Hooked on Golf - A Slice of a Golf Addict's Tale (part 3)

In part 2 I described how my interest in golf became fascination, which was one step from addiction! This article describes the final slide into addiction.

The second tee of Stirling golf course at that time faced what was to us a huge crater filled with thick rough. It was a severe challenge for a 10 year old to drive over, with only a narrow path through the rough on its left edge leading to the fairway beyond.

The right edge was guarded with gorse and broom bushes and, of course, that was where most beginners who managed to avoid the crater itself ended up, as we tended to either aim left and/or tried to force the shot with too much right arm, which led to the inevitable slice. However, there were compensations in ending up in the crater or amongst the gorse, as that was where balls were to be found, apart from our own, thereby saving some of our precious pocket money.

Having negotiated the crater, the hole was quite straightforward. A broad fairway led to a green situated part way up a rise. As beginners, we merely hacked our way around the course without paying much attention to how the ball behaved as long as it eventually went into the hole!

However, after a while our competitive instincts began to kick in and we started to compare scores to see how few strokes we needed to get the ball into the hole, which after all was the object of the game. We began to take notice how the ball behaved as we struck it in certain ways.

The first observation was that if we tried to leather the ball to get it over the crater by hitting it as hard as we could with our right arm, as was natural for a right handed person, it tended to take a fairly sharp left to right turn, ie fade or slice. This was compounded if we aimed to the left to try to avoid the crater by following the path. This was a puzzle and was our first intimation that golf was counter intuitive, although we had no words for it at that age. We had played hockey and a good swipe with lots of right arm worked well with a hockey stick, so why didn't it work with a golf club? It took quite a while to discover that the left arm was the key to keeping the shot straight; the right arm was merely along for the ride.

The next problem was deciding how to attack the green. Should one try to pitch the ball onto it or play a chip & run shot?

We soon discovered that much depended on the time of day and the season. In winter, particularly after frost, the ball would react as if the green and its approaches were concrete! Consequently a chip & run was the way to go. In summer, the approaches would be fast, but the green & its surrounds soft, particularly in the morning after watering, so a pitch shot was the answer.

You will recall from my second article that the clubs used were a half set, with the Mashie-Niblick being equivalent to a 7 or 8 iron, often with a flange which made it similar to a wedge to play. However, around the green one had to learn to play it with a very open face to get it to stop quickly. It was very easy to fluff a shot by trying to play it too softly.

The final problem was how to putt the ball into the hole. Should one use a wristy stroke, which was common in those days, or play it stiff-armed, which we heard was the modern method?

The grass used on courses in those days was often the same as that on the fairways, just cut shorter on a more prepared surface with good drainage and a watering system. Consequently it had a definite grain which affected how the ball ran, both as regards speed and direction, ie how the ball took any break. We discovered that a wristy stroke on the green was not as effective as a stiff armed one.

As the above demonstrates, we learned a lot in the first few weeks of play. Some came to the conclusion that golf was a stupid game and reverted to the team games that were encouraged. A few of us decided that there was a lot more to the game than we had first thought and began to take a serious interest in it.

That was the final step into addiction for me, as the more I played the more I discovered I had to learn, and the more I learnt about the game the more I discovered about my own character and abilities, and after 52 years I am still learning!

My next article will cover some tips and tricks I have picked up over the years which have helped ease my addiction.