“Golf has attracted many fine writers, but none extols the game with more authority and affection than Herb Wind, or more successfully conveys its gracious, fickle, generous spirit to the printed page.”  These are John Updike’s words from the cover of the expanded edition of “Following Through- Herbert Warren Wind on Golf”.

To many, Herbert Warren Wind, who wrote eloquently about golf for over 50 years, was the greatest American golf writer of his era.  He coined the phrase “Amen Corner” to describe 11, 12, and 13 at Augusta, those pivotal three holes on the back nine that so often decide the fate of the leader in the Masters on Sunday.  He assisted Ben Hogan in writing on of the most influential golf instructional books of all time, “Five Lessons-The Modern Fundamentals of Golf”.  Wind built a resume of exceptional golf writings through his articles in The New Yorker and Sports Illustrated from 1941 until 1990.  His writings chronicled major tournaments, seminal matches,  revered golf courses, and the lives of the game’s greatest heroes.

Ben Crenshaw said, “Herbert Warren Wind has always been our foremost American Golf Writer.  For those continuing their search in their study of golf, “Following Through” is a must, as it contains some of his finest essays”.  One of those essays was his review of Ballybunion, one of Ireland’s most storied links courses.  In it he describes in wondrous detail the special character of this jewel on the west coast of Ireland and the unique charm of links golf to those who love golf.

(Click here to read Herbert Warren Wind’s “Ballybunion”)

Herbert Warren Wind

The New Yorker 1971

In an article “The Humor of It” written in 1934, Bernard Darwin discusses the positive roll humor can play in the psychological side of golf.  His point is that we are generally way to harsh on ourselves when things don’t go well on the golf course and we can be prone to behavior that is downright comical if we reflect on it objectively well after the fact.

If only we could just see the humor while in the midst of it, we would probably save ourselves much of the ensuing calamity that is likely to result.  He quotes the great female English champion Joyce Wethered who was speaking of “her recipe for developing a measure of philosophy against all the horrid things that are about to happen”.  She said, “I have been able to laugh at myself for the absurdity of such intense feelings and the perversity of one’s thoughts”.

There is wisdom in this advice.  What golfer, in reflecting on how their temper ruined a round after an unforced error on the course, would not have benefited from seeing the humor of it, thereby limiting the damage and maybe salvaging the round.

(Click here to read Bernard Darwin’s Essay “The Humor of It”)

The Humor of It

Playing The Like 1934

Bernard Darwin On Golf

(Compiled by Jeff Silverman)

Tom Boswell, the extraordinary sports columnist for the Washington Post, has written entertaining and thought provoking pieces on golf over the years through his newspaper column and magazine articles.  In 1987 he published a compilation of writings in a book he titled “Strokes of Genius” and that aptly describes his writing aptitude as well as the subject matter in his book.

The final piece is his personal confessional of a typical golfer’s wrestling match with his temper on the golf course.  Boswell says, “Golf is a humbling game, but often it takes years to learn the right sort of humility.  People have been trying to sort out their frayed feelings about golf for a century.”

Reading this piece is a journey of introspection for all of us.  Whether we have the temperament of Tommy Bolt or Mother Teresa, we have all had those moments of volcanic response to what we consider the unfair indignities the game can met out.  This piece is a chuckle and a zen moment all in one.

(Click here to read Tom Boswell’s “Temper Fugit”)

Thomas Boswell

Temper Fugit

Strokes of Genius (1987)

Good question-one that you and I cannot answer and apparently neither can most of the TV pundits who get paid by the word for stuff like this.  It behooves us to ask someone who does swing diagnosis every day-someone who has seen it all and then some.

Wayne Defrancesco is “in the business” as one of the most prominent swing instructors in the Mid-Atlantic region.  His website is chock full of erudite analysis videos of the best players in the game.  So when I saw the attached video comparing Tiger’s current swing to the swing he had in 2000 when he was on top of the golfing world I thought this is a good place to begin.

Wayne is like a Talmudic scholar when it comes to this stuff-he goes to original documentation and then the commentaries.  In this case, he begins by refuting the misguided opinions of two of the talking heads from Golf Channel, Brandel Chamblee and Frank Nobilo.  He then does what Wayne does best, pulls out side-by-side video from his personal trove to show you how it used to be and how it is now and explains the changes in clear and understandable language.  His insights are very empirical and the way he associates this to the results in Tiger’s game is very intelligible.

In his quest to be the Uber Golfer, Tiger has embraced the advice of a long line of swing gurus, developing and reinforcing some bad swing technique along the way. His shot performance is suffering-especially when it matters the most.  Sound familiar?  And you’re no Uber Golfer.

So whatever else is affecting Tiger’s game-lack of confidence, bad karma, bad putting, or lack of domestic tranquility-according to Wayne D the real problem starts with bad swing mechanics and goes south from there.

