Course Management
The game is, after all, all about strategy… Right?
John’s approach shot was straying seriously right. In fact, it looked like it was headed for a watery grave off to the side of the fifth green at Mariana Butte. However, it continued slicing until a resounding “thwack!” echoed across the course. It kicked left off the big cottonwood, and rolled onto the middle of the green. The other three of us looked at each other, did a silent three-count, and chorused “Course Management!” in unison.
Of all the misused terms in golf, “Course Management” is the one that gets abused the most egregiously. The phrase “Course Management” was originally applied to strategic geniuses of the ilk of Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, and yes, Tiger Woods. It was used to describe the thinking processes of the game's wiliest practitioners, including the best angles to approach a particular green, the most desirable places to lay up to, and more importantly, the places to avoid at all costs. These are/were guys who think as much about their misses as they do about their hits. These are guys who select clubs and shots that can’t possibly get them in trouble. If there’s a bad bounce to be had on the course, they don’t hit it there. These are people who aspire to boring, stress-free golf, an endless string of tap-in pars, seasoned with the occasional birdie.
And how does the typical Bogey Golfer use the term “Course Management”? An errant drive catches a bounce on the cart path, and rolls forty yards closer to the hole… “Course Management!” A chip shot hits a sprinkler head and bounces into the hole… “Course Management!” A skulled wedge skips across the pond, hits a rock on the other side, and bounces onto the green… “Course Management!” A pulled mid iron catches the downslope of the berm behind the bunker, and feeds toward the hole… “Course Management!” A slicey drive headed for OB gets knocked down by a tree… “Course Management!”.
The casual observer is tempted to over-simplify, and conclude that “Course Management” is codespeak for a lucky break. In fact, it’s a bit more subtle than that. The lucky break has to come about at the last moment to turn a ridiculously bad shot into singular good fortune. The shot has to be so bad, that even a Bogey Golfer, with low self-esteem, and low expectations, is ashamed to have been seen hitting it. The shot has to be so bad that the Bogey Golfer’s companions, themselves Bogey Golfers who have all hit similarly bad shots, would laugh out loud at it (provided of course, that they’ve already hit their own shots safely). Then, and only then, does the phrase “Course Management!” become appropriate. If appropriate is the word I’m looking for…
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