Perhaps not 100% relevant to this discussion, but I pulled this from one of my GCI columns last year, sort of showing some more of my current thinking.
Peter Lynch is well known as the wildly successful manager of the Fidelity Magellan Fund from 1977-90. In that time, Magellan’s holdings typically doubled average market indexes. In his writings and books, he noted that good investments were usually found right in front of his own eyes, rather than in investment research, charts and formulas. Specifically, he found many great investments when he was out with his family or at the mall. For instance, if his kids ate at a certain fast food place, or purchased clothes at a particular store, he bought that stock.
I was reminded of the Lynch story recently, while playing golf with some fellow architects. One of the architects managed to reach a par 5 green in two shots, and made birdie. High fives all around. In the 19th Hole, he revealed that when he got to the green, he was thrilled that the putt was reasonably flat, giving him a small chance for eagle, and a near certain birdie.
We all realized that if we saw that reachable par-5 hole as designers working with a greens committee, we would instinctively recommend something to “toughen it up” and “defend par.” After a moment of silence, what occurred next could only be described as a “lightbulb moment.”
Why do architects focus on preventing birdies, when they are exactly what golfers want? Overhearing other bar conversations, golfers around us were clearly reliving their successes, and certainly not their bogeys and bigger disasters, unless they were truly monumental.
As for what constitutes a "good shot" or a bad one:
Or the routine sights of:
•Golfers take 3–5 attempts to get out of bunkers.
•Approach shots: ◦Falling short into frontal bunkers, or
◦Missing the green short and right,
◦Hitting, but not holding the green,
•Approximately one of any average foursome on each hole:
◦Topping tee shots less than 100 yards
◦Losing tee balls in the woods or native areas, despite 70-plus yards of open turf.
◦Missing greens and finding hazards on approach shots.
On many of those shots, the golfer lamented, “But, I hit a great shot!” For most golfers, a “great shot” is one that gets airborne and flies nearly full distance, generally in the right direction.