You’ve probably heard it a thousand times.  Golf is a game of misses.  If you think about it, you only make 18 shots per round.  Every other shot misses to some degree.  As we all know, some of them miss by an extremely high degree.  Unfortunately, they tend to build golf courses so that the worse you miss, the more harshly you’re punished.

Golf courses are filled with trees, water, sand, rough and so on that are just waiting to dole out some punishment.  It’s critical, if we want to score, that we learn basic recovery skills so that these trouble situations have a minimal impact.

Following are five recovery skills you need in your golf game.

Learning to Say ‘No’

That’s right, one of the most important recovery skill is a mental one.

We’ve all been there.  Off the tee, your drive was off target and you end up in the rough.  It’s fairly thick, but you can see the ball.  You have 200 yards to the green with a creek guarding the front, sand on either side, and dense woods behind the green.

In that situation, you need to hit a good shot to give yourself a chance, but being in the thick rough with a fairly long, forced carry, the odds might not be in your favor, depending on your skill level.  The question is, do you have what it takes to say ‘no’ and lay up?

You could take your medicine and hit a couple of wedges in a row and still have a chance to make par.  You’re probably looking at bogey, at worst, if you’re a reasonable putter.

Now, look at the down side in going for it.  Sure, you might hit a great shot and end up on the green or just off with a chance for and up and down.  More likely, though, you’re going to mis-hit your approach and end up in the creek.  That penalty stroke is probably going to put a double bogey on your card.

Or, what if you decide to take more club but catch a flier?  Your shot hits the green like a rocket and shoots into the woods.  At best, you might be able to take an unplayable lie, but what if the ball is lost?  Now you’re talking about a stroke and distance penalty.

Believe me, I know.  It’s very difficult to do it, but being able to set aside ego, optimism, or whatever you suffer from, is one of the most valuable golf skills you can cultivate.  There’s a time and place to go for it, but knowing when that is will make you a better player.

Polishing Your Sand Game

Sand play is one of the most under-developed parts of most player’s games.  The practice bunker at my course gets hardly any use.  I suppose maybe it’s because it’s not next to a practice green.  To me, it seems like at practice areas where there’s a green next to the bunker, players more apt to work on their sand play.

I’d be interested to know what percentage of players that work on their games spend and noticeable time working on their sand play.  Do they hit sand shots to a practice green?  What about fairway bunker shots?  I would bet that most of the players that do work on sand play don’t work on those.

Yet, sand shots are some of the most simple to execute – when you know the basics, that is.  Being a competent sand player gives you the chance to save par after finding your way into a fairway or green-side bunker.  Not being a competent sand player costs strokes, plain and simple.  I’ve actually played with people that experienced noticeable anxiety when playing from the sand. Forget about saving strokes, they’re worried about keeping the ball on the property and not killing anyone in the process.

I covered most aspects of sand play a while back, so if you need to brush up on your sand technique, you can check out these posts from the archives: The Basic Sand Shot, In Sand, the Point of Entry is Key, The Buried Lie: A Sandy Grave, Uphill and Downhill Lies in Bunkers, and The Fairway Bunker Shot.

Keeping the Ball Low

Some of you might play on courses where trees are few and far between.  But in the United States, tree-lined courses are very common.  At some point, you’re going to get a little close to a tree, or you’ll have a tree in your way, and you’ll find that you need to be able to keep the ball low to get under some limbs.

This isn’t a very difficult shot, but it does require some practice.  To execute a low punch, address the ball with a stance that is a little more narrow than normal.  The ball should be way back, well behind center.  Your weight should be mostly on your left side and will stay there throughout the swing.  Your backswing should be somewhat short, as with a wedge shot and you should keep your hands somewhat low on the follow-thorough.

You’re not trying to kill the ball, so your swing should be controlled.  You’re keeping the ball down by de-lofting the club face and by keeping the spin relatively low.  For a longer distance you definitely want to take extra club instead of swinging harder.  The ball will stay pretty low and then run a good deal after landing.  You definitely want to experiment with this shot before trying it on the course so you can get a handle on how high it will fly and how much roll you can expect.

This shot isn’t just good for keeping the ball under limbs.  It it also useful for playing in high winds.  Keeping the ball low will minimize the effect that wind exerts on your shots.

