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 (ILLUSTRATION: John Cheresh.) How can one club be more important than another? Isn’t the driver pretty important? Try scoring well if you’re hitting every other tee shot out of bounds. Aren’t wedges important? Try saving par from a greenside bunker if you aren’t efficient with a sand wedge. And how many bogeys have you made by not being able to pitch your ball close to the hole from just off the green? Think of the putter as an exclamation point on every hole. At its best, the putter can be the capper to a couple of well-executed shots or put a positive spin on a scrambling effort. Those 30-footers for bogey have a way of doing that. At its worst, the putter can ruin a well-played hole or be the avalanche that falls on top of a train wreck. A hundred years ago when I was a junior golfer, I was a confident putter. I didn’t care if I rammed a putt 5 feet past the hole, because I knew I would make it coming back. I did it all without the aid of a swing coach, a sports psychologist or a video camera. It was all feel — and it felt great. Then something happened. I became aware and started to think too much, with most of my thoughts being negative. As I began placing more importance on the outcome of my rounds and the scores I was making on each hole, the pressure to make putts grew. I actually started thinking about missing and how it would ruin my score and my day. It made me miserable. I began to hate putting and I avoided practicing to get away from it. This went on for years. I tried different putters, different mechanics and different grips. It just got worse. By the time I attempted to disconnect from the vicious cycle, it was too late. The damage was done and the scars were in place. I made myself a bad putter and allowed it to infect my entire game. Can I be cured? Thinking back to my more carefree youthful days on the course, I tried to remember how I became a good putter in the first place. I used to spend countless hours on the putting green. I putted in the dark. I made up games and had contests against anyone who would take me on. I also didn’t care about the outcome. Make or miss, I was confident the next putt was going down. I enjoyed the feeling, and I want it back. So I’m going to spend more time on the putting green. I want to be fearless again. And I’m really eager to see if I can recapture my youth or if youth is simply wasted on the young. Greg Flores has been a sports and entertainment publicist for 20 years and has written for Southland Golf since 1995. |
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