May 2011: Editors' Blog: Golf Digest

Tee it Forward: Bah Humbug!

Monday, May 30, 2011 Comments

The USGA and the PGA of America are promoting the idea that golfers will have more fun, play faster and score better if they play tees more appropriate to their games--that is, play forward from where their egos suggest. Golf Digest, reporting on a similar argument by Barney Adams, the retired founder of Adams Golf, made the point that as a rule average golfers are playing so far back they're facing the equivalent of a professional playing an 8,000-yard course. Sound convincing? Not to this reader, who thinks "the golf industry is in love with itself!"

Play It Forward? I totally disagree with this concept. Most golfers already play the tees that give them a fair challenge. and they play tees that are best for the group. In tracking my scores over a series of years on courses in my locale, I often score better from longer tees as fairway hazards tend to not come into play. The golf industry is in love with itself. First, you sell me $500 drivers to bomb it out there and $500 yardage devices to tell me how far, and now you want me to go to shorter tees to speed up the game for a bunch of self-entitled malcontents who don't even know how to spell 'etiquette.' Most people will end up in the trees and rough all the same. The best way to speed up play is to sharpen your skills and your short game and to play ready golf. Moving up to tees where yardage signs, benches, ball washers, water coolers etc., are all behind you just means some moron with a laser yardage finder is going to spend more time figuring out his new yardage while still bitching about his crappy slice and his bladed wedge shots as he walks backwards to the tees where all of the amenities are standing. From the tips! Bring your 'A' game to the course or stay home!
Mychael Ritterhoff, Austin, TX

Strong letter, Mychael. My own feeling is change it up. Play where you can play approach shots of all lengths. Hitting 3-wood after 3-wood with the occasional 4-iron thrown in may be fun once in a while--see the Golf Digest U.S. Open Challenge--but a steady diet of that is slow, torturous golf. I think Adams makes a great point about matching the tees you play to the length of your drives--no matter what you paid for your driver. (You didn't really pay $500, did you?!)

Bob Carney

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Do Tour players appreciate what they've got?

Monday, May 30, 2011 Comments

We take time this weekend to acknowledge what members of the military, living and dead, have given us and thank them for it. It's a time when that feeling of appreciation tends to color the rest of our lives, too, and a week every year when at Jack Nicklaus' tournament, we'll remember a great player--this year Hall-of-Famer Nancy Lopez. This mood of appreciation moved an Ohio reader to comment on tour players' their sense of gratitude for the lives they lead.

I've read with interest about the behavior issues that have been coming up with some of the PGA Tour players. Don't remember hearing about those from the older players in the past. Some of the players in the past really appreciated what was given to them and they way they were treated. My father was the golf professional at a club that hosted two majors during his tenure at the club. After both of the events, Jack Nicklaus sent my father a personally signed letter thanking him for the kind treatment he received during the events. Jack was also the only player to do so, both times. What ever happened to these players that they can't appreciate the items that are given to them at these events? Free cars, transportation, meals, range balls and many other items. I guess sending a thank you note is asking way too much 15 - 20 times a year. My father still has those two letters in frames at home. By the way, he and Jack never even spoke at either of these events. Now that is a sign of a true gentleman.
Dale R. Perne', Toledo, OH

Great story, and that certainly sounds like Jack. I like to think there are more players than we know who not only appreciate what they've got but thank the volunteers and professionals who their lives possible. Let's face it, theirs is not the easiest life in the world, despite the perks, but you're right: How hard is it to write a thank-you note or, in this day, send an email of appreciation. We've grown up with Hall-of-Famers who knew how give back: Jack, Arnie, Nancy, Gary Player....

Hey, maybe we're the ones who are spoiled.
Bob Carney

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Thanks, Sean Foley!

Friday, May 27, 2011 Comments

We get lots of mail with, um, constructive criticism. It's really nice to get some full-fledged praise. Here's one on the recent Sean Foley tips.

I wanted to thank you and Sean Foley for his 5 tips! They work! The towel under the arms is hard to do on the way back to the ball, but if you do it right you hit it solid and gain distance. The pencil on the end of the club tip really helped on chips and pitches, it keeps you from flipping the club. I am four and five strokes better and happy! Looking at Tiger to see him do it. I saw he was quitting on his putts so it helped me to release. It works!

