By: Tim Graves, PGA
Hello Everyone –
I wanted to write a quick story about what something I went through a few weeks ago. The title “Old Man Golf” isn’t being sarcastic… but being realistic… I wanted to grab your attention – will explain.
A few weeks ago I was playing in an event at Battle Creek Golf Course in Broken Arrow, OK (just outside Tulsa). It was a South Central Section PGA one day event with about 75 players in the field.
A few days before the event I did something “stupid” when practicing… I went out to practice with one of my students (was close to 100* out), hit balls, work on short game, etc.. for about 3 hours. Took a break (for about an hour), then went out to play a few holes with my student. My mistake was when I went back out to the course to play a few holes, I did not stretch (well enough). On about the 4th hole, I felt a sharp pain in my trail hip (front side.. hip flexor muscle). And like the “smart guy” I am, I decided to try and play through the pain for a few more holes…. needless to say, it didn’t get any better.. in fact, by the end of the few holes with my student, it hurt a lot…
Now, back to the tournament (3 days after my hip flexor incident on golf course). It was not feeling any better.. in fact, it had gotten worse. Heating / cooling, ointment, Theragun… a lot of therapy (worked with my doctor) and it was not feeling any better. But…. the tournament was for points (cumulative for the year) which result in the player of the year award.. So, if you miss the tournament, you miss the potential for that tournament’s points.. Needless to say, even against my wife’s wishes and pleading, I played in the event… I was hurting… hurting bad…
How bad was I hurting… normally I hit 15 to 20 minutes worth of golf balls to warm up before the round… I hit 3 balls on the range.. it hurt way too much. Normally I putt and chip for 15 to 20 minutes before a tournament to warm up… I putted for 5 minutes and hit about 10 chips… it hurt too much to bend over and pick up the golf balls. I spent the majority of the warm up session stretching.. doing everything possible to get my hip to feel better.. The problem was, not only was my hip hurting now, it was going into my lower back… How to describe.. just past impact, it felt like someone was sticking an knife in my trail hip (in the front) and as I finished the swing, the pain radiated to my lower back..
Before you email me and tell me you suggest I didn’t play in this event – get in line with my wife, my doctor, and a couple of my close friends who were watching me stretch before the event and saw how much pain I was in….
But, off the the first tee I went. Yes, I am an idiot (at times) (that was for my wife..), but I was going to do everything possible to finish the round to get some points…
I played with two of my friends, one a PGA professional teacher in Tulsa, and one an PGA assistant professional in Oklahoma City. Both, I have played with 100s of times. I know them well, and they know me well…..
We started on #2 (shotgun start) – a 390 yard uphill, slight dogleg right Par 4. I set up over my drive, did the best I could advancing it down the fairway… My second shot was 210 yards from the hole. I hit a 3 wood about 40 yards short of the green, got up and down, made par on the first hole.
Here is the summation of my round… (and I was actually told this by my friend who I rode with during the tournament.. he felt so sorry for me.. he was so nervous not to hit any bumps driving the cart, because I was in serious pain getting in and out of the cart and it hurt worse every bump he hit…). In fact, I tried to walk when I could.. helped a little….
I did not hit a drive over 180 yards. One hole, I think I hit a cart path, and it went around 200 yards.
On 10 par 4s, I hit hybrid or fairway wood on my second shot on 8 of them. (Normally, I might hit one or two a round.)
On 4 par 5s, I had at least 100 yards on every 3rd shot.. (one of them I topped the tee ball as I just couldn’t finish the swing..) (Normally, I can hit at least 1/2 the par 5s in two..)
On 4 par 3s, I had to hit hybrid on 3 of them, 7 iron on one (it was 120 yards..) (Normally I hit a 7 iron 165 yards.)
Needless to say, it was BRUTAL!!! Golf I am not used too… drives going 180 maximum yardage, hybrids or more into all the holes… we played the course at 6,350 yards. My playing partner and good friend told me I was playing “Old man golf..”.
So, what did I shoot????
1 over par… a 73. And that was with a double on the last hole. I hit a drive off the tee into the right rough, had about 170 left into the green, should NOT have tried to hit a hybrid out of the rough, but I did… and topped it into a pond short of the green as my hip hurt WAY too much to hit a shot out of rough that deep….. I was one under par, hurting worse than I have ever hurt on a golf course and lost my mind for a minute… cost me a couple…
My stats…
Fairways: 12 / 14 (Pretty easy to hit when only hitting driver 180 yards..)
Greens in Reg: 6 / 18 (Hard to hit when hitting hybrids and fairway woods into most..)
Up and Down: 11 / 12
Putts: 25
So, why did I write this story for you…..
- Please tell me you have to hit your driver 250 yards + to play good golf….
- Please tell me the short game is not important to scoring….
- Please tell me “I hit hybrids into every green, this doesn’t let me score well..”
- Please tell me “I’m a good putter, I average 35… putts per round”
- Please tell me “I have a good short game, but I can’t break an 80..”
- Please tell me “Driving is the most important part of the game for scoring.”
Yes, I am being sarcastic… Think you get my point….
- Yes, in hind site, I probably should have sat that round out… so all you that are going to send me emails telling me that…. I agree. (I have since visited my doctor, got PT, and am now much better).
- I wrote this article to prove a point…. You DO NOT need to hit the driver “long” to play scratch golf. In fact, you can hit it “short” and play scratch golf… You MUST have a scratch short game to play scratch golf…. that is what is important to scoring…
- I wrote this article and want to remind you – NO ONE has an excuse when it comes to your short game. You can be old, young, middle age, male, female, (other..), green, blue, purple… it doesn’t matter. No one has an advantage over another in their short game as it doesn’t involve strength… it involves TOUCH, FEEL and PRACTICE… And BTW – the touch and feel come from guess what.. PRACTICE…
I hope you enjoyed this article – please feel free to let me know what you think…. timg@gravesgolf.com
FYI – Finished 2nd in the event to my good friend (I rode with.. he shot 1 under…. yup, the last shot cost me the event… but who cares.. I survived and got a GREAT story out of it..).