(Click here to view Wayne’s video comparison of Tiger 2000 to Tiger Today)

October, 2011

There is a veil of mystery that pervades Pine Valley, consistently on the top of everyone’s list of the most difficult courses in America.  This course was the creation of George Crump, a Philadelphia Hotel man who set out to create a track that would punish every mistake a player makes on the golf course with a bad result.  From everything I have heard about Pine Valley he succeeded masterfully in that effort.

Since Pine Valley is such a private place and they have rarely had national events there, it remains a mystery to most of the interested golf world.  There is one black and white Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf episode you can find on the internet from back in the 1960’s between a young Gene Littler and Byron Nelson.  There have been a couple of Walker Cups played there as well that had some TV time.  But that is about it.  Here are some photos from my day at the ranch.

The chance most people would have to get onto the property of this course in Camden, New Jersey, is during the prestigious four-day amateur invitational event they hold every year called The Crump Cup.  This has been going on since 1922 and has had as it’s winner some of the history’s most distinguished amateurs including Francis Ouimet, Chick Evans, Billy Joe Patton, and Jay Sigel.

The event is two rounds of medal qualifying to establish flights followed by four rounds of match play to determine the champions.  The last round is held on Sunday, this year on October 2nd, and it is discreetly open to the public to enjoy.  You park in the Amusement Park pictured above and get shuttled down a gravel road to a back entrance to the property.   Once inside the fence you are free to roam unfettered about the grounds of one of the most storied courses in America.

They hold this event without much fanfare every fall-usually in September or October.  Not much advertising but I imagine with a little due diligence in August you can get the particulars on how and when to attend.  If you are in the Philadelphia/South Jersey area I am sure attending The Crump Cup would be an experience to remember.

October, 2010

Jim (Bones) Mackay wrote this piece for Golf World expressing his view that they need to induct Butch Harmon into the Hall of Fame. After all, he has been the mentor and teacher of so many Hall of Famers, he should get in by association alone.  Norman, Ballesteros, Couples, Woods, Cink, and Clarke just to name a few.

Butch is his own man, he has a distinctive, no nonsense way of talking to people and it is clearly very effective with his students and pretty entertaining for the rest of us.  Given that there are famous coaches in the Hall of Fame of other sports and for golfers their teachers are their coaches, I like Bone’s logic in this submission.  Butch has always been a guy who breaks the mold we should honor that independence and competence in his craft and give him his due in the Golf Hall of Fame.

(Click here to read Jim Mackay’s article on Butch and The Hall of Fame)

Jim Mackay

October, 2011

This short piece by Ryan Ballengee of Michelle Wie would seem to indicate that Michelle recognized somewhere along the way that her only way out of the death-grip of her parents was to go off to college and create a few degrees of separation.

This may be simply a look-back rationalization on her part but I applaud the fact that she has made the statement in the public forum that there is more to life than golf no matter how much of a prodigy people say you are.

You can decide for yourself.

(Click here to read Ryan Ballengee’s piece on Michelle Wie)

September, 2011

Ryan Ballengee

NBC Sports Talk

Sally Jenkins appropriately poses the question, has Tiger lost his identity in trying to overhaul his game and his image?  And exactly what is he finding in this personal search and what are we finding out about him?

To us he remains insulated, overly analytic, and has “the same old glacial arrogance”.  Add to that, he looks bewildered, uncomfortable, rudderless, and basically without a clue.

To Tiger, what does he see? We don’t know. But, if you accept Sally’s reasoning in this article, the answers cannot be pleasing him if he has any sense at all of reality.

(Click here to read Sally Jenkin’s article on Tiger Woods)

Sally Jenkins

Washington Post

August, 2011

Living in Washington where the “raising debt ceiling story” has unfolded like a serial version of Greek tragedy in our daily local news, we can appreciate the perspective of this article in the Wall Street Journal by John Paul Newport.  Listening to the daily bickering and grandstanding by our elected officials makes you want to put them in the center arena with the lions and work out their issues like real men.  Or maybe a proper game of golf with impeachment for the losers would be appropriate.

Anyway, enjoy John’s article on why “from compromise to optimism, the course offers a respite from factions and committees”.

(Click here to read John Paul Newport’s Article in the WSJ)

John Paul Newport

Wall Street Journal

August, 2011

Are we seeing a star in the making or the unmaking of a star?  At age 22 it seems early to pass such a judgement but Michelle Wie has been on our radar screen for eight years so that makes this question one worth asking.  In this Golf Digest Woman article, Ron Sirak considers this from a bunch of angles.  He is right that compared to her peers like Yani Tseng, Paula Creamer, and Jiyai Shin it seems like Michelle is no longer a rising star.  Clearly the path she and her handlers have chosen for her has a lot to do with this.  You can decide for your self, has it been for better or for worse for Michelle.

(Click here to read Ron Sirak’s article on Michelle Wie)

Ron Sirak

Golf Digest website

July 2011