Bob Wigton, Long Beach, CA

As someone with a tender back, I'd also recommend Foley's tips on saving your back, explained well in this video by Golf Digest Instruction Editor Peter Morrice. What's more, some of our web site's most interesting comments, often from teaching professionals, accompany the Foley articles. Foley's ties to Stack and Tilt, and the precedents for some of his instruction dating to players such as Ben Hogan and Gardner Dickinson, make for lively back and forth.

Bob Carney

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C'mon, can playing "up" tees really help the game?

Wednesday, May 25, 2011 Comments

We got several letters about Jaime Diaz's story Barney Adams idea of playing "tour length" tees, which, according to Adams' calculations, would move most of us up. Tom Watson supported the idea in the June issue of Golf Digest. "The average male golfer should play from 6200 yards," wrote Watson, "the average female, 5,000 yards; average senior male, 5400 yards.....Make it fun."

At a time when the industry, supported by the PGA of America and the USGA, have launched its "Play it Forward" campaign, these letters reveal little common ground about the idea.

Articles like this one actually hurt the 'GAME' and 'SPIRIT' of golf, and it's another reason why I don't subscribe to either of your magazines. I think it's pure ignorance to focus on the score and ignore the game. Robert T. Jones Jr. must be turning over in his grave. Along with so many others who play thru love of the game....
FA Carroll

I couldn't agree more with Tom Watson's argument about playing from the tees that make the game more enjoyable. I moved up to the tees that play about 5800 yards instead of the 6400-yard tees and it has made the game fun again. I'm 55 years old and play about a 22-handicap. It's a lot more fun hitting a par three green that plays 145 yards instead of 190. My wife is my golf partner and now our tee shots are within 20 yards of each other instead of 80 yards. Yeh, guys, there is no shame from the front tees, just a funner game.
Patrick Walsh, Champaign, IL

Some of us Baby Boomers don't have a choice. We're moving forward and liking it!

Bob Carney

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Golf's problem? It's the greens, stupid!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011 Comments

Golf Digest readers took note of Jaime Diaz's report on our 15-inch hole experiment at Pine Needles. These two correspondents supported the effort, but added suggestions of their own for making the game more enjoyable.

The big-hole story was thought-provoking. I enjoyed it. It fits in with Barney Adams encouraging players to be realistic when it comes to deciding from which tees to play. In the article it was mentioned that as kids, we all used to just ram the ball to the hole. And if we missed, well, no biggie, we made the comebacker. That's a common experience for many of us. But I don't think it was because we were young. I think it was because the greens were much slower and simpler to read and putt.

Today's fast, complicated greens are the death of quick rounds and yes, of fun. I'm 53 and can putt "better" than I did when I was 18. But I don't make as many putts, because they are simply so hard to read and sink, and because the comebackers are too. Putting is a lot more work than it should be, and takes a lot more time than it should. Whether the blame for the evolution of fast tough greens lies with architects, clubs, the pro tour, or the ourselves, I don't know. I'm guessing a movement towards slower greens would have a better chance with purists than bigger holes, though. Something needs to be done, for sure.

Don McLuckie, Illinois

A second reader supported the effort, but suggested a hole somewhere between our 15-incher and the present dimension, something he's written a book about.

Jaime Diaz nailed it with his article about the size of the golf hole. It's about having fun, and the present size of the hole takes away much of the fun that we could be having on the green. He suggests that a better hole would be somewhere between the current 4- and-a-quarter inches and the 15-inch crater he tried. I wrote a small book called "Proper Size Me," which explores a better size for the golf hole. And yes, the ideal size is between those two dimensions, and makes the game more fun, more rewarding for those with better overall shot-making skills, and quicker to play. This is a revolutionary concept that will get dismissed by purists, but, as Jaime says, should be taken seriously. At least for the fun of it.

