The Best Golf Tip a Bad Golfer Will Ever Get

I’m hesitant to do this because I know my buddy Craig reads this blog. For years he and I have been racing each other to be the first one to break 100. Imagine, then, how difficult it was at the beginning of this year when we played a quick nine after work (ok, at our skill level there’s really no such thing as a “quick nine” but we try).  At the end of nine we were both below 50. We were on the rode our elusive sub-100 rounds.  But we’d told our wives we were only playing nine and it was the first or second round of the year so we didn’t want to push our luck. We just had to pack it in with visions of future rounds in our heads. This year I did manage to break 100 four times. But Craig didn’t. So, I’m hesitant to give out this tip, because I’ll be giving Craig my secret and it’s just so much fun to tease him. But this is the Bad Golf blog, the blog all about bad golfers and we need to stick together. So, without further ado, and at the risk of helping Craig with his golf game, here it is: The best golf tip a bad golfer will ever get.

Oh, wait; there is more ado.

The reason I believe this is the best golf tip a bad golfer will ever get is this: I’ve been trying to break 100 for over fifteen years. I’ve had friends break 100 the first year they started playing. I’ve worked on my grip, tempo, alignment, pre-swing routine, and relaxing. I’ve tried new clubs, multiple swing thoughts, and psychological tricks. I've focused practicing my short game and putting. I’ve tried “playing smart” and once, I even tracked down a Golf Magazine top 100 teacher and took a lesson with him out at Pumpkin Ridge. And even with all that, the 100 mark remained as unobtainable as a straight answer from a politician. But this year I found it. I found the one thing to take me to the next level and I’m confident next year it will help me go even lower. That is why I'm declaring this the best golf tip a bad golfer will ever get. Because I've tried everything and this one simple tip is the one that did it. 

Ok, seriously, that's enough ado, now here's the tip:

Golf Boys

This video speaks for itself

Dick's

There’s one name in golf that never fails to bring out the adolescent in me and that’s Dick’s. Every time I hear it referenced I chuckle a little.  Every time I drive to the mall and see it on the top of the building in 10 foot high letters: DICK’S I grin. I’m stupid that way. But I’ll bet half of you reading this, when you saw the title of the post, thought something similar.

Have you ever been to a Dick’s? I went three times this year and every time I had a similar experience. What I found is Dick’s is not just a name, it’s an attitude. The first time I went to a Dick’s I was with my daughter. We were looking to buy her first set of clubs. We saw two sales people sitting behind a counter looking at a computer screen. When we approached the counter we were promptly ignored. When I finally broke the cold shoulder and asked where the kids clubs were the workers looked at me like I’d just farted. “Over there,” one of them said in a disgusted voice while waving his hand in a vague direction. Both employees then continued looking at the computer screen. Facebook I’m guessing. Walking away from the counter I knew exactly where the hand had waved -- in the direction of another golf shop.

Bad Golf Movie

How did this movie ever get released without me in it? How did I not see it? Stay tuned for a review:

handicapped: a documentary about bad golf by West Town Productions

Cheers!

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U.S. Kids Golf

OK, I knew I was bad, I just never realize how bad I really was. This year I finally managed to break 100*. In fact, in my last four rounds my scores were all between 95 and 100*. I’ve been very proud of this. I finally started thinking I might be a real golfer. Until I saw this…

My scores wouldn’t even qualify me to play in this tournament in the girls 10 and under division. I guess I need more practice.

To find out more about the U.S. Kids Golf Foundation click here.

*This is a personal note for my nephews (whom I often golf with): I'm admitting, yes, I took a mulligan during those rounds (OK, 2 mulligans -- one per 9), but I'm still counting it as breaking 100 so shut-up.

Cheers!

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Why We Play

Golf. The word itself elicits feelings from deep within. Golf. It’s hardly fun but during every round the game redeems itself. With every round there's that moment; that moment when the ball is struck with perfect precision and flys at your will. You stand like Thor with a hammer club in your hands, your arms raised high, your chest puffed out, and the energy of life itself flows throughout your body. Golf. Not even a game really. More like an elusive state of being. Four hours of torture punctuated by moments of sublime contentedness.

And in those moments -- those moments of clarity where you see the subtle break of the twenty foot putt and know you've made it before even striking the ball – life meets sport and a single Sunday second fulfills you for another week.

That and the beer cart girls.

Cheers!

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