Intentional Hooks and Slices

Most of the time, hitting a hook or a slice is not what we want to do.  We would usually consider it a mistake.  However, there are times when we end up in situations where it can be advantageous to be able to do it on command.

Let’s say, for instance, you’re playing a tree-lined hole that’s also a dog-leg left.  Depending on how far the dog-leg is from the tee, positioning your shot in the right side of the fairway might be crucial.  If you don’t have enough length to clear it all, then it’s critical that you play for the right side of the fairway so that you have an angle at the green.  If you make a mistake and end up on the left edge of the fairway, you may find that you have no clear shot at the green if you’re back a bit from the bend and there are trees in the way.

By all means, refer back to recovery skill one (above), and decide whether it’s best to just take your medicine and hit a wedge or punch something forward as much as possible.  There are circumstances, though, where you may feel like you have a green light and can (or should) go for it.  If that’s the case, you’ll need to be able to do more than play a nice draw (or fade if you’re left-handed).  You may need a controlled hook.

A while back, I covered how to hit a controlled draw or fade.  Feel free to review that now if you need to brush up.

There are lots of things you can do to promote ball flight one way or the other.  In that post I referred to above, there are a number of things mentioned, such as taking a more open or closed stance, using a weaker or stronger grip, and opening or closing the club face slightly at address.

When you need to go from a draw to a hook or from a slice to a fade, it’s simply a matter of exaggerating one or more of those things a little more.  The best place to start is opening or closing the club face at address just a little more.  It doesn’t take much to make a big difference in how much the ball moves.  I wouldn’t, however, recommend exaggerating grip changes in this case.  That can give an uncomfortable feeling at address and that discomfort will do more harm than good.

If you’re very comfortable with the concept of swing plane and you feel like you’re comfortable and knowledgeable enough with your own swing, you can also use that to promote a hook or a slice.

If you want to hook the ball, a flatter plane, with the ball approaching the club more from inside the line will help you do that.  Conversely, to slice the ball, swing along a more vertical plane and have the club face approach the ball from more down the target line (or even from across the line – which is what chronic slicers usually do without realizing it).

One last thing you can do to promote one or the other is to control the release of your hands at impact.  Take a few practice swings and if you’re trying to hook the ball, really get the feeling that you’re releasing the hands through impact, to get the club face closing a little sooner.  If you want to slice it, don’t be afraid to hold on a little and delay the release of the club just a bit so the face stays open slightly longer.

The best thing to do is to experiment with these things at the driving range to understand how they work for you.  You certainly want to do that before getting out on the course and deciding to try hooking the ball on purpose for the first time.

Hitting From Thick Rough

This is probably the most common situation that we golfers face regularly where our recovery skills are tested.  Again, start by deciding whether it’s worth going for it.

By far, the most effective way to deal with heavy rough is to play the shortest, heaviest club in your bag.  That’s typically a sand wedge. A wedge has enough weight to get through the rough and to the ball, and the shorter shaft makes it easier to control.

There are times, though, where the lie makes it possible (or the situation makes it necessary) to go for it, and a hybrid or other long club is the choice.  I covered the basics of hitting from the deep rough last year.  If you have trouble in the deep rough, I think you’ll find that the proper adjustments are relatively simple.

Managing Expectations

The key to being in recovery situations is realizing that we’re in recovery situations. That seems silly to say, but we’re there because we messed up and we’re paying a penalty.  The only reason modern golf courses have sand and long grass is to penalize bad shots.  That’s fundamental to the game.

Often times, it’s the problem of biting off more than we can chew that causes us to hit poor shots in those situations.  If you hit a ball dead down the fairway, you arrive at your second shot and start thinking, “Ok, I have X yards to the green, and the wind is still, and the lie is fairly level, so I need to hit such and such a club.”

The problem comes when you hit a shot into a recovery situation, like into thick rough, and go through the same progression.  You may not even stop to think whether that shot even makes sense.  You’re paying a penalty, and understanding it is the first step to digging out of that hole.  Knowing how to slice and hook, hit from the sand, keep it low, and hit from thick rough are valuable physical skills to learn, but respecting the situation and knowing when to say ‘no’ is the most important.

