TEEING OFF: BRENDAN JAMES
WE all know golf is the most frustrating of all sports. As weekend warriors we hit the course hoping this is the round where it all comes together. Last week you couldn’t putt but you hit it great. Each of the three weeks before that, you hit it sideways all day and couldn’t miss with the flatstick.
If only there was a day when all facets of your game would come together at once for that round. That round you can boast about for years to come. That round which becomes the benchmark for all future performances.
What if you had that round and that was as good as it will ever get for the rest of your playing days? I’ve no doubt, like me, you’ve been trying to replicate that round for years.
I peaked nearly 23 years ago at Royal Liverpool, better known as Hoylake, where seven birdies, nine pars and two bogies were bestowed upon me by the golfing Gods. A five under 67. Unbelievable!
I’ve had a handful of subpar rounds since, with most of them coming within a few months after that form spike.
I looked at my GolfLink record recently and there it was full of 84s, 85s and 86s with the occasional 90-something thrown in for good measure. Not bad if you’re off a 15 -handicap, not so good for a single figure marker. I know I will never again enjoy the same quality of shot-making and putt-holing in one round as I did that July day on the English west coast.
But, in saying that, I will keep trying because with each round I put between me and that 67 I’m hoping I will be one step closer to a 75 or a 76. My swing might have gone south for good but the passion for the game remains.
This is easy for an amateur to proclaim because you can chuck your clubs in the boot of the car at the end of the round, go home, whinge to the wife about all the bad breaks you got and by the time next weekend rolls around you’re out the door at sparrow’s fart heading for the course in search of that round.
But what does a pro do when their game goes sour?
All Tour players have to endure some form of slump. Tiger’s been there, so has Mickelson, Els and Scott, who ended three years without a win at the Australian PGA.
How deep and how long a slump lasts is anyone’s guess. Players are often torn between trying to play out of a slump or taking time away from the course to work on their game with a coach. Either way, there are no guarantees they will find their game again.
Interestingly, the word ‘consistency’ often emerges when a talented professional in a slump talks about rediscovering their game.
Take, for example, the case of Smylie
Kaufman – the 28-year-old American, who won on the PGA Tour in just his fifth start back in 2015. A wrist injury forced him to make changes to his swing and he’s still trying to “believe” in the changes every time he stands over the ball. When he arrived in Sydney to compete in the Australian Open last December, he had made three of his past 31 cuts. He has struggled to break 70 and has often been found at the tail of the field with a mid to high 80 score next to his name.
“I have played world class at times in my career, but those parts were very inconsistent, so there is a lot to learn to play at the level … I have been working extremely hard and had the same type of processes so eventually I am going to get over this hump and start playing some nice golf,” Kaufman told Golf Australia’s Jimmy Emanuel during his Australian stay.
“I don’t believe talent goes away. For me, I’ve gotten better through this process, I think I’m hitting a good club and a half to two clubs longer from an iron perspective, so I am finally starting to swing it like an athlete.
“I just knew where the clubface was and then injuries got me to where I was just not trusting it as much and I couldn’t do it, so I feel like more of an athlete now, and I never stopped believing in myself and I just wake up every day with a positive attitude that I can go do it.” And we hope he does.
But is consistency necessarily a good thing. If I was a talented touring professional (please, indulge me for a moment) capable of shooting rounds anywhere between 63 and 73, would I really benefit by aiming for more consistency, which might lead to scores of 68 to 71, with the occasional 66 thrown in.
I’m for the former. I wouldn’t mind missing five or six cuts a year, if I was confident there was going to be a run of form where the low numbers would result in wins. If inconsistency resulted in three, four or five wins a year, you would take that ahead of not missing a cut, not winning but finishing in the top-25 most of the time.
I certainly don’t think the greatest players that have played our game ever worried about being inconsistent. All of them – Nicklaus, Woods, Palmer, Hogan – had periods where they didn’t win but they all recognised the signs when their game was ready to contend, and they rode that wave for as long as possible until it was gone and the next run of good golf emerged.
In my opinion, consistency is not all that it’s cracked up to be – whether you’re a touring pro or a golf hack stuck in the 80s. So, the next time you have 40 points in the club comp, don’t despair if the next round yields 28 points … its better than never having 40 points and grabbing the occasional ball for always turning in 32 points.