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I took a golf class in college, and one of the course requirements
was to purchase and study a textbook on the game of golf. I'm sure
it had a lot on golf's history and some instruction for beginners, but
all I remember is this nugget: the book claimed that what makes golf different
from every other sport is that you have to "hole out." The point
being, I guess, that unlike hockey and basketball everyone eventually gets
the ball in the goal no matter what. And unlike a race, everyone
finishes, if not in the same manner.
Well, I thought that was a stupid way to differentiate golf from every
other sport, and I think most people would agree with me. But we
might not be able to agree on what actually does make golf different.
It is the only sport in which the low score wins. It is the sport
in which the mental aspect completely overwhelms the physical. It
is the sport in which repeated motion is the most valuable yet most elusive.
It is the most frustrating sport. It is still the most “upper class”
sport. Here's mine: golf is the only major sport whose competitive
balance is not naturally preserved; that is, the “golfer versus the course”
struggle is becoming less of a struggle as technology and physiology alter
the game completely.
Pitcher Curt Simmons said that trying to throw a fastball past Henry
Aaron was like trying to sneak a sunrise past a rooster. Those who
tried to tackle Jim Brown will swear up and down that he was the best running
back who ever lived. And if Wilt Chamberlain were here, he could
attest that Bill Russell is the best post defender who will ever play the
game of basketball. What competitors in major team sports have to
say about each other is quite different from what Jack Nicklaus might say
about Arnold Palmer because Jack never tried to stop Arnie from hitting
a 300-foot drive. Sure, not all competitors in baseball, football,
and basketball face each other head to head, but there is an aspect to
these sports that makes them fundamentally different. In other major
sports, the drama is always characterized as “man vs. man” or “team vs.
team.” In golf, as the hushed tones at Augusta and St. Andrews remind
us, each man is battling “the course.”
This difference in the nature of competition is nice in that it gives
golf a very unique feel, but it is problematic as generations of golfers
face an opponent that never changes. In basketball, where offense
and defense mirror each other most closely, the quickness of an offensive
player is matched, roughly, by the quickness of his defender. This
type of parity is maintained by the fact that as humans become quicker,
through whatever means, both the offensive and defensive players will see
improvement. In football, weight training techniques benefit both
offensive and defensive linemen. Baseball's balance between pitchers
and batters has experienced an ebb and flow over the last century, but
any advantages are still usually negligible, excepting artificial factors
like steroids, body armor, and umpires who do not enforce the rules.
Golf has a problem maintaining this sort of natural balance for one
obvious reason: as the players get better, their opponents (the courses)
do not. As a result, reaching certain par 5’s in two has become routine
or even expected when it was perhaps unthinkable a generation ago.
Due to improvements in conditioning, golfers can be more consistent in
their drives and fairway shots. Thus the fatigue factor is reduced,
meaning that some Sunday afternoons this year will be different than they
would have been thirty years ago.
Technology has not yet found a way to alter radically the way a golf
course “plays," but it can certainly help a golfer. Back when woods
were actually made of wood, golf clubs rewarded precision. This was
not because their makers valued a perfectly crafted shot but because they
knew not how to make them any other way. In this age of hollow metal
“woods” and cavity-backed irons, golf clubs have much, much larger “sweet
spots” and are more “forgiving.” So, rather than lay up, more golfers
can confidently hit over an obstruction than could have before.
Of course, any professional can hit his clubs well enough. The
area in which technology has really made golf a problem is at the amateur
level. Many people are fine with the advancements that technology
has brought to the game, but others will be forgiven for grimacing when
you tell them that your new club has made you five strokes “better” when
you haven't even taken it out of the box. Now, its natural that every
golfer will want to have whatever equipment will make him better.
It wasn't too long ago that everyone had to have Air Jodans. Advances
in equipment are inevitable. What makes those advances worrisome
is the unchecked effect they can have on the way golf courses play.
Golf, more than most other sports, is learned. Previous generations
of professionals have spent numerous hours training themselves in skills
that today's weekend warrior can simply purchase. Because golf places
such an emphasis on repeated motion, any trade-off of practice for automation
will be a bad one.
So the lengthening and toughening of championship golf courses will
probably continue as long as humans and technology continue to improve.
And unlike a lot of golf purists who don't like seeing certain trees at
Augusta taken out of play, I cant say I'll be bothered by it. I think
it's unavoidable if we want today's players to face challenges similar
to yesterday's. But there's one fact that should be of consolation
to everyone: even with all the technology in the world to get you onto
the green, you still have to putt the ball. Which is why I always
say that what makes golf different from other sports is that every player
has to hole out.
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