Remember that and you’re on the right track.  And remember to practice these things at the range before trying them on the course or you’ll end up digging a deeper hole.  Better yet, just keep it on the short grass!

I just got my USGA membership renewal packet in the mail today.  Not only did I get my 2010 U.S. Open Pebble Beach hat, but they also included a little booklet called Shortcut to the USGA Handicap System.

As the 2009 wore on, I got to be meticulous about keeping my handicap and learned a few things I didn’t know before.  If your only experience with the USGA handicap system is entering scores in a computer and affixing a new sticker to a card every couple weeks, then you’ve been missing out.

There’s a very complex system for computing handicaps which, in fact, takes up a whole book.  Don’t believe me?  I broke out my copy for this post.  Of course, an iPhone image of my manual doesn’t do you much good.  Luckily, the USGA has most, if not all, of that handicap information online.

I recommend digging in to understand the handicap system a little better, but here are nine things you might not know about USGA golf handicaps.  All of this information was compiled from Shortcut to the USGA Handicap System and from the USGA Handicap Manual.

1. Did you know that the USGA has had a handicap system in the United States since 1912? That’s right.  And until 1987, a golfer’s handicap was relative to what an expert would be expected to shoot on a course (par), and they would get the same number of strokes on every course.  After 1987, players began getting a handicap index which took course difficulty into account.
2. Do you really know what the Slope Rating is? The Slope Rating is the mystery factor that lets handicaps express how difficult a course is for golfers of varying abilities in relation to a scratch golfer. It considers aspects of a course’s layout that will affect a high-handicapper’s score more.  This might include forced-carries or significant water hazards.  Courses with more of these kinds of trouble will have a higher Slope Rating.  Slope Ratings range from 55 to 155 with 113 considered the standard Slope Rating.
3. Do you know that you don’t necessarily have to finish a round to post a score? The USGA states that there are two basic principles behind the practice of posting scores.  First, you must try to make the best score at each hole in every round (no sand bagging).  And, second, you are required to post every acceptable score.
4. Do you know what an acceptable score is? I thought you might not so here goes.  An acceptable score might be any of the following.  When at least seven holes are played, you have enough for an acceptable score.  Seven to 12 holes would be posted as a 9-hole score; 13 or more posted as an 18-hole score.  In addition, you should include: scores on all courses with a Course Rating and Slope Rating, scores in all forms of competition (match, stroke, and team competitions where a player plays his own ball), scores made under the Rules of Golf, scores made under the local rule of “preferred lies”, and scores made in an area observing an active season (no “winter rules”).
5. Did you know that if you skip a hole or don’t play it according to the Rules of Golf, it still counts? Before I knew any better, sometimes I would get frustrated while playing alone for fun and pick up the ball or I would play a mulligan or violate the Rules in some other way and assume that I couldn’t count the round.  Well, the handicap system takes those into account.  If you skip a hole, count the score as par plus any handicap strokes you would receive.  If you play a mulligan, you should do the same.  Don’t count the mulligan.  If you start a hole but don’t finish (like if you quit or are conceded a stroke in match play) you must record the score you most likely would have made if you finished the hole.  I’m betting most of you didn’t know that last part.
6. Do you know what a Course Handicap is? With all the talk of index this and rating that, it all becomes confusing.  Your Course Handicap is what many people think their Handicap Index is (which is partly true – the Index is portable and is used to compute the Course Handicap for a particular course).  It’s the number of strokes you need to play to scratch at a particular course.  When all is said and done in a round if you shot even par after your handicap strokes are applied, then you had a good day and your handicap was right on.  If you’re not in that neighborhood, then you either had a bad day or your index is not an accurate reflection of your ability.
7. Did you know that handicaps have been relatively stable for a long while? Despite the availability of instruction (personal, print, television), the accessibility of golf to people to play to their heart’s content, and the technology that goes into equipment, we’re not really getting all that much better at the amateur level.  In its February 2009 issue on pg. 102, Golf Digest printed a chart showing handicap average from 1990 to 2008 dropping sharply with a corresponding explosion in golf technology (they charted against the number of annual submissions to the USGA equipment test center).  However, this drop in handicaps amounted to around less than 2 strokes reduction in index in almost 20 years.  That may be statistically significant and is probably equipment related as Golf Digest hypothesizes (i.e. more distance and forgiveness), but overall, we’re not really becoming significantly better players.
8. We all hate blow-up holes, but did you know that your handicap is insulated from their effects? That’s what Equitable Stroke Control (ESC) is designed to do.  You all know (or should, at least) that depending on your handicap, when you enter a score, you can’t use a score on a hole that is greater than the maximum allowed.  If your Course Handicap is nine or less, you can’t count anything over a double-bogey for handicap purposes.  If your handicap is 10-19, your maximum hole score is a 7.  And so on up through handicaps of 40+ whose maximum score is a ten.  This keeps an occasional big number from blowing up a player’s Handicap Index, so that it’s more representative of a player’s true scoring ability, not his worst case scenarios.
9. Did you know that there’s a Handicap Committee whose purpose is to ensure the integrity of handicaps it issues? The handicap system wouldn’t be much without some form of peer review process.  That’s where the Handicap Committee comes in.  You can read up on the details, but its basic purpose is to make sure the handicap system is run correctly at the club and to make sure that scores are entered accurately.  Typically, at a golf course, this might consist of the pro and/or the pro shop staff, but the club might not necessarily be a golf course, but a collection of people in an organization of some kind.  For instance, my handicap is issued by the New Jersey State Golf Association, not by my golf course directly.

