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Golf: Art Vs. Science

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Is golf hard because you use both halves of your brain?

In the culinary world, it is said that cooking is an art and baking is a science. In the past decade or so some chefs have achieved levels of rock star status by letting their creative side run wild whereas any chance for a baker to be successful they primarily have to rely on precise measurements and formula-like recipes. Shifting this notion over to the golf world, would we consider golfers more like artists or scientists?

I believe the answer falls right in the middle. A great golfer has the ability to find a balance between both worlds. A long time ago, I met an older gentleman who owned/ran a driving range and gave lessons as well. He always stressed the importance of balance in golf and that has stuck with me throughout my years of hacking up fairways. Granted, while my balance has had some rather unspectacular moments, I do recognize the importance of it.

So what about the art/science thing? Pro tour players are some of the best examples to look at. Let’s take one of my personal favorites – good ol’ lefty! Phil Mickelson is known to be pretty crafty with his wedges yet he is also one for keeping with tradition and playing it where it lies as seen in his recent unsuccessful beer tent to bunker shot. He could have easily listened to the logical right side of his brain and took the drop but hey…a true artist understands risk-reward.

As with everything, the balance between art and science in a golf sense is relative. Although our intuition might lead us to believe 50-50 when we think balance but actually the ratio varies drastically from golfer to golfer. Looking at players like Vijay, Rory, Phil or Tiger, we can see the calculated scientific approach to their shot making. It’s just when the ball doesn’t end up where they intended that the transition to creative shot maker kicks in and a true master piece is painted. Those tricky little devils…

Hit’em long…yell FORE!!!

Make More Time For Golf

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thVYDG9HBMOne of the reasons (among many) that I don’t golf as much as I’d like is simply because I don’t have the time.  I don’t mean the time required to play a round – I don’t really care if that takes five or six hours.  I mean the time to get out to the course at all!  Between all of the commitments required in everyday life, golf has taken a backseat.  And that’s been no more apparent than during this season.  I have played exactly one 18-hole round this year.  One!  How can I even call myself a golfer with that in mind?!  Well, there are things that we can do to make time…and believe me, they’ve all crossed my mind at some point.

1. Quit your job.  Several years ago, I was laid off from my place of employment.  It was a sad time.  My boss clearly didn’t want to do it, but tough decisions had to be made.  As he shook my hand and told me how sorry he was, I said to him “Don’t worry about it.  I understand and I’ll be fine.  This just gives me a little more time to play golf.”  And that it did.  It’s amazing how much free time is made when you don’t have to go to work.  In hindsight, I probably should have been saving that money due to the whole “no job” thing.  But hey, hindsight is 20/20, and at the time it seemed like a good idea.

2. Take a leave from your job.  OK, maybe taking a leave to play golf is not necessarily the best idea I’ve ever had.  However, hear me out.  I know someone who worked their behind off for quite a while.  He saved up a bunch of loot and took six months off to travel around Europe.  Now that’s something which, to me, seems worth taking some time off of work.  That’s something most people will never have the chance to do at any point in their lives.  And here he was doing it in his 20’s.  So if you can save the money and get the time, that can be turned into an extended golf trip.  Travel around the country or the world, playing your dream courses!  Again, if you have the means…it seems worth it.

3.  Married?  Don’t be.  First off, I am not suggesting you get divorced so you can play more golf.  I mean, what kind of an a-hole would ever suggest that?  What kind of jerk would suggest throwing a marriage away so you can hit the links more often?  Now, with that being said…marriages and families do seem to take time away from the course.  If golf is more important to you than a spouse and a family…don’t get married, don’t have kids.  Speaking from experience, your free weekends will quickly no longer be free.  Speaking further from experience…I will soon see if this free time actually is made.

OK, so there are my ideas.  I didn’t say they were realistic ideas.  But ideas nonetheless.  Either way, we all want to play more golf and we all need to figure out how to do it.  Lord knows I do.  Again…one 18-hole round this season?  By mid-August?  I’m on the edge of no longer being able to call myself a golfer.  I’m becoming just a guy who plays golf on occasion.

Swing ’til you’re happy!   

The Contradictions of Golf

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thBF407J5ZNext to a chess match, golf just might be the slowest moving sport going.  Or maybe it just feels that way when you’re watching or playing it.  But the funny thing about that is, every golfer is in such a hurry to get their round finished!  I hate playing with people who are in a rush.  I just want to scream my head off at them – What’s your rush?  Aren’t you enjoying yourself?  Don’t you want to spend some time out here with your buddies?  Did you make other plans?  You know we were golfing today and we always grab a bite to eat after the round…did you really make other plans so now you’re going to bitch and moan the whole round about how you need to leave?  You know what…next time just stay home!

But golf is full of this type of behavior.  If it’s not the speed of the game, it’s the level of play or the cost of everything associated with it.  What do I mean?  Here….let me explain.

1. The speed of the game.  As explained above, golf is a slow moving sport.  We are all aware of that going in.  So why in the hell is every golfer in such a hurry to finish?  Why do you make a 9am tee-time and then make plans for the early afternoon?  You know there’s a good chance you won’t be done in time.  And if you are done, you’ll be cutting it awfully close.  Everyone understands there is no rule saying your round must be completed in four hours, right?  You all know that time was just made up by courses so they can squeeze in as much golf as possible in order to make as much money as possible, right?  Obviously, no one wants to be stuck behind someone who is just so deliberately and unnecessarily slow – bad golf is tolerable, slow golf is not.  But as long as that person has the common courtesy to let a faster group play through, then what’s the issue?  We need to go into these rounds with a more relaxed, laid back attitude.  It will make your round so much more fun.  If you’re in that big a hurry, play nine or play an executive/par=-3 course.

