Can you have fun playing bad golf?

Think back to the worst round of golf you’ve played.  I don’t have to go far because today was mine.  This four-handicap shot a 27-over 98 at Blue Mash but still had fun.  Can you have fun playing bad golf?  Maybe the old adage that a bad day on the golf course is still better than a good day at work is true because I took the day off to hack.

The round started out ominous as I warmed up on the range hitting weak cuts with every club in the bag.  My search for a WOOD band-aid to get me around the course came up empty and I arrived at the first tee with zero confidence.  It showed early as I started off double bogey, triple bogey, double bogey.  I’ve read advice from several sources about warming up poorly and the conventional thinking is to write off a bad range session because it’s not an indicator of how you’ll play.  Wrong!  I’m different because my warm up, is always an indicator of how I’ll play.  Oddly enough, I had warmed up well on the putting green and was brimming with confidence in my reads and stroke but the poor ball striking infiltrated my putting and I ended the day with 40 putts.  Egad – how could this be fun?

The weather started off cloudy and warm with a few rain squalls, but on about the fourth hole a cold front blew through and the temperature began dropping and the wind increased.    When we turned, we were dealing with a gale force wind that bent flagsticks, oscillated balls on the greens, and played havoc with our club selection.  We were live at the British Open!  My thoughts had shifted from my horrible ball striking to how to execute shots I had never practiced but now needed to use.  This was fun!  With my mind off my swing and on the demands of the game, my ball striking improved.  On the par-3 17th, I hit a full three wood from 190 yards and missed the green left.  My short greenside pitch was blown 90 degrees sideways after the first bounce.  Never witnessed that on the golf course.  Short putts (inside six to eight feet) were being pushed six inches off line.  Finally we finished on #18, a par-5 playing straight into the wind at 540 yards.  I estimated effective yardage at about 640 yards and crushed a driver and two three-irons to within 40 yards of the green.  A full sand wedge purely struck and three putts later, I had my final double bogey and a 98.  I left the course humbled and exhausted, yet somewhat exhilarated at the experience.  Have you ever had as much fun playing bad golf as I did today?

Golf tips – what’s the best and worst?

On a recent business trip, I pulled out the latest Golf Tips magazine and scoured cover-to-cover looking for that elusive nugget to give me an edge.  This being their “100 best” issue, I was certain I would find the treasure I was seeking but quickly realized how insanely conflicting the information in a single magazine can be.  Anyone without a serious understanding of the fundamentals can get terribly confused by the plethora of opposing opinions and methods.  Consider the best and worst of what I found.

The best:  🙂

John Stahlschmidt, PGA professional at the Tour Academy in Scottsdale, AZ advises on improving feel for speed on lag putts:  “Take one or two practice strokes and hold your finish for the amount of time you think it’ll take the ball to arrive at the hole.”  Great simple tip for improving feel, eliminating a jerky stabbing motion and promoting an accelerating move; all key essentials.  I’ve been putting scared lately and am certain I’m having troubles with trusting my feel for distance.  Rather than trying to make everything, I’m thinking about avoiding the three-putt.  I implemented this drill today on the practice green and got that refreshing boost of confidence you enjoy when a missing fundamental clicks; you know the feeling.

The worst:

WARNING:  MAY BE DANGEROUS TO YOUR GAME

The recoil bunker shot.    Open the blade, make contact, and recoil for buried lies in a bunker, with a tight pin; are you kidding?  I don’t care that this was recommended by Briny Baird, you don’t publish this in a magazine for the general public and I’m surprised a teaching pro (Jon Paupore) from a Jim McLean golf school is advocating.  Even the video is contradictory as he hits toward a pin with plenty of room to run the shot out- just awful.

University of Maryland – Course Review

University of Maryland, par-3 #2, Black Nine

Summary

We played the University of Maryland golf course on Sunday, November 13, 2011.  I used to play the course frequently while in school but had not been back in many years.  The course is a lovely layout and definitely requires significant local knowledge to score.  I found my recall excellent but was reminded that Maryland is difficult to play in the fall as the par-71 track routes extensively through tall deciduous trees, and while the fall colors make for a beautiful site, the accompanying carpet of leaves makes ball identification difficult.

The course had top dressed the greens with a light layer of sand which didn’t affect playability too much, however conditions were a bit scratchy and the greens appeared stressed with significant areas unplayable as ground under repair.  After the course underwent an award-winning $3.5 million renovation in 2008, the Nationwide Tour annually scheduled The Melwood Open at Maryland and we were left to wonder how they get the greens in tour condition, only to let them falter in the fall during good growing season.  We noticed that our ball marks were very easy to repair which may have indicated shallow root growth.  There were also many bare lies in the rough which made clean contact an adventure and often balls sat down in the gnarly second cut.  Fairways and tee boxes were in good shape as were the numerous green-side and fairway bunkers.  The course is adequately marked for yardage but no golf cart GPS  service is available.

