Golf Adds Five Years to Life

Just a couple of days ago The Arizona Republic, the daily newspaper of Phoenix, published an article on the findings of a study by the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports. The conclusion: playing golf can add five years to a person’s life.

There are several important points to note here. First of all, it is nice to see that other countries shank away tax dollars with less than critical social-physical-economic studies. The investigation involved 300,000 golfers. Now the only way to study that many golfers is to go to the golf course. The implications here are obvious. I have already forwarded by credentials to volunteer as a staff member for the next golf-related study in Scandinavia.

Secondly, the study concluded that the lower than handicap the greater the benefits in playing the game. The reason is self-evident. In order to maintain a low handicap, you must play and practice more. Ergo, more golf equals better health. I have without hesitation informed my loving and supportive spouse that in the interest of my good health and longevity upon this planet, it is mandatory that I spend more time working at my game. Reaction and results here are yet to be determined.

And, finally, I can now plot out my time on earth with these five years taken into account. I feel I can safely get to somewhere around 80. I can add these five years for golf to the 2x7 that I am already calculating based on the fact that we have two canines. A television commercial, which I am sure in no way intends to mislead, has informed me that having a dog can add seven years to your life. The math is simple: two dogs equal fourteen years.

I now think the next study by the SJMSS should bring this present study to a logical conclusion – an investigation to determine how many years can be added to your life if you bring your dog to the golf course. I volunteer to be a participant.

A Short Summer Reading List.

Summertime, for golfers, should evoke thoughts of rounds of golf and reading on golf. There is, as you undoubtedly know, a seemingly endless parade of golf literature which presents us with the formidable task of sorting out the good from the bad and ugly. So here’s a little help: three volumes that have recently come across my desk that should stimulate your golfing summer.

Just Hit It – Our Equipment and Game by Frank Thomas

Frank Thomas was the Technical Director of the USGA for over a quarter of a century and is today considered to be one of the leading experts on golf equipment. Thomas parted with the USGA in 2000 but hit the road with a briefcase full of knowledge and ideas. With that in tow he produced this book for those of us with limited technical understanding of the game we love.

Thomas’s new book could easily have been entitled Everything You Wanted to Know about Golf Equipment: A Concise Education on the Tools of Our Trade. Obviously a bit cumbersome, but it does describe the book perfectly. Thomas delivers to us the science of the equipment world, but lays it down so that even technical mortals can get the gist. It’s a marvelous and comprehensive journey through the equipment world.

You need this book if you have the slightest curiosity about your equipment.


Golf: The Mental Game – Thinking Your Way around the Course by Tom Dorsel, PhD

Once you have fifty percent of the physical fundamentals of the game mastered, the other ninety percent is mental (or something like that). No doubt everyone needs assistance with the mental side of golf. And surprisingly it’s just been in recent years that we have learned that we needed that help. (One wonders how much more successful Harry Vardon would have been had he had the benefit of proper mental coaching?)

Fortunately, Dr. Dorsel is here to help us with a practical, yet non-clinical approach to our mental game on the course. I am a bit skeptical of written attempts to help me think clearly on the golf course. But Dorsel’s approach is heavily tilted to the practical side. He has divided the book into fifty lessons, instead of chapters, covering every aspect of the game. He even coaches you on what to watch for when you attend a professional event. Each lesson is clear and concise with barely a hint of psychobabble. While I have not tried this, I‘ll bet you could read a lesson, jot down the key points on an index card, and take it to the course.

If you’re hoping to improve your game both physically and mentally this summer, let Dr. Dorsel work on your mind.


Around the World in 80 Rounds by David Wood

A couple of years ago my latest volume Off the Beaten Cart Path was published. While that was becoming a highly successful volume in the realm of golf literature (well, almost), David Wood was trekking around the planet in search of the highest, lowest, most northern, most southern (and so on) courses that are actually affected by gravity.

Let’s face it, almost every golfer worth his Titleist has fantasized about roaming the earth to play the great and famous golf courses. And a few of us have envisioned having a game at a few of the more bizarre layouts that we might encounter along the way. The latter was Wood’s dream. To make this financially feasible, he sold virtually everything he had and hit the road with ten clubs and a small suitcase.

