A man walked into a Tavern and sat next to a good looking, smartly dressed woman perched on a bar stool. "Hi there good looking, how's it going?" he asked.
The woman looked him straight in the eye and said: "Listen, I'll screw anybody, anytime, anywhere, your place, my place it doesn't matter. I've been doing it ever since I got out of college, and I just love it!"
"No kidding?," said the man, "I'm a lawyer too! What firm are you with?"
If we were to take a poll of our extended family golf group - who would you vote as the the best in these categories?
Most accurate off the tee?
Longest Driver?
Long iron play?
Wedge game?
Chipping around the green?
Putter: Lag putter?
Putter: 10 footers?
Bunker shots?
Course Management?
Pressure putter?
Here's my list.
Most accurate off the tee? Mac or Bob P.
Longest Driver? Smyrk or Rich
Long iron play? Linbo
Wedge game? Keith
Chipping around the green? Not Tom
Putter: Lag putter? Rodney or Rich
Putter: 10 footers? Steve Richardson or Steve Martin
Bunker shots? Not Tom
Course Management? Dick
Pressure putter? Richardson
This past weekend I watched Boo Weekley miss a 3 foot 3 inch putt on the final hole in regulation that would have won the Honda Classic.
This made me think about how we handle "giving putts". Some questions came to my mind. Why don't we putt them all? The theory is that it slows the round down. By how much?
Let's say that an average foursome gives 3 putts per hole. Some are no brainers. 3 inches or less. Let's say 1 per hole is a no brainer. It takes no longer to tap it in - then to pick it up. That leaves 2 putts per hole per foursome. Of those 2 putts - we can eliminate 1 of those 2 every 3 holes because someone made their 6 or 8 footer. Here's the math.....
72 = 18 holes x 4 golfers
- 18 (The ones made outside of gimme range)
= 54
- 18 (no brainer - 3 inches or less)
= 36
- 6 (someone 1-putts or makes one outside of gimme range)
= 30
Okay - so we have 30 putts per foursome that need to be made....
5 seconds standing behind the ball and lining up.
7 seconds standing over the ball.
3 seconds to pull it out of the cup.
That's 15 seconds extra for each of those 30 putts in the foursome. 7.5 additional minutes per round.
What are the benefits to putting them all? The biggest one I can think of is a more accurate handicap.
Does putting them all favor the lower or higher handicap golfer? You would think it would be a lower handicap golfer. That may be true - but it would only be temporary. After a period of time, a true handicap would emerge.
If over the summer I'm "given" 100 putts of 2.5 feet. I've just lowered my handicap. Because chances are I would have missed several (5 or 6 maybe) of those.
One more thing to consider.... We don't all give the same length putts. Some are more generous than others.
Also, we have a few people that give themselves the occasional putt! A big no-no. If this is for a quadruple bogey - maybe - otherwise it should never be done.
Finally, I may be mad at myself for missing that 2.5 footer that would have helped my team - but in the long run, my handicap will be fair and I will become a better putter.
I welcome any comments you might have.
Jake