University of Maryland, par-5 #9, Gold Nine

Playing tips from the gold tees:  The course is configured with two nines (Gold and Black) with golfers playing the Gold as the front.  Right out of the box you are hit with two meaty par fours, each over 400 yards with water in play on both so there’s no time to ease into your game.  The second shot on #2 plays 1-1/2 clubs longer than the yardage.  Most of the holes are straight forward but we found that even in the fairways, you often had lies slightly above and below your feet which made clean strikes and getting the ball close a challenge.  On the Black Nine par-5 fourth, everything bounces right on the drive and second shot.  You need to honor this and going for the well bunkered green in two is not advised.  The Black’s par-3 fifth is a long shot (211 yards from the gold tees) and you must play for the left side of the green as everything bounces right and down the hill.  The greenside bunker on the right is a very tough up-and-down and should be avoided.  Finally, the tee shot on the par-5 seventh on the Black is all about placement.  Get the ball in play on the top of the hill to position for a long downhill second shot.  It is rumored that Jack Nicklaus once eagled this hole hitting driver-seven iron but unless you can bomb a cut 300 yards, hit a 3 wood for position.

University of Maryland, par-4 #9, Black Nine

Value (3.0 out of 5.0)

We played on the winter weekend rate of $50 to ride.  You can walk for $35.  In season weekend rates are $69 to ride which seems like a good value if conditions are better than what we played on.  Range balls are $4 for a small and $7 for a medium bucket and are not included in the greens fees.  However, if you book your tee time through the web, your group is given one free small bucket of balls.  Memberships are offered as are discounts for students but we played on the regular guest rate.

Facilities (3.5 out of 5.0)

The clubhouse boasts a modest sized pro shop with the basic essentials.  A locker room and grill-pub are available but we did not sample the food.  The practice facilities are nice with a full size driving range with both grass and matted teeing areas.  The grass was closed and I sensed it was primarily utilized for the Melwood Open as well as college tournaments.  Separate modest sized chipping and pitching greens with a practice bunker are available and a large putting green is adjacent to the main clubhouse.  I practiced here for a couple of hours a week before we played and was very satisfied with the offerings.

Customer Experience (3.5 out of 5.0)

I booked a tee time on the web with no difficulty with guests permitted to reserve five days in advance.  The starter and pro-shop staff were pleasant enough and everything seemed to run on-time with a moderately crowded golf course.  There was no beverage cart service which I found a bit odd considering the numbers of players and the agreeable weather.  Carts were not permitted in the parking lot so hauling a heavy bag to your car could be considered a minor inconvenience.  I’d like to try Maryland again in season, perhaps right after they play the Nationwide event, just to see how good this course can play.

For the record, I played the gold tees at 6,369 yards and carded a six-over 77.

Overall Rating (3.5 out of 5.0)

John Daly’s walk off

John Daly. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

The big fella is a never-ending source of entertainment except for this time he’s outdone himself with some serious unsportsmanlike behavior and rubbed the powers that be the wrong way.  His seven balls in the lake and subsequent walk off at the Australian Open got him kicked out of the Australian PGA Championship in two weeks and now he’s incurring the wrath of sportswriters and fans alike.  What an embarrassment to the game.

JD needs some serious mental help.  Earlier I opined about his 13 at the John Deere Classic in July.  Had he posted a number from this waterlogged escapade, we were looking at big time double digits.  How many Joe six-packs out there post multiple double digit holes in the same season?  Shoot, I’ve posted one double digit in the last ten years and I’m not in Daly’s neighborhood or city when it comes to talent.  Get some help John, and while you’re at it, some better looking slacks.

Do you golf like a gorilla or a surgeon?

What kind of personality do you play to on the golf course?  Are you constantly trying to muscle up, bust the driver, and hit all the par fives in two?  Do you get your greatest thrill from thrilling others?  Or are you calculating and planning, dissecting every move and possibility down to the finest detail?  However you play, your course personality should fit your everyday personality, or you are going to struggle.

Just finished reading Gia Valiante’s “Fearless Golf” and his point of identifying if you are a ego-based or mastery-based player resonated well.  Phil Mickelson is the classic ego-based player who derives his greatest pleasure from wooing people with his extraordinary short game and daring recovery skills.  Sure he loves to win and definitely comes to the course with a game plan, but you see him time and again chuck the plan and take the daredevil approach.  Sometimes it plays out, as it did with his 6-iron through the pine trees at Augusta, other times he implodes under the weight of his own ego, as was the case on the 72nd hole at the 2006 U.S. Open.  As these unspeakables unfold, we ask ourselves, “how can he be so stupid?” but Phil is the consummate gambler on and off the course and it makes sense for him to play to his personality.  Is this you?

Or do you play like Jim Furyk?  Seems like he always has a plan, sticks to the plan, and nobody’s opinion of him or his swing is going to change that plan.  This is the mastery-based approach, where you execute on your skills, only play shots that you practice, and calculate risk/reward for every aspect of the game.  I’m known as a planner off the course and play to this personality (the surgeon) on the course.  When I cross from surgeon to gorilla, I pay a dear price.  A few years ago during a mid-summer round when everything was dry and rolling out, I hit a few par-5 holes in two and managed to drain an eagle putt.  All of a sudden I had gained the capacity to overpower courses and it took some very bad scoring for the balance of the year and some serious self examination to determine root cause.  It doesn’t make sense for a surgeon to play like a gorilla and in the same regard, someone like Phil Mickelson probably is more effective taking risks and riding the roller coasters.

To help you self-identify, consider:  Would you rather shoot even par for 18 holes by making five birdies, three bogeys, and a double bogey, or making 18 pars?