It’s a fascinating story of a love for golf and the characters involved in the game around the world. The great appeal of this volume is that Wood resists the urge to give us a play-by-play of every stroke of every round. Rather he tells the tale by introducing us to characters and courses he encountered along the way. It’s a great read for the hammock in the back yard after a morning round of golf. I’m sure Wood would like it that way.

Book Review: The Poetics of Golf

A golf book that is similar to a round of golf at least concerning its interest-provoking quality. That’s the conclusion I reached after reading and then rereading several sections of Andy Brumer’s most recent volume The Poetics of Golf. The journey through the book was like a round of golf, ups and downs, peaks and valleys, and a few surprises along the way. But in reflection I can say that regardless of how I felt through one chapter, I was always ready to go to the next.

Brumer has a most credible background in golf journalism - a former editor of Golf Tips magazine and most recently a coauthor with Bobby Clampett on The Impact Zone: Mastering Golf’s Moment of Truth. He also has a history in art literature which probably lends a hint to his liking and occasional reference to Michael Murphy’s symbolistic volume Golf in the Kingdom.

The book is actually a collection of essays and thoughts divided into five sections each one focusing on a central theme. Part One, Golf as Memoir, is largely autobiographical and offers some interesting insight into Brumer’s lifelong journey with golf. If you want to know what makes him tick, read this part. Part Three, The Golf Swing as the Axis of the World, became my favorite and really saved the book for me. This section makes an effort to explain the mystical quality of the golf swing as well as examining the technical. If you play golf and are remotely interested in your golf swing, you will thoroughly enjoy this insight. You’ll be introduced to Moe Norman and Homer Kelly, two men who were unique instructors in the world of golf. Golf and the Soul, the final section, will be most appealing to those golfers among us who are zen-like, constantly looking for a reason why golf affects us like it does. The chapter on Golf and Spirituality will best be enjoyed once you have stepped outside yourself and let your mind be influenced by elements other than reality.

So, if you’re a golfer and have an undeniable passion for golf literature, get your hands on Brumer’s The Poetics of Golf. It will whet your appetite for the mystical side of golf using the game itself as a looking glass.

Book Review: A Hacker's Humiliations

With Christmas 2008 just a short dogleg, par four away, you are undoubtedly looking for that perfect gift for the golfer in your life who has every gadget ever created for the game. Well stop searching in the dark, chip your ball back into the light, get to your favorite book provider and procure a copy of A Hacker’s Humiliations: A Glossary of Golf Grotesqueries. Joel Zuckerman’s latest volume is lighthearted, amply illustrated, and, in a humorous sort of way, truthful.

Zuckerman (and illustrator Tom Matthews) have cleverly put together a collection of virtually every golf-afflicted malady that every golfer has at sometime experienced on and perhaps off the golf course. From the tee box to the putting green Joel Z. has hit the game’s frustrations right on the tee. Whether it be the golfing disorder or the player that is terminally afflicted, Zuckerman has it pegged for our reading pleasure. On the tee box you’ll meet Dr. Double Cross and instantly recognize him as one of your most recent playing partners. In the fairway you’ll share the travails of Uneven Steven who never found an uneven lie which he could parley precisely. And around the greens the mortal terror of the bunker regurgitates a host of memories for all of us to share.

Moreover, just to prove that game is not selective in its torment to only the legions of dubs who flood the fairways everyday, Zuckerman has peppered the pages with a few “Hacker Hall of Fame Moments.” You’ll get a flashback to the Jean Van de Velde tragedy, a gut wrenching recount of the Calcavecchia Ryder Cup hosel rocket, and a couple other professional frailties that prove all golfers are subject to the disasters of the game.

Zuckerman’s style is animated and the composition of the book makes for a quick and enjoyable read. You could easily read it at one sitting or systematically digest it in a “devotional” style. For that “hard-to-shop-for” golfer on your list, A Hacker’s Humiliations is a seasonal solution.

Commish Finchem Now Golf's Public Enemy Number One

PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem has now officially become a danger to the sport. Earlier in the year in the process of hyping the FedEx(Lax) Cup, Mr. Finchem described the final four events - a series of season-ending golf tournaments he uniquely dubbed The Playoffs - as “the most impactful series of events in the history of the sport.” It is the analysis of this one statement that has led Eye On Golf to its above conclusion.

