O/T - Happiness and golf

[Tim Bert]

I think I love penal architecture because I am afraid to be happy.

If not penal than what?  Honestly, when I am four under I am a wreck but when I am four over I am at peace.  My life is much simpler playing more difficult courses.

This is dead on - nicely stated (and I don't have a man crush on JK.)  My standard is different because I'm not as good a golfer as JK.  My standard is more like 80 rather than par.  I play my best golf after I've started a round at +7 on the first three holes becuase there's nothing else to fear and I've already ruined the day.  Much easier to break out a mid-round nine hole stretch in +1 under those circumstances that it is to start the nine in 38 or 39.

Who else will stand and be counted amongst those that are afraid to be happy on the golf course?

[John Kavanaugh]

I just don't see this as off topic.  For me the single most important aspect concerning the finacial success of a course may be the set up of the first hole starting at the tee.  

Why are most golfers more nervous on the first tee shot and that first short putt than the second or third?

[Joe Hancock]

Why are most golfers more nervous on the first tee shot and that first short putt than the second or third?

Because they care too much about what everyone else, including perfect strangers, thinks of them. After the first success or failure, the following attempts don't seem as important because they've already been exposed.

Joe

[Ken Moum]

Because they care too much about what everyone else, including perfect strangers, thinks of them. After the first success or failure, the following attempts don't seem as important because they've already been exposed.

Joe

Ain't that the truth....

Even the pros talk about being "embarassed" by certain golf courses.

On topic with the thread, I would suggest that John's comments are a great reason to use less penal designs to get into golfer's heads.

Instead of trying to punish them, let them punish themselves by choking on a possibly great round.

Ken

[Jeff_Brauer]

In the "secret shame" thread Jay asks about guilty pleasures, including courses where you just had a good time......Hey, if someone walks off my course saying they had an enjoyable day, I'm happy - happier than if they walk off talking about some impossible challenge, etc.

NGF stats show that comraderie tops competition as the main reason the vast majority of us play.  That's why I'm not adverse to designing easier courses, or courses with bounces built in.  I think its the crazy shots - good or bad - that create the shared experiences and bonding that give golfers that sense of comraderie.

JK, I love being an amateur shrink, but I will pass on whether architecture should solve your personal issues.

[John Kavanaugh]

It is rare for the majority of golfers to be surrounded by strangers on the first tee.  I'm a different kind of nervous on the first hole when playing with people I have known and been playing with my entire life.  How else do you explain the difference in how a first hole plays in a shot gun start?

I grew up playing a 6200 yd course with trouble only left and flat slow greens.  Everyone shoots great scores and it is not uncommon to see double digit handicaps shoot par or better once a year.  I don't see the benefit in playing a game where everyone gets to the green at the same time and it becomes nothing more than a putting or chipping contest.  Strange as this may sound, it benefits the everyday player to a greater degree that a penal course where full swings are easier to grasp on a non-regular basis.  I am happier and more relaxed knowing that I have a range from 75 to 85 than a range from 70 to 75.

If an architect wants to force the chokes just make golfers take half swings.

note:   My perspective is not from a public course world.  Trick the hit and runners all you want into believing they are better than they think and get more rounds in per day while you are at it...fine with me.

[Peter Pallotta]

Interesting thread; all good posts already.

I think what we're afraid of most is disappointing ourselves. The first tee is the most nerve-wracking because it's the only time/place where we have a blank slate; we can dream our dreams there, and hope (if we're able) for the best. By the 2nd or 3rd tee, we've come to accept the reality of whatever game we've brought to the course that day, and we live with that in the best way we can for the next 4 hours or so.  

That's why those courses I'd describe (perhaps incorrectly) as strategic, the ones with 'indirect' penalites and 'unforced' carries of progressive risk-reward hazards, have the potential to be either the most rewarding or the most disheartening courses of all; when we mess up or make a big number, we only have ourselves to blame. (We have only ourselves to blame; ouch!) And with that comes the corrosive self-criticism and disapproving self-judgments. (John K - if you really want to be unhappy, try a good dose of THAT medicine).

