Simple Golf

(This will be of no interest to non golfers). I’ve been playing golf regularly for forty years and shooting essentially the same scores—low eighties on courses am familiar with. Like most everyone else I have used technology to try and improve my game. I have an expensive 460 cc Ping G-2 driver with a high launch shaft to increase length of drives and help me get the ball into the air. As a result, I hit drives sometimes 50-60 yards farther than I did in my twenties. I own a matching G-2 three metal club that will carry the ball 220 yards. In addition, there’s a set of Titleist DCI irons including three wedges to help with that short game. The most recent addition is a a Ping Craz E putter ($145) that is a joy to putt with. Finally, I’ve been using Calloway HX tour balls which seem pretty hot to me. With all this new equipment the game is more fun but the scores are the same. The last five weeks, playing the same course: 84,81,81,79,83. Those  scores in the seventies are very rare. It’s fun to hit the long ball occasionally and to have an outside chance at hitting par 5’s in two. Then, there are the three wedges to choose from on shots closer to the green. Club selection is considered to be an important part of golf and I’ve got lots of choices to make. Everyone with a full bag of clubs does. For example, from the fringe, should I chip, putt, belly a sand wedge, or even use a three wood? Golfers spend lots of money on equipment, fiddling with it, changing clubs. In one three year period I went through nine drivers. So, it was interesting yesterday when my golf buddy Special Ed and I decided it was time for our annual five iron contest. Normally, we play nine holes at the local course with a five iron, pitching wedge and a putter. But it looked like rain so I suggested we just take a five and an umbrella, a few balls and just go. We’d even putt with the five iron. I took a few practice putts and decided to putt with the five left-handed...that is, with the back of the club, using a right hand low grip. I can hit a five iron 150-170 yards on a cool, rainy day where there’s no roll or bounce. To make a long story short, I was stroking the five very cleanly, make good contact with every shot (no scuffs, tops, or misses, just slide fades or pulls, some straight) and was able to advance the ball and keep it in play on every hole. Plus, I was always able to find it! I very often use a five or six for bump and run shots, and was able to chip into makable putting range (for a putter). What surprised me was how well I putted with the five iron left-handed. Three putted the first hole, a par 5, for bogey. One putted two and three for bogey, then double bogey. Two putted number four for par. Two putted number five for par after lipping out a birdie effort. One putted number six for bogey,  One putted number seven for par. Two putted number eight for bogey. And one putted number nine for par. Score 42. This is about as well as I normally can do with a full bag of clubs! Clearly, my expensive collection of clubs really don’t give me much of an edge. Golf must be much simpler than we think it is. Hitting the five iron you can relax, knowing it’s not going to go very far anyway. Most slightly-better-than-mediocre golfers like myself don’t hit very many greens. We are chipping and trying to one putt for par anyway. The five iron game was fun. Would love to see some PGA players play a tournament with one club.