on nine holes. If a round goes sour you may have to modify my goals. Oops, I got a double bogey on the second hole so I can't get around without a score worse than bogey. But I then decide that I can still break 80 or get three or more birdies in this round, or get around without a three-putt or hit X number of fairways or get X number of par or better holes. If it really goes badly for me maybe I end up just having to shoot for breaking 90. The key is to always have goals that are realistic for you at that time, not for someone else, and without keeping some sort of score there really is no way to know if you are meeting those goals. So my suggestion is to keep some sort of score. I suggest it even when practicing. Keep some sort of score when practicing putting or your short game. It makes it more fun and probably pays off faster in the long run.

The answer is pretty simple... NO. It's already slow enough on busy days with foursomes.

There is actually an official rule forbidding players from asking other players about club selection, presumably to prevent them from using the information for their own club selection. However, I do find it distinctly annoying when people, particularly strangers, ask what I hit on a par 3. Doesn't happen very often, but it always feels distinctly like they are asking, "So who is more masculine here, you or I?". It just seems kind of low class. Next time somebody does it on a 180 yard par three I'm going to tell them I hit a lob wedge. My other pet peeve is people picking up putts. A lot of people would probably eviscerate me for this opinion, but I don't like it. I like to play a pure game and if I say, miss a short putt, and I see them pick up a three foot putt it kind of rankles me a little bit because it kind of looks like they've concluded that I've concluded that they are so good they aren't going to miss a putt that I just missed and I haven't concluded that at all. Even Tiger has about a one in a thousand chance of missing a three footer. I presume your weekend hacker has a rather substantially higher probability of missing that same putt. I'd bet it's closer to one in ten among 80s shooters like myself. They aren't fooling me, just making a mockery of the game.