I think the worst feeling you can have on a golf course is that of feeling foolish (for having hoped, for having tried and found that, after all, your reach exceeds your grasp, for having thought yourself better than you really are). That's much worse, to me, than getting beat up on a tough golf course, or not executing a tough shot.

I know almost nothing about popular music of the last 20 years or so (say from about the time of The Who's farewell tour, Queen, and Talking Heads) but I think there was a song that had the line: "You did it to yourself, and that's what really hurts".  

Peter

[John Kavanaugh]

With all other things being equal isn't it easier to par a 450 yd par four than birdie a 300 yd par four.

[Jeff_Brauer]

JK,

Understand the first tee jitters....to the point that long ago I worked out my comedy routine in case I whiffed, shanked, topped, or sent my first tee ball over the fence to places where no man had ever gone before....

I simply turn to the crowd and say, "Well, they were right, this IS a tough course!"

[Tim Bert]

I just don't see this as off topic.  For me the single most important aspect concerning the finacial success of a course may be the set up of the first hole starting at the tee.  

Why are most golfers more nervous on the first tee shot and that first short putt than the second or third?

I used to mentally write this off as frequently not going to hit balls before the round.  My swing is just getting warmed up, I'm not loose, etc.  Well, I've since played numerous rounds with an without hitting the practice range and I find no significant difference in my result on the first hole.  I'm probably just as likely to have a nice practice session and come out firing a double bogey on the first hole at my home course as I am to make a par if I take a few good hard practice swings but never strike a ball.

I generally go through a stage of mini internal rage when I throw up an early double or triple that I deem to ruin my round.  This lasts only briefly before I reconcile internally that I'm still going to stick around and play the round so I might as well make the most of it and try to enjoy.  Then I settle down to play just well enough to look back on the round with disappointment that I didn't execute early on.

Some of you may recall my "mad scientist" approach to tracking my rounds (and my buddies as well) at the Bandon Dunes resort.  I've also been diligently tracking my rounds at my two home courses since this summer.  At the one I play most frequently, the first 6 holes are all amongst my personal 8 most difficult relative to par (they rank 2, 4, T-8, 5, T-8, and 3.)  I average about +6.5 on those holes and I haven't made one birdie on any of them since I've been tracking.  Holes 4, 5, and 6 are one of the toughest stretches on the course, but 1, 2, and 3 are not unreasonably tough.  I average about +3.5 on the finishing 6 holes.    

[Tom_Doak]

John:

This is a good topic on a number of levels.

Pete Dye would agree with you completely on golfers wanting to be challenged and punished.  I'm more in Jeff's camp on that; I'd like people to have fun.  But for some architects and developers, "fun" seems to be a dirty word.  They think it implies that a course just isn't challenging enough to be taken seriously.

You're certainly right that most golfers are more comfortable when they are +4 than when they get under par -- the latter doesn't happen for me that often, but I can vividly remember my feelings the time I was 17 and birdied the second and third holes at Pebble Beach, or my round at St. Enodoc where I made six birdies and a few bogeys out of terror each time I got to -2.  But, those were some of the most exciting rounds I've ever played, I hardly think it detracts from those courses.

I also learned from Pete Dye that it's possible to plant a couple of supposedly "easy" holes and use them against a golfer.  He likes short par-4's because the pros think they should always make birdie, and they really don't make birdie even half the time, which gets them upset.  And Pete wants to get between their ears as much as he can, because he knew if he built a course which really tested them physically, it would be too hard for everybody else.

The Rawls Course starts out with a few relatively easy holes, and then the back nine has a backbreaking stretch, so that the golf team players get used to the queasy feeling of going low, and then trying to hold on to their scores.