There you have it.  You might have a handle on handicap stuff, but I bet most of you learned something new.

This, of course, only relates to the USGA handicap system.  Other parts of the world use different systems, though maybe those systems share some common aspects.  I’d love to hear from those of you outside the United States and Mexico to learn how the handicap systems you use differ from the USGA system.

Because of the extensive connections I have (not to brag), I managed to block out some of Santa Claus’ time.  He agreed to come and hang out with me so all of you can tell him your Christmas golf wishes for 2010.  So, come kids of all ages, sit on Santa’s lap and tell him what you want! It can be something for you, something for someone special, or anything relating to golf, in general.  Leave your list in the comments section.

I’ll get this party started and give you the five things I’m asking from Santa for Christmas.

Enough Tiger Drama

First and foremost, I want a return to normalcy in the world of PGA Tour golf.  The Tiger Woods story has been one of the biggest of the year, and I’m guilty of gossiping about all the ins and outs (no pun intended) of that whole mess.

For 2010, I want the elephant in the room to get up and walk away.  I want Tiger back on the course and I want to go back to the way things used to be, when I felt like I could root for him without thinking about all this controversy whenever his name is uttered.

Gimme Some Iron

I want a new set of irons.  I planned on getting a new set last year but because I was struggling with my ball striking for much of the year, I didn’t feel I had earned it.  Well, I’m pretty much over that hump, so it’s time to replace my worn Callaway X-16 Pros with something new.  I debated a few different new models last year, but I’m undecided now so Santa will have to use his judgment.

Soaring to New Highs

Obviously, I want my game improvement to continue.  I made some really good progress last year (despite some hurdles) and I feel like I’m ready to continue breaking through.  I can’t wait to get out there in the spring, work hard, and break through all the barriers that I can.

I learned an awful lot last year.  Not only did I make strides in my game, but I learned a lot about the mechanics of the golf swing in general and how those nuances apply directly to my specific swing.  I feel like I’m actually getting to the point where I understand what’s going on under the hood.  That’s a good feeling and I want it to continue next year.

Take Me Away

It’s been a long while since I did a golf getaway, so I’d like to do a mini golf vacation in 2010.  The dream vacation to Scotland is pretty much off the table for 2010, but if I can get to Myrtle Beach or Florida or Arizona for a long weekend of golf, that would be ideal.

And My Gift To You

You didn’t expect me to use all five things on my list for myself, did you?

I’m asking Santa to bring you everything you desire in the realm of golf for 2010 (I can’t influence anything outside of the universe of golf, so you’re on your own with that other stuff).  You had better take advantage and tell Santa everything you want because Christmas is only a couple of days away.

