HEY GOLF CHANNEL, LET’S STAGE A MATCH OF THREE …HEY GOLF CHANNEL, LET’S STAGE A MATCH OF THREE...

HEYGOLFCHANNEL,LET’SSTAGEAMATCHOFTHREESINGLE-DIGITMALEAMATEURSAGAINSTANLPGAPROANDWATCHTHECOMEDYENSUEByRonSirak•@ronsirakOctober22,2018

Atitsbest,socialmediaisanimmediatesharingofideasamonginformedpeople.Atitsworst,itisanuneditedplatformforpeopletovoicetheirinnermonologue,whichmoreoftenthannotshouldremainsilent.Iamparticularlyamusedwhen

people–prettymuchexclusivelymen–weighinonTwitterwhenIwriteaboutwomen’sgolfandtheLPGAinparticularandtrytodemeanthegame.NowtheseguysareatinyminorityoftherespondersIget,evenamongmen,mostofwhomrecognizethebeautyandvalueofthewomen’sgame.ButamongthenaysayersI’vedetectedtwocommonthemes.Oneistosay:“Noonecaresaboutwomen’sgolf.”Well,infact,tensofmillionsofpeoplegloballycaredeeplyaboutwomen’sgolf.DidyouseethecrowdsattheULInternationalCrowninKorea?Whatthetweeterisreallysayingisthathedoesn’tcareaboutwomen’sgolf.Andthat’sfine.It’sjusttoobadhe’ssoinsecureinhisbeliefthatheinsistseveryonefeelthesamewayhedoes.#SAD.

ThesecondreactionIgetisfromthemachosingle-digitmalewhosays:“I’dkickthebuttoftheaverageLPGAplayer.”Well,actually,noyouwouldn’t,whichleadsmetomyideaforamade-for-TVgolfevent.Let’shaveacontestinwhichthreesingle-digithandicapmaleamateursareselectedtoplaya36-holestroke-playcompetitionagainstanLPGAplayeronagolfcoursesetuptoLPGAgreenandroughspecsandatthetypicalLPGAdistance.Let’shavegalleryropes,agalleryandTVcameras.Andlet’splayrealgolf:Nomulligans,nogimmes,norollingtheballoverinthefairway.Amongthethingstheseboastfulboysarenottakingintoconsiderationisthechokefactor.Stroke-playgolfplayedbytheRulesofGolfisincrediblystressful.LPGAplayerscompeteunderthoseconditions25to30timesayearinthetour’s34-eventschedule.Theyknowwhatit’sliketohavetheireveryshotwatchedandeverymovedscrutinized.OneofthereasonsIliketheideaofa36-holeeventissotheamateurscangobacktotheirhotelroomatnightafterthefirstroundandseewhatpeoplearesayingaboutthemonsocialmedia.Let’sseehowtheylikehavingtheirskillsdemeaned.Andlet’sseehowtighttheircollarfeelsthenextdaywhentheyteeitup.ThesecondthingthatI’mcertainaboutthesesingle-digitmalesisthattheyhaveaninflatedvisionoftheir

ability.Ioftenhearguysbraggingabouthittingit300yardswhenwhattheyshouldbesayingisthathave,onoccasion,hitit300yards–iftheholewasplayingdownhillanddownwind.IonceaskedButchHarmanthemostcommonmistakebyrecreationalgolfersandhesaidonewasthattheybaseclubselectionontheirbestshotnottheiraverageshot.Ithinkmanymenevaluatetheirentiregamethatway.IthinkofthegreatlineinaDanJenkinsnovelwhentheamateurischoppingitupinthepro-amandhesaystothepro:“I’mbetterthanthis;Ijustneverplaythatway.”Exactly.AllofthishasrattledaroundinmyheadforawhilebutitpoppedtothefrontofmybrainwhenIrecentlycameinpossessionofastudyconductedbythestewardsofthegamewhousedShotLinktocreateacomparisonbetweenabilitiesofPGATour,LPGAandtopamateurplayers.Whiletheinformationisnearlyadecadeold,thetrendslikelyarestillvalidwithdrivingdistanceprobablybeing5yardsorsolongerforeveryone.Inthestudy,datawasgatheredonPGATourplayersandLPGAfrom2006through2010–afive-yearperiodthatislengthyenoughtobeavalidreflectionofperformance.DatawasalsogatheredinthattimeperiodfromcompetitorsintheWorldAmateurHandicapChampionshipinMyrtleBeach.Theresultsarefascinating.

TheaveragedrivingdistanceforPGATourplayerswas288yards;fortheLPGAitwas249yards;andforamateurswithhandicaps0-to-5itwas237yards.DrivingaccuracyforthePGATourwas63percent;fortheLPGA67percent;fortheamateurs63percent.Greenshitinregulationwere65percentforthemen;63percentforthewomen;48percentfortheamateurs.Themenaveraged1.78puttspergreen;thewomenaveraged1.82andtheamateurs2.05.Sandsaveswere50percentforthemen;39percentforthewomenand18percentfortheamateurs.Scoringaveragewas71.1forthemen;72.6forthewomenand82.3fortheamateurs.Thebirdieaveragewas3.4per18holesforthemen;2.9forthewomenand0.94fortheamateurs.Thesenumberssupportbothofmytheories.First,manyamateursoverestimatehowfartheyhittheball.Andsecondly,thereisthechokefactor.Thefactthat0-to-5handicapplayersaveraged82.3tellsmethathandicapsestablishedintheSaturdayskinsmatchdon’tholduprealwellunderthescrutinyofmultiple-daystroke-playcompetition.Butlet’sprovethisonceandforall:ComeonGolfChannel!Let’shaveacontestandthethreewinnersfromapoolofsingle-digitmaleamateurstakeonanLPGAproin36holesofstrokeplayundertournamentconditionsandunderthescrutinyoftheTVcamera.I

knowI’dpaytowatchthat–althoughI’dratherbetherewritingaboutit.