2. The competition in the game.  Most of us golfers are just out there for fun.  The majority just plays for no reason other than they simply enjoy playing.  We’re not pros, we’re never going to be pros and we accept that.  We don’t care.  The game is more fun when that reality is accepted.  But it bothers me when I hear the people who claim this mindset, but in the next breath they are going on about how their lessons have helped lower their handicap to a level better than the next guys.  Seriously?  I thought you were out here for fun.  Why do you care if you have a better handicap than your buddy?  I’ve made the comparison before, but it still rings true – I didn’t hire a batting coach when I played beer league softball.  But I played softball for the same reason I play golf – for fun.  So why would I spend a stupid amount of money for lessons in something I’m never going to take any further than my local track?

3. The cost of the game.  Unless you’re rich or incredibly well-off, the cost of this sport is something all of us take into account.  We all know by now that you can take a $50 pair of shoes, slap some spikes on the bottom, and now they’re $100 golf shoes.  Many of us will not treat ourselves to a nicer course because of the price.  Some golfers feel like they don’t belong there because they’re not good enough to play a course like that (which is a ridiculous way of thinking by the way).  OK, I understand that.  But don’t complain about the cost of the game when you show up in your $60 polo shirt, using your $120 putter to tap around a ball that came out of a package which cost you $40 for a dozen.  You can spend one-third of that on all of those things, and next thing you know you will have the money to play that nicer course!

I’m not saying all golfers act in this manner, and I get why some do.  I understand why someone’s handicap means something to them.  I get that people feel like anything more than four hours is too long to be golfing.  And I understand that people have places they would rather spend their money than on a golf course.  I just find the contradictions amusing.  Oh well…one more thing I love about this sport!

Swing ’til you’re happy!

We Need Our Golf Trips

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thWVMELIDIHere at Golfstinks, it’s generally assumed that any special occasion is to be celebrated, at least partially, with a round of golf.  And this past weekend, the crew did it again.  This occasion was a milestone birthday…my 40th.  So some of the other stinky golfers pitched in and made a weekend out of it – golf at Lake of Isles, some casino time at Foxwoods, food, drinks, cigars…the whole package!  It was a great weekend; we played a great course, ate some fantastic food and had an all-around good time.  We discussed doing something like this more often.  Not just for a special occasion, but three or four times a year – just friends getting together, hanging out, doing something we all enjoy doing.  So it immediately begins to cross our minds – why don’t we?

Just my opinion, but to me, a round of golf is great bonding time between friends.  But a golf trip, now that’s a different story.  As we get older and our list of commitments, be it to our families or our jobs, continues to grow, the time to hit the links with our buddies becomes fewer and far between.  We no longer have the time to get out on the course every weekend, or every other weekend.  Heck, it’s not even once a month anymore.  I’ve managed to squeeze in a couple of nine-hole rounds this year, but nothing more.  So taking a weekend golf getaway can certainly be the remedy.

OK, so it’s not always convenient to get away for a weekend.  Commitments with the family and the job don’t always allow for disappearing for a couple of days.  And sure, it ain’t exactly as cheap as your regular eighteen hole round.  But if it’s only, what, twice a year?  Then how does that not make up for it?  Consider if you are at the point where you’re getting together with your buddies less than once a month to play a round.  Then one or two golf trips per season can possibly even end up saving money vs. what you were previously playing.  Further, the weekends away obviously create better memories than just heading over to your local track.  When I think back on my best golfing memories, they’ve all occurred on trips, if not specifically golf trips.

Look, if you work hard enough and dedicate as much time as you do to your job and, most importantly, to your family, then you owe it to yourself to give yourself a break.  And not for nothing, but your job and your family owe you the time to yourself as well.  Why not use that time to create more good memories for you and your friends while still holding onto something that you love, but don’t get to do nearly as often as you once did?  Take the trip…you owe it to yourself.

Swing ’til you’re happy!

Speed Up Your Round With Drag-Cart Golf

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Imagine having this thing out on the golf course?
Imagine having this thing out on the golf course?

There has been a couple of times now when we’ve shown you some pimped out golf carts.  Be it Mustangs and Hummers or rim sportin’ and system bumpin’ rides.  Most recently it was a few golf cart replicas of famous rides from TV.  But remember back when we were kids riding in golf carts?  What were we interested in then?  How fast could the cart go, right?

Some of us new that guy who could lift the seat, make a few adjustments and just like that, the cart would go faster.  But it was never quite fast enough, was it?  Well, let me introduce you to a man who has quickly become the hero of our childhood, souped-up golf cart dreams.

Ladies and gentlemen, your hero…Mr. Terry Hatfield…

Just to give you an idea what’s going on here, this is still all electric.  He did not swap this out for a gas engine.  That is 1/8th of a mile covered in just a hair under 6.6 seconds at 97+ MPH.  97!!  We’re talking sports car quickness out of an electric golf-cart here.  As a point of reference, the new Camaro Z28 covers 1/4 mile in 12.7 seconds.  So it stands to reason, over a 1/4 mile race, this golf cart hangs only slightly behind one of the most desirable American made muscle cars in recent memory.  Now that, friends, is a true golf innovation and most certainly worthy of Golfstinks: Pimp My Golf Cart Edition.  Plus, imagine how much the speed of an 18-hole round would increase?  Four hours?  Ha!  How about 45 minutes?!

Swing ’til you’re happy!

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