Leave your list for Santa in the comments and if you’ve been good this year, you never know, your wish may come true!  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  Even if Christmas isn’t your thing, I still wish all the best for you and yours for 2010.

I love the poll questions because they really give me a chance to learn from all of you.  Sure, it’s not exactly scientific, but I’ve learned something interesting from every one I’ve ever posted.

The latest poll asked about the ways you improve your golf game.  If you haven’t voted yet, please feel free.  The question is, “Which of the following have you done in the past 12 months to improve your golf game?“  I presented you with a bunch of answers and asked you to pick all that apply (my apologies – for a brief period early on, you were only able to select one answer, but that has since been fixed).

This is how the responses broke down as of this writing (out of 167):

• Practice at a driving range or practice green (81%, 136 Votes)
• Read or watch instructional materials (63%, 105 Votes)
• Take a range lesson from a golf pro (34%, 57 Votes)
• Get a club fitting (22%, 36 Votes)
• Conduct a video analysis of your swing, (by yourself or with a pro) (20%, 34 Votes)
• Have a computerized swing analysis done (not at a club fitting) (15%, 25 Votes)
• Another thing which is not listed (15%, 25 Votes)
• Take a playing lesson from a golf pro (12%, 20 Votes)
• Attend a clinic at a local course or driving range (7%, 12 Votes)
• Attend a golf school (4%, 7 Votes)
• None of the above (3%, 5 Votes)

In many ways those answers aren’t surprising.

For instance, I’m not surprised that only 34% of you have taken a lesson from a golf pro in the last 12 months.  One look at my driving range tells me that if all of them were taking lessons, my course would need to employ a dozen pros.  I’m also not surprised that only 4% of you have attended a golf school.  They can get pretty expensive, after all, and often require travel and several days of commitment.

(Update: Doug alertly pointed out in the comments that I had originally referred above to the 12% who had taken playing lessons with a pro.  The number taking range lessons is actually at 34%, but I wonder how many of them overlap with the 12% who took playing lessons.  In reality the number taking some form of lesson could be anywhere between 34% and 46%, which actually puts the total in the somewhat surprising category.  Though, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised because as I went on to state below, most people visiting here are those interested in game improvement.  What wouldn’t surprise me is if these numbers are higher than in the overall golfing population.)

A couple of things there are very surprising to me, though.

For one, I’m surprised that 22% of you have gotten a club fitting in the last 12 months.  I expected that number to be much lower.  I’m surprised there were that many of you that bought clubs in the last 12 months (or at least thought about it seriously enough to get a fitting), though I probably shouldn’t be.  We golfers are nuts when it comes to buying new equipment sometimes.

The biggest shock to me, however, is that only 81% of you have practiced at a driving range or practice green in the last 12 months.  I want to scream, “WHY?!” but I’ll just calmy ask.  Why?

In fairness, 3% of you answered “none of the above”.  There are likely some non-golfers that came by and answered the poll.  I’ll throw those out and I’m still shocked that 16% of you haven’t practiced at a driving range or practice green in the last 12 months.

I understand that most of you would rather play than practice.  I get it.  But those of you that found your way here for the first time were most likely looking to improve your game somehow.  As much as I’d like to believe you’re interested in my quest, the vast majority of you were brought here while searching for things to help you fix your game.  The Stack and Tilt.  Learning how to hit from sand.  Straightening your slice.

In general, I expect that most of you like to work on your game in some fashion.  I’m betting many of you like to read golf books, magazines, blogs.  You take lessons.  You buy training aids.  I would have thought going to the range and/or practice green is the most basic fundamental to game improvement like the need for air, water, and food for basic human survival.

It’s not even the fact that 16% of you didn’t practice at a range or green that boggles my mind the most.  It’s really the fact that you selected one of the other answers instead.  I sincerely hope you’re not taking lessons and not putting the teaching to work in between.

I have to know.  Those of you who did not practice at a driving range or practice green in the last 12 months, please tell me your story.  I promise I won’t be judgmental.  I’m just extremely curious.  Do you just not like it?  Did you just accidentally not select that answer?  Do you just prefer to work on stuff out on the course?

