The BACK 9

from the Jasen Sokol show on WAKR 1590

November 9th, 2017

The Back 9 from 

The Jasen Sokol Show 

on WAKR 1590

Do you play golf...or are you a GOLFER?

The Unfortunate Truth

The unfortunate truth is that most people in the any industry cannot share how they truly feel about certain industry related topics because of the fear of upsetting employers, customers, and even piers/coworkers.  They are forced to sugarcoat their opinions or even contain them altogether. So for this reason, I have decided to make some videos on my viewpoints on several topics related to the golf industry.  Agree or disagree, I hope that these videos show you that you can step out, speak up, and discuss things that you think are important to you and the industry in which you work.  Don't be just another cog in the machine!

I stirred up some great "debate" with the first video!

....so much so that I thought a second video might help those who got a little bit too excited understand my point of view!

"The Back 9"

Vol. 1

October 5th, 2017

Each week Jasen Sokol and I talk golf on WAKR 1590...but we never get to all my stuff...so here's what we didn't talk about today!

Another throw back to my 100 Days of Golf videos talking about Alignment!

Golf is in Shambles...or does it NEED Shambles?

Golf is a traditional game in almost every senses of the word.  Many of the original rules still resonate in today's 4,357 page rule book (just guessing that number...probably more).  Some "traditionalist" even choose to play the game with equipment that was used when the game was in it's infancy.  Some people play that old equipment just because they can't afford to drop $500 on a driver.  But is tradition killing the game?

I am not one to throw away the history and tradition of the game, but I am one to recognize the flaws in our great game.  These flaws are moving it back towards a time when it was played only by the elite and entitled.  When people discuss all the problems with the game of golf, there are a few things that always comes to the surface.  Pace of play normally leads the pack followed by cost, accessibility, and so on.  However, I would like to point out one gleaming issue that most choose to overlook.  The game is FREAK'N HARD!

As a PGA Professional, I've spent countless hours working on my game and yours.  I've been working on mine since the age of 8, and I still don't "got it". So if someone who has nearly 30 years of experience playing the game, plenty of access to courses and practice facilities, a strong understanding of the game and the swing, and is considered a world class athlete (by himself) doesn't "got it", what hope do you have?

Plenty actually.  We all know golf isn't about finding perfection.  It isn't about making birdies or pars. It's not about beating your neighbor or becoming the club champ.  It IS about hacking it around for 18 holes with some buddies searching for that one shot that keeps bringing us back.  The ridiculously long putt that drops, the pure iron shot to a few feet into a difficult green, the perfectly splashed bunker shot that snuggles up to the hole, the hole out, or even the ever illusive ace.  

Did you recognize what shot is missing from that list?  The drive.  The long ball.  The eating big dog.  The one lumber.  You know why?  Because all golfers know that as important as a well struck tee shot is, it is just as unimportant. How many times have you cooked a drive down the middle only to hook a wedge into a green side bunker, short siding yourself into double bogey-ville?  For this golfer, that's about a once a round occurrence.

I recently played in a Pro-Am in which the format was a Shamble (select the best drive of the group and then everyone plays their own shots from there into the hole).  I played with people I knew very well, and one whom had all but given up on the game.  In his words, he just can't hit it anymore.  He no longer plays the game in a way his mind wants to and thus only plays once or twice a year now.  However on this day, I saw a little sparkle in his eye.  From my tee shots (we used most of them), he was able to get to par 4's in two shots again.  He had looks at natural birdies that he hadn't had in possibly a decade or two.  The same went for the others in our group.  His wife and their friends were playing from places on their course that they had only hit 2nd and 3rd shots from.  What were normal drivers to me, were tour caliber drives to them.  The Shamble format breathed new life into their games. 

At the end of the evening, we were "hydrating" and all four of my amateur partners agreed that the day was one of the best they have had in years on the course.  Now I could easily say they felt that way because of my amazing company and impressive play, but I truly believe it was because of how they were able to play the golf course.  This leads us back to what I believe is the real reason I think golf is in a decline?

IT IS HARD.  TOO HARD....and it never gets easier for anyone.  Golf courses are more difficult then ever.  Greens are faster and firmer.  Rough is greener and deeper.  Unfortunately, for our aging players, it gets so difficult they give it up.  For our beginner players the game takes too much time to become enjoyable.  The youth of our world are just not patient.  They are a "now" generation.  They complain about the speed of the 4G internet on their phones and about how long it takes for an Uber driver to arrive.  They order their coffee at Starbucks on an app in advance so they don't have to wait in line for 3 minutes.  Do we really expect them to spend hours working on making 3 foot putts?  

So what do we do?   We must find ways to make the game easier.  To maintain tradition and challenge for the accomplished player, but introduce and sustain the game for those who need help.  I'm talking about lowering the hoop, shortening the field, playing doubles instead of singles....making the hole bigger (I still can't believe that the 8 inch hole hasn't caught on).  Other sports find ways to engage novice players and keep the attention of aging ones.  What do we do?  Well we have "forward tees" now instead of "women's tees" at most clubs which is step in the right direction except most men are too bull headed to move up.  Junior tees are great, but they are usually hidden or unkept at many clubs.  Oh and they are "junior tees" so no adult can play from there right?

There is one place that has it moderately figured out.  The Villages in Florida.  They have an amazing compliment of championship courses as well as execute and short courses.  Every country club and golf course needs a short course.  Every course needs to continue to shorten its yardage for every tee (except the championship tee).  I see many clubs instituting "hybrid" tees.  Now they have 9 different tee options so you can still play a yardage that is too long for your game.  Is there nothing more insane then having two tee markers within a few yards of each other let alone three?  

But fear not.  I have the solution.  Here is my cure-all for golf.  Trust me.  This will work.  There should be 4 tee boxes at every course.  The Forward Tees: 3,500-4,500 Yards. The Middle Tees: 4,500-5,500 Yards.  The Back Tees: 5,500-6,500 Yards.  The Championship Tees: 6,500+.

Now here is the key to my cure-all.  You are not allowed to move back from the forward tee until you shoot even par for 18 holes.  You continue to qualify in this manner until you make it back to the championship tees.  It's as simple as that.  Everyone, no matter their current skill level, would need to prove their ability.  If you fail to shoot even par on your particular tee in a 6 month period, you must move forward.  Pace of play would improve.  Enjoyment of the game would improve. Scores would improve.  And here is a crazy idea, I would even stagger greens fees by tee boxes!  The further back you play, the more expensive.  I bet you would't find those 20 handicappers teeing it up from the tips then!

Now I know what you are thinking and yes this is a genius idea.  However, golf is a traditional game.  And traditionally we have let it beat us down to states of violent rage, followed by tears, then straight to binge drinking.   So why change now?  Because if we don't, it won't get better.  It can't.  It will stay the same and that "same" is a downward trend. 

JL