I'd rather be two strokes ahead going into the last day than two strokes behind. Having said that, it's probably easier to win coming from behind. There is no fear in chasing. There is fear in being chased. - Jack Nicklaus I have a confession to make -- I once hated watching golf on television. I thought golf was boring. It usually put me to sleep. Then I happened to watch as Jack Nicklaus come from six strokes back over the last nine holes to win the 1986 Masters with the greatest comeback in golf history -- perhaps the greatest comeback in sports history, period. Maybe I never liked golf because I never knew how to play the game. Because I play left-handed, no one seemed to be able to figure out where my swing would go wrong. But it would... I used to admit that I owned golf clubs, but avoided using them because I couldn't hit even a half decent shot to save my life. The game frustrated and infuriated me. If by some miracle I did hit a straight tee shot right at the flag with an iron on a par three, I'd somehow manage to blow the sure par by three-putting from less than two feet. I truly sucked at golf. In epic fashion. So I stuck with playing tennis, until my left arm became so injured I could no longer play. When I did try to play golf, my driver never left the bag -- I didn't trust anything except my seven wood on longer holes, even the par 5s. One time I was playing so poorly that my friends deliberately aimed me 45 degrees from the flagstick in the tee box. They said that my slice was so bad, that angle ought to put my ball in the middle of the … [Read more...]
The Pearl: 11 April 2015
I think that Pebble Beach is my favorite golf course to go to. I think Augusta is my favorite place to go play golf. - Jack Nicklaus There are four tournaments that comprise the Grand Slam of golf -- the British Open, the U. S. Open, the PGA championship, and the Masters, the only one of the four held on the same golf course every year. And considering the fact that Jack Nicklaus won the Masters a record six times, it's certainly understandable why he would say that particular tournament was his favorite, even if it weren't the most prestigious of them all. There's something special about the Augusta National golf course, which was designed by golfing legend Bobby Jones. … [Read more...]
The Pearl: 10 April 2015
It took me seventeen years to reach 3,000 hits in baseball. I did it in one afternoon on the golf course. - Hank Aaron Golf can certainly be a humbling and frustrating game to play. While Hank Aaron's quote was an exaggeration, it can certainly feel like you've hit three thousand shots when you're having a bad day on the golf course. But never forget - your worst day golfing is better than your best day at work, even if your day job is playing baseball -- a sport in which batting .300, meaning one fails 70 percent of the time, is still considered a great success. Of course, a golfer's ability to break par would be severely diminished if the ball were moving. Both games require great skill to play well. … [Read more...]
The Pearl: 9 April 2015
Golf is a game where you yell 'fore', shoot six, and write down five. - Paul Harvey The great radio commentator Paul Harvey had a dry sense of humor. However, this pearl only applies to hackers like me who really don't even know all the rules and slights the genuine golfer who respects the game. Golf etiquette demands that golfers self-report violations of the rules, even if a certain rules violation carries an automatic penalty. Golf is a game meant to be played by the rules, with honor and integrity. The great Bobby Jones famously set the ultimate example of this when he called a one-stroke penalty on himself that eventually cost him the 1925 U. S. Open. When sportswriter O. B. Keeler suggested afterward that Jones deserved universal admiration and respect for this incredible example of good sportsmanship the golfer scoffed as he famously replied, "You might as well praise me for not robbing banks." But Keeler was absolutely right. The native Georgian deserves universal recognition and our respect for setting the quintessential example for how to play the game that continues to this very day. … [Read more...]