[Kirk Gill]

The Rawls Course starts out with a few relatively easy holes, and then the back nine has a backbreaking stretch, so that the golf team players get used to the queasy feeling of going low, and then trying to hold on to their scores.

This is a really interesting motivation for making specific design choices (and a great illustration of why this thread is not O/T). I like the notion of a course manipulating my emotions (on purpose) to create "golf behaviours." I think that a lot of great design does this, whether it's just creating fun or temptation or, perhaps, happiness !

[Bruce Katona]

This can be tied back to something one of our friends started the other day on handicap and score....if you are playing in Europe or playing a Skins game and you start poorly, you lose either one skin or one hole....the ball goes into your pocket and off to #2 tee....the round or happiness is not lost for one or two poor holes....

Given the little I get to play, this is about the only way I will play as I'm out to have some fun and enjoy myself, not get frustrated.

[Tommy Williamsen]

I actually like the first tee.  The opening tee shot is usually one of my best drive.  There are two major exceptions.  The first was at the Old Course where I drove it OB.  The second drive went the same place.  On the third shot I aimed at the 18th tee.  The other is Merion where I thought about asking the folks eating lunch to back up.

I have never been happy in competition.  I have never really liked it.  The exception was this summer when I shot 69 to win.

I am happiest when I am out with friends playing some friendly game.  In the evening I really enjoy walking the course and playing little games in my head.  I have won both the masters and Bristish open a thousand times over the years.

[Doug Siebert]

With all other things being equal isn't it easier to par a 450 yd par four than birdie a 300 yd par four.

I wonder if you'd get different answers to that versus if you then asked whether it is easier to birdie a 450 yard par 5 than to par a 300 yard par 3.

[Ryan Farrow]

The Rawls Course starts out with a few relatively easy holes, and then the back nine has a backbreaking stretch, so that the golf team players get used to the queasy feeling of going low, and then trying to hold on to their scores.

That is just pure evil right there. Was this your intention from the outset of the project? I've never experienced the feeling myself, but I have seen my brother, many times, just fold under the pressure of possibly shooting under par. How do you sleep at night? The closest I will ever get to that is our 9 hole First Tee  par 3 course, even then, my biggest worry is loosing to 6 and 7th graders.

[Bill_McBride]

The Rawls Course starts out with a few relatively easy holes, and then the back nine has a backbreaking stretch, so that the golf team players get used to the queasy feeling of going low, and then trying to hold on to their scores.

Kinda like Pebble Beach!  Light it up and hang on.  Or maybe the loop at St Andrews, hang on, light it up, hang on.  I love stretches of holes like that.

[Wayne_Freedman]

A shot on a new course from the 1st tee is like the first time you kiss a new sweetheart. Better make it good, whether you're nervous or not. A good first shot, like a good first kiss,
is a confidence builder.

One difference between first shots and first kisses. If she's all that, you'll want to repeat the process more than 72 times.

[ward peyronnin]

Hope and fear, hope and Fear, that's what people see when they play golf. Not me. I only see happiness.

Quote of MOe Norman on Jim Sweeney's profile

[Jed Peters]

A shot on a new course from the 1st tee is like the first time you kiss a new sweetheart. Better make it good, whether you're nervous or not. A good first shot, like a good first kiss,
is a confidence builder.

One difference between first shots and first kisses. If she's all that, you'll want to repeat the process more than 72 times.

You are always comparing golf courses to women.

Perv.

(I like it)

[Wayne_Freedman]

Jed,

Here's the deal.

If you and I shared a continuing romantic interest or competed for the same woman, we would not be friends.

Golf holes and golf courses, however, are different. They're like pin-up girls. Golf holes and courses, like Rita Hayworth, are accepted objects for mutual affection.

I could not put a picture of your wife (assuming you have one), on my desk without creating an issue between us.

But, the 16th at Cypress? If we had both played it , and wanted to do so, again, no jealousy. In fact, we might do it together, and no one would raise an eyebrow.

w.