Golf generally doesn't have anything to do with a game like 'Wack a Mole' except for the fact that it's a game and we play it. Which in that case, I guess there's really no difference between the two except most people seem to enjoy 'Wack a Mole,' while they play golf like it's some unconquerable force.
How many times has someone said, "Golf is a game that will never be conquered!" Like they're the all knowing wizard of golf who understands something none of us lessor beings can comprehend, especially when we have a golf club in our hands.
Crystal and I spent many years traveling together (when I was a musician) and for fun we enjoyed finding a 'Wack a Mole' game and pounding the crap out those little buggers. It was a definite competition to see who would wack the most moles.
There was a repeating pattern to the game. For all intensive purposes this pattern would help create our strategy. To win you had to learn the pattern and execute the proper technique for a good mole wacking.
Golf is a game. It requires a strategy and execution of shots in order to fulfill that strategy. If you were playing football (American or other) the coach would be constantly developing strategy for his team to execute. Golf is exactly the same, it's a game with strategy and execution. The last qualifier my coach, Mark Drohman, caddied for me. It was great having him out there on the bag. His biggest encouragement was how well I had a strategy and stuck to it. Did I always execute the way I desired or had planned...
I stuck with a strategy that fit my game. MY GAME --- that's the difficult part. Knowing your game and then creating a simple, easy strategy helps this game become interesting, even fun. If you hit your drives 230 yards, and it's a 580 par 5, you're not going to make the green in two. Look down the fairway, where is the widest spots. Often these are the places the course designer considered to be the ideal spot to hit into the green?
Yesterday, I was playing in Nicaragua just outside Managua at Nejapa Country Club. On the fourth hole my caddy handed me a driver and told me to hit a little draw down the left side over the trees. But looking down the fairway I noticed a flat broad area in the fairway that looked perfect for a three wood and would leave me approximately 140 to the green up on a plateau.
I hit a beautiful drive exactly as I was told but upon arriving I found my ball had gone through the fairway and came to rest behind a tree that was placed dead center in front of the green. If I would have followed my knowledge of strategy I would have hit a comfortable 3 wood to 140 up on the plateau which took the tree out of play. I boogied. A bit of strategy doesn't guarantee a better score but it does give us opportunities that otherwise we throw away and I can say it makes the playing of golf more enjoyable.
Golf is a game and a great one at that!
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