Hopefully some of you 16% will fill me in, or maybe the rest of you know the answers and will let me know.  Either way, I’m intrigued with another great poll.  If you haven’t voted yet, please feel free.  I’m going to run it for a while longer.  I’m also interested to hear from any of you about your general practice habits.  If you read regularly, then you know all mine, so let’s hear yours.

Yesterday, I started to relate the foundation of my love of golf, but that was more like a false start.  This is the second part of that post where I really get to the bottom of my fondness for the game.  As I said yesterday, I really want to hear how you ended up taking up golf.  Feel free to drop your stories into the comments.  I won’t be offended if you skip my drivel and go right to the comments.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled program.

As I was saying yesterday: Until…

Starting With a Job

In March of 1994, I was in college and was looking for a job for the summer.  The same group of friends that went out there a year or two earlier (including the two clubless deadbeats – sorry, dude…) decided that we should go down to the “country club” and apply for jobs.

I put “country club” in quotes because at the time, we were so naive, we assumed it was a club for the elite like Bushwood from Caddyshack with doctors and lawyers and executives out there playing for serious bucks.  In hindsight, it was an average public course with a decent sized membership.  Though, to their credit, it was a more traditional place where dress code and etiquette and those sorts of things mattered.

Within a week, my three friends were hired.  I waited and waited and heard nothing.  I was getting stiffed!  By fortuitous coincidence, my aunt happened to know a man who was a bigwig at the club and who was in tight with the ownership.  She phoned in a favor for me and I was enthusiastically hired before she even finished hanging up the phone.  On a side note – coincidentally, while that ownership regime was there I was treated very well.  Hmm, my first and only experience with nepotism, I think.

I worked there throughout the rest of my college days and even a little bit after.  Since I went to college for almost eight years (I got to consecutive bachelor’s degrees – cut me some slack) I spent about 5 years working out there.  My first year, I was a cart attendant (we were called cart boys in those days – not sure if that’s a PC violation now), then I worked in maintenance for three years.  After that, I worked part time on weekends for a season or two as a course ranger.

As an aside, I really do believe that those five years have given me enough material to write a book.  You wouldn’t believe a lot of it if I told you, but those are stories for another day (and most of them will never be recounted in this space).

Learning from the Learned

Those were definitely my formative years in the game of golf.  I was then working for that salty old pro that wanted to bounce us out the door a year or two earlier.  His name was Bob.  He worked a non-golf job for something like 25 years, retired, and became a golf pro, something he had wanted to do early in life.  He had a somewhat gruff exterior, but after getting to know him, he was funny, generous, and had a lot to teach.  He passed away a couple of years after I finished up my tour of duty at the course.

His love of the game was similar to mine, I think. He instilled a lot of appreciation for the traditions of golf.  He demanded players dress appropriate to the dress code.  He was always dressed sharply himself.  We used to joke that he never wore the same shirt twice and it wasn’t that much of an exaggeration.  At one point, he hired a waitress from the restaurant to do laundry for him on the side.  He brought five full Hefty garbage bags full of clothes for her to wash (I know because I moved them from his car to hers).  And he said that was just the shirts.  He would bring the pants after she got those done.

I still miss him.  I think he would be supportive of my effort to become a pro and I would definitely value his advice.

I also worked for an up and coming young pro named Brian.  He was an excellent player and really nice guy.  I learned a lot from him too.  He was well on his way to a career in golf, working through the PGA certification process at the time.  Soon after I started working there, he got a job at a course in Florida and I haven’t heard anything since.  But I owe him too for sparking my love for the game.

Getting a job at a golf course was key because golf was free.  Practice was free, too.  If the seed was going to be planted, it definitely had all the water and sunshine it could use.

Working on the course was a great learning experience because it gave me plenty of time to observe the way experienced players played.  I started to pick up the finer points of etiquette.  I learned where carts were allowed to be driven.  I learned about pace of play.  I saw some good swings and an awful lot of bad ones and started to sort of intuitively recognize some of the differences between them.

Equipment Upgrades

I played golf here and there, and at some point, Brian examined my beat-up old set of clubs and said, “come with me.”  He took me to the shed where the range balls were stored and there was a giant container filled with clubs.  These were the ones that had been in the lost and found for multiple years (current ones were kept inside the pro-shop).  He said, “let’s build you a better set,” and proceeded to pluck me out a complete set of clubs, including a putter.