Jack Hartt, Washington

It's gratifying that weekend players, as well as worried industry executives, are embracing the idea of alternative formats. (Jack Nicklaus this week lauded 12-hole layouts). During a couple days of growth-of-the-game meetings in Jacksonville, every kind of idea was proposed to attract and retain new players. In 2010 our sport gained 3.5 million golfers; it lost 4.5 million. Those leaving cited cost, time and difficulty. The subtext of their messages: We're just not having enough fun for the cost, time or challenge the game extracts. It's a good thing that everyone from golf manufacturers such as TaylorMade's Mark King and ex-Adams CEO Barney Adams to Sun Microsystems Scott McNealy and his Flogton format are concerned and involved.

Bob Carney

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Shedloski's all wet about the 17th!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011 Comments

In his Golf World Monday piece this week, Dave Shedloski suggests that beginning the Players playoff on the 17th hole, with its famous island green, is the wrong way to go.

"It's a fun hole. It's an iconic hole. But as the lead playoff hole, it's a dud."

Shedloski reminds us of the "sudden deaths" that have befallen David Toms and Paul Goydos, among others, and says the 17th "snuffs out drama before it ever begins." One Washington reader begs to differ--a lot.

Dave Shedloski could not be more wrong. There is no better playoff hole anywhere than the 17th at TPC Sawgrass. This is so obvious on so many levels that it's astonishing he would even consider proposing an alternative. To paraphrase Bill Gates, "It's the dumbest thing I ever heard."

Mark Hanna, Kirkland, WA

Or, to quote Steve Jobs: "“My job is to not be easy on people. My job is to make them better.”

I'm with you, Mark.

Bob Carney

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As Luke goes blue, a Taipai reader pays tribute to Seve

Friday, May 13, 2011 Comments

Luke Donald announced today that he'll wear all-blue as a tribute to the late Seve Ballesteros. We've received many admiring letters since Seve's death, but this thoughtful note got our attention. It's from a reader in Taiwan (Golf Digest has some 30 affiliates around the world) and reflects the broad appeal of golf's great Matador, as our Jaime Diaz wrote.

Out of my genuine admiration for Seve I feel compelled to add a story of my own. I first saw Seve in action in 1985 in Sandwich. As one of the scorers that week I had free access to the course throughout the week and decided to follow Seve on one of the practice days before the Open officially got under way. Seve was at the height of his golfing prowess in 1985. At age 28, he already had two Masters and two Opens under his belt.

During the 1985 Open Championship Seve was a man who walked with a swagger. Tall, dark, and handsome, he was idolized by aspiring junior golfers like myself, adored by the knowledgeable crowd in general, and trailed by an army of female spectators both young and old everywhere he went.

Three things struck me when I saw Seve in person. He was much taller than he appeared on TV, his oddly mature demeanor, and the intensity of his gaze. Among the large contingent of autograph seekers that week I was probably the oldest. Seve made sure all the younger fans had been taken care of before scribbling with a flourish on my copy of Open Championship program. Seve's short game was legendary, but to see it from close range was a surreal experience. When Seve chipped or putted, the ball appeared to be stuck to the clubface momentarily before jumping off with a tremendous amount of roll. It was as if everything turned into slow motion at the moment of impact. Only Lee Trevino, who incidentally was also in town that week, had the same touch around the greens.

Relatively little has been written about Seve's full swing. Studying it up close, I was surprised just how fluid and powerful it was. During the week I had the chance to observe other famous players on the range. Seve's swing was not as deliberately effortless as Faldo's. He did not drive the ball as hard with his lower body as Jack Nicklaus. His setup was not as methodical as Langer's. What stood out was the shear flair and freedom with which he swung the club. The grace and power in Seve's movements were a delight to watch against the backdrop provided by a classic links course, with no trees to hinder the flight of the ball and seemingly endless horizon in every direction.

Royal St. George's is a course that, perhaps more than any other on the Open rota, rewards long and accurate driving. Seve was prodigiously long off the tee but not nearly as straight. With so much undulation and too many blind shots it was often hard to tell where Seve's ball ended up. Looking at the final scoreboard that week you have to go past a long list of players to find Seve. It did not matter. As I climbed down from the giant scoreboard on the side of 18th green for the last time, there was no doubt in my mind that he was the greatest of them all.

Jeff Lin Taipei, Taipai, Taiwan

We had the same experience watching Seve when he came to Westchester County and to New York-area Opens. He was nobility, and held himself that way. Tom Callahan's words about Ernie Els at this year's World Golf Hall of Fame induction ceremony come to mind. "What's a three-letter word for elegance?"

