Over the past two years, RDC Golf Group Chief Executive Officer Chris Schiavone has been a regular columnist for New Jersey's Golfer's Tee Times newspaper, offering insights and anecdotes about his passion and ours...GOLF. Here's another one of our favorites:
Upon reaching age 50, I took the time to reflect upon my golf game. This proved to be a terrible mistake, and I should have known better. The depressing truth is that my golfing skills (such as they were) appear to have peaked at about age 43, and have been in almost a full decade of decline. Since I began playing golf at age 8, and my life expectancy is about 78, it appears I am on a perfectly symmetrical curve -- 35 years on the way up, and 35 years on the slow and self-pity-filled way down.
Perhaps there will be a few trend-bucking moments during the pathetic decline that lies ahead, but that decline is inevitable. I can’t give it up, and my athletic talent is limited. My fate is sealed.
Now I can only hope to hang on to whatever elements of a decent golf game I can sustain for as long as I’m able, and I have been analyzing how to best accomplish this. I share my conclusions in the hope that fellow mediocre golfers who face a similar fate may prolong the inevitable for as long as possible (Remember, this is advice from a guy with a good two score years of golf, who now only has about two good scores a year.):
1) Try for a Consistent Swing Instead of a Great One -- Unathletic golfers like me can only dream of a swing like Davis Love or Ernie Els. Trying to achieve it is an exercise in futility and frustration. If you can confidently hit a 190-yard pull/fade almost every time off the tee, work with it! If you are playing the white tees (see No. 2 below), the average par-4 is about 360 yards (the front of the green only about 345 yards away). At only 160 yards out, you will often be in better shape than the guy who hits it 250 but is often in the trees or thick rough.
2) Play the White Tees -- We mediocre players should not be masochists. Those black and blue tees will beat you up…that’s why they’re black and blue!
3) Try Sticking with One Club Around the Greens -- Most of us hackers don’t practice as much as good golfers, and chip and sand shots require feel and finesse. Get use to the feel of one club for these shots with your limited practice time; you’ll improve your “touch” with a more focused motor/muscle memory. A corollary is to use the putter whenever you can, as in from flat, short-mowed lies off the green. It will eliminate some of the skulled and chunked chip shots.
4) Get Your Putts to the Hole -- Golfers of my class rarely get “tap-in” birdies (or “gimmie” pars, for that matter), so don’t miss the chance for lightning to strike once in a while. You’re just as likely to miss the one you left three feet short as the one that goes three feet past.
5) Stay Conscious of Your Fundamentals -- I am sorry if I appear to be stating the obvious here, but one of the reasons I’m not a good golfer is that I frequently forget to keep a smooth tempo to my swing, or keep my head down. We tend to get anxious when the match is on the line, or we’re on the verge of breaking 90 (or 100) for the first time in a while, and that makes us over swing, or peek.
That’s about all I’ve come up with in trying to cope with my long, downhill journey. But I do love the game, and I’m in it for the duration.
How many of
you put your clubs away for the winter? How many of you rushed out the other
day to play when it was in the 70’s? I bet a lot of you! Did any of you feel
sore or tight the next day? Here is a
quick tip to get you ready for this season and shake off the winter.