First, this is the absolute height of arrogance. Finchem might as well have said, “I am the great Tim Finchem and I have created this enduring Golf Playoff System for you, Mr. Golf Fan. I know exactly what you want and need.” Well, Timmy, bad news. None of the daily members at our club have taken the time to discuss the FedEx(Lax) Cup. In fact, none have rushed into my office bubbling with golf enthusiasm just to discuss the results of “the most impactful series of events in the history of the sport.” And this is the fan base on which Finchem wanted to focus. It seems they couldn’t be bothered to watch Tiger add another $10 million to SAM’s college fund.

Secondly, it demonstrates that Mr. Finchem has no sense of history in regard to the sport. Perhaps he would like golf fans to dismiss the accomplishments of Francis Ouimet and Bobby Jones. If it were not for their prowess with a golf club and the “impact” they had on the game, Mr. Finchem might be digging ditches in Dallas for a living. (Come to think of it, if that were his position in life, he might have a more positive influence on the game.)

And speaking of education, what kind of example are you setting, Mr. Finchem, when you use words such as “impactful.”? It is possible, although highly doubtful, that little golfers in our country have aspirations to someday grow up to be the Commissioner of the PGA Tour. They will obviously need a strong vocabulary based on the example that you have set. However, the use of words that are difficult to find in the dictionary (I check in three for “impactful” with no success.), is no way to guide young commissioners.

Mr. Finchem, you are on your way to becoming golf’s public enemy number one.

Book Review: Teach Yourself VISUALLY Golf

As a golf instructor I am constantly on the lookout for teaching tips, methods, ideas and information that will improve my knowledge and skill as an instructor. Mostly I focus on books rather than quick articles that you find in magazines or websites. Books, because they have the advantage of time and space, usually get to the details. Whereas the quick articles are often putting a band-aid on a golfer’s problem rather than providing a lasting cure. There is, of course, no shortage of golf instruction books. They are, without a doubt, the most popular area of golf journalism. For the most part they all approach the learning of the game of golf in much the same way – here’s what to do from the grip through the swing with maybe a picture or two. There are a few classics and the remainder are also-rans in the race for instructional redundancy.

Thankfully, there is on occasion an instruction book published that, because of its unique presentation, is worthy of recognition. Wiley Press’ series of Teach Yourself VISUALLY books finally found the golf instructional world. Teach Yourself VISUALLY Golf is an optical treat and verbal achievement for both the golf teacher and the beginning student. The most striking aspect of the book is the pictures. Very nearly every page has colored pictures to visually explain the instruction found in the text.

The contents of the book are totally comprehensive for the beginning golfer. The three authors, Cheryl Anderson (LPGA Pro), Brian Crowell (PGA Pro), and Tom Mackin (Journalist), have obviously thought through the material the every beginning golfer should know. The eleven well-organized chapters teach not only the playing of the game, but also such also such valuable topics as etiquette, terminology, history, and equipment.

Teach Yourself VISUALLY Golf is a most welcome addition to the world of golf instructional literature both for the instructor and the student. It is not a book to just read, but rather a volume to be studied by teachers and students. Teachers who frequently instruct beginners will find this book presents a comprehensive and well-organized list of all aspects of the game that a novice golfer should know. Students should have this book on their shelves for continual reference. If you are just learning the game, take lessons from a reputable teacher and buy this book now.

Stupid Press Conference Questions

I had to share this with all golf fans, just in case you were wondering about the penetrating, soul-searching questions that dedicated golf writers ask during those press conferences following a player's round. This one is from the BMW Championship (formerly Western) third playoff tournament for the FedEx(Lax) Cup. All that excitement led to the following exchange between Tiger and a golf writer who obviously has been tasked to cover the FedEx(Lax) Cup. (My thanks to Geoff Shackelford for the heads up on this.):

Q. Did you go home from Boston or did you come straight here?

TIGER WOODS: I came straight here.

Q. Did you wear that shirt last week?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah.

I just don't understand why this reporter didn't ask the obvious question at this point: Did you wash it?

Q. When is the last time you wore a shirt twice?

TIGER WOODS: I wear it all the time, actually. I'm not that way.

Q. I know it sounds really gay, but I recognized it (laughter). It looks good.

TIGER WOODS: Thanks. I love it.