As Mr. Lin points out, there's a 4-letter word for it as well.

Bob Carney

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Hey, golf writers, "man up" on Tour bad behavior

Thursday, May 12, 2011 Comments

Rory Sabbatini sits on the first page of today's leader board at the Players, but Golf World readers are still looking back at Sabbatini's recent problems with Sean O'Hair at the Zurich Classic, and a volunteer at the Northern Trust--not the first time Sabbatini has created controversy. Tim Rosaforte's report in Golf World's March 16 issue, pointed out that Sabbatini probably won't learn about a fine until after this week, but some readers had already reached a verdict, both about Sabbatini and the media covering him. Rosaforte's piece drew an "it's about time" reaction.

My letter is not specifically about Rory Sabbatini. it is about a golf press that continues to write favorable stories about players when the oppositie is true. After Honda, the press wrote about how Sabbatini had changed and had become a role model. No where was it reported that a 5-page letter had been sent to PGA Tour headquarters about his behavior at Riviera. Even now the press has done a poor job of reporting the specifics of what happened in New Orleans. Maybe we need a new crop of reporters who are more disinterested and less fraternal. Stop blaming the tour for not reporting sanctions against players. The press could do a lot more too.

Bill Tignanelli, Baltimore MD

Usually Rosaforte's articles and commentary give the impression he's trying to suck up to gain access, but I think he did well on this one. I hope it's not because he doesn't think access to Sabbatini is that important. Johnny Miller is a shining light. You guys are journalists. Live up to your name.

Michael Smith, Ventura, CA

Thanks, gentlemen. I'll assume that in the recent debate on whether to make fines public, you're in the "aye" column.

Bob Carney

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Stina, you "bailed out"on pace-of-play bullies!

Friday, May 6, 2011 Comments

The Rory Sabbatini/ Sean O'Hair contretemps, reportedly ignited over the pace of O'Hair's play, is repeated daily at courses all over the country, hares being hares and tortoises being tortoises. When editor Stina Sternberg, in the May "Ask Stina" column said that she did not confront a "pace-of-play bully" in her own family, it drew protest from a Bronx man who, we think, takes no guff.

Stina,

My girlfriend and myself are big fans. Your advice is usually spot on, but boy, did you bail out on the pace-of-play bully question. Since my girlfriend is a beginner, I usually ask the starter to pair us up with other couples and sometimes we will end up as a foursome of 3 women and myself. I've seen firsthand what "pushed" play does to a beginner; I've had to physically confront groups of guys who think it's funny to hit into what they think is a group of women. Once confronted as usual the bully backs off. As a side note, what do you think of Donald Trump's golf behavior? I guess arrogance can get you far in life until you run into the wrong person, who, as we say in the Bronx."straightens you out." Keep up the good work.

Angelo Forzano, New York, NY

Take your time, Angelo, we're in no hurry. By the way, have you met Rory?

Seriously, if the game is to grow, we need beginners, and they will not be good or fast (usually) the first few times they play. Good for you sticking up for your friend.

Bob Carney

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Georgia reader: The Webb Simpson ruling is idiotic!

Monday, May 2, 2011 Comments

Webb Simpson's 15th-hole one-stroke penalty, incurred Sunday when his ball moved as he was about to tap it in, drew some readers' ire. Rule 18 2-b is also one of the rules the USGA and R&A are studying and may consider changing.

I wish for once someone in golf journalism would have the guts to take on the USGA about how ridiculous the rules are. Another week, another stupid rule causes an innocent player to lose a professional tournament. How many times has this happened in the past year? How many more times will it have to happen before the golf writers do something? Are you all just a bunch of potted plants?

Ron Lowry, Marietta, GA

One argument against rules like this is that it assumes the worst of a player. Simpson did nothing to cause the ball to move, nor did anyone accuse him of that; but he is penalized as if he did. If ours is the game of honor, this reasoning goes, can't we ask the player to say whether he caused ball to move? Wait, goes the counter-argument, with all that money on the line, who would admit that he did? A player of honor, that's who. Which is all of us, right?

That said, Simpson had three holes to right the "wrong," did he not?

Bob Carney

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