The Requirement of Streaks

The golfer’s search to hit good shot after good shot, however, has less mystical impulses. It arises simply from the game’s requirement, which is not to hit a single shot, but to play a succession of fine holes9 or 18, or, in a major tournament, as many as 72. Every well-designed golf hole requires a sequence of shots. This is best observed on any good par four which, in contrast to par threes and par fives, is golf’s most typical hole. A good par four demands a sequence of four good shotsa drive, a second shot, a chip and a putt, or two putts. Unlike par threes, par fours (as the matter of design) are not conceived to be dominated by a single tee shot. And unlike par fives, par fours tolerate fewer, if any, muffed shots. For instance, The Old Wall Hole at Troon, a 400-plus-yard par four, confronts the player with an angling boundary wall along the right side which increasingly squeezes the hole toward the left side, which itself is lined with a narrowing stand of unplayable gorse. The more distance the player tries to claim off the tee, the greater his chance of going out of bounds on the right or finding himself in the gorse on the left. Conversely, the more guarded his drive, the longer and riskier his second shot. The player has to play two fine shots to position himself for a makable putt for par. Almost any good course has a hole or two that the player takes pleasure in parring, while great courses have sequences of three, four, and five holes that make par golf a great test and pleasure. For example, the Country Club of Detroit, where I caddied and which ranks in the top hundred clubs in the nation, has a strong succession of starting and finishing holes with no weak holes among them. The great Prestwick has three different sequences of wonderful holes: at the beginning, at the turn, and near the end. With any wind, these holes become a memorable test. Augusta’s eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth invite risk and threaten with water. Bearing the nickname “Amen Corner,” the origin of which is unknown, these three holes often decide the winner of the Masters. Nelson once recorded three straight birdies to beat Hogan, and many years later, at age fiftyfour, Hogan himself also made three straight birdies there. And in 1954, the wild and exhilirating amateur, Billy Joe Patton, muffed a chance to beat Hogan and win the Masters at “Amen Corner” by taking a disastrous double bogie on the par-five thirteenth, a hole where a birdie is almost imperative for winners of the tournament Like other athletes, the better golfer lives off runs and streaks. These include streaks of hitting no bad shots or shots that allow no recovery. The experienced player, however, recognizes the danger of letting a streak take him beyond his self-control. I remember the comment of an old Scottish caddie at Dornoch, the northern Scottish seaside course where the devil himself awaits to play you along gorse-lined fairways that lead to the immense and subtle greens where a whole separate game is played. The caddie poetically foretold the fate of his player who started off unusually well, “The bloom is on the rose too early.” A streak of good shotsor even a single great shotusually causes a player to get out of emotional control. Giddy from the heights to which the shot or the streak has propelled him, the player feels the need to descend to the ground below. Perhaps at some remote level of self, he believes that the vessel must be shattered by the excess grace it holds, that he must pay the gods back for the good he has received. Or, simply, struck by fear of the new terrain on which he finds himself, he hits bad shots to return to the familiar ground of the commonplace. Professionals, too, get beyond themselves. Young professionals rarely win the tournaments they lead, and almost invariably follow a first tournament victory with a string of losses. Some play a good season or two, then disappear from the tour forever. Others win many tournaments over many seasons, yet on a major tournament’s final day, they always manage to lose their lead. Like other golfers, they need grace and knowledge to winnot to be beaten by golf.