Spalding Executive was a popular model at the time and he managed to put together an almost completely matching set for me.  Which begs the question:  how many frickin’ clubs do people lose?!  The math is mind boggling, that he could put together almost a complete set of Executives just out of the lost and found.

But, I digress.

My First “Lessons”

I was charged up about the “new” clubs so I started practicing more.  I signed up for a clinic that Brian ran one afternoon early that summer.  He started me out with some waist-high 7-iron swings and showed me some other basics.  There was a trash can full of range balls for the students to hit and I was out there hitting balls with my 7-iron until dark.

As time went on, I started to play more.  Some of my fondest memories are the evenings I spent out on the course playing alone.  I kept practicing, too.  Despite the fact that I worked at the course, I didn’t take a personal lesson from any of the pros for several years.

I did get lots of tips and casual information over the years, but aside from that clinic my first summer, I didn’t get much other instruction.  I just learned by doing.

Well, that’s sort of true.

One evening, I was at the range pounding balls.  The driveway of the course ran parallel to the range tee, so it was common for cars to be passing by all the time.  At one point, I heard a car slowing down behind me so I hit my shot and turned to look, and it was Bob watching me.

He yelled, “What the f*** are you doing, big man?!!”  You had to know Bob – if he liked you, he would give you a hard time.  I turned and said, “hitting balls?”  He shot back, “You see that sign up there on the road?!”

The road ran up the right side of the range (yes, I did put balls out there on occasion).  There was a sign up maybe 150 yards up and on the opposite side of the  road.  It was probably 20-30 degrees to the right my target which was straight up the range.

I kind of sheepishly said, “yeah” because I thought he might be having some fun with me but wasn’t sure and didn’t want to seem like an idiot.  He yelled, “You should be swinging your club at that g**d*** sign!!”  I started to turn and aim at the sign and he shot back, “Nooooooooo! Dammit!  Aim down the range at your target, but when you swing the club down, swing it out toward that sign!!”

I hit a few shots like that and he was satisfied.  In a much calmer tone he said, “Good.  Keep working.”  He rolled up his window and drove on.

That was my first lesson on hitting from the inside.  Over the next few years, I received other impromptu lessons like that and learned a lot in the process, without really knowing what I was learning.

Brian taught me how to build putting feel by mentally associating a specific length putting stroke with a specific distance.  It wasn’t about a scientific measurement of putt length and back swing length.  It was about knowing that I have a ten-foot putt and being able to have my muscles recall my ten-foot putt stroke, whatever that happens to look like.

In my first year there, I started to play more and more.  When I got done work, I would run home, change in to proper attire, and then run back and hit the course and play until dark.  By this time, I was becoming a reasonably decent player.  After a couple of years, I had no trouble averaging in the low 40′s and would go through stretches where I could consistently shoot in the upper 30′s.  I was playing probably four or five days per week and even went through a stretch where I played 21 days straight.

Defining Me

It’s funny how circumstances define us.

As you can infer from all this, I played a lot of 9-hole rounds.  We were allowed to play whenever we wanted, but we couldn’t play at busy times when we might take a spot from a paying customer. So, I played in the evenings almost all the time.  And that behavior became so ingrained that it continues to this day.  I am most happy on the course in the evenings, playing until dark.  I like to play against someone else because it helps me focus my game, but I rarely play in a foursome.

I learned to enjoy the solitude of the practice tee and green and of the course late in the evenings.  I learned to like practice because I didn’t want to be the 17 year old fool that went out there to play golf without even understanding anything beyond the basic purpose of the game.  Sure, everyone has to start somewhere, but instead of asking, I just figured I knew it all and went from there.

Those were my formative years and gave me my love for the game.  I owe people like Bob for teaching me the tradition and character of the game.  And I owe several people for taking the time to teach me a little about the swing and how to play the game.  But, somewhere the game got into my soul.  I don’t know if the solitude just matches my personality or if the challenge of the game is a perfect match for my innate desire to learn and improve.

Either way, that was a wonderful time in my life and it was a pleasure to relive it in these two posts.  I hope you’ll share your own introduction to the game in the comments below.