GOLDILOCKS VS GRIT
Just like Goldilocks, we all want things to be “just right.” In her case, one porridge was too salty, the next was too sweet and the third was just right.
For the vast majority of the calendar year, the PGA Tour has been bathed in sunshine, minimal wind, and consistent course conditions that have announcers sounding like broken records, repeatedly (and truthfully) saying, “the course has never been in better shape.” The four events that CBS had on the West Coast were the easiest four weeks of weather I’ve experienced in my 7 years working those events, with only a chilly marine layer that rolled in Sunday afternoon at Riviera making one wish they wore more than a golf shirt and quarter-zip. Things have been “just right.”
Now with The Players at the half-way mark, the word unfair is being used a lot.
No, it is not unfair. Not the course, not the weather.
It is extreme, but not unfair. Big difference.
The tour is on a run of 4 straight weeks in Florida where the golf courses are just plain ‘ol difficult, beginning with The Champion Course at PGA National and running straight through the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook. You can make a pretty solid case that, without the Mother Nature flexing her muscles this week, the Stadium course at TPC Sawgrass is actually the easiest of the four.
Tour players—and I spent 17 years as one—crave predictability and consistency. We don’t like things out of our control. We like those weeks where is seems we are playing in a dome, with tee times set in stone, any wind of consistent speed and direction, green speeds and firmness leaving no adjustments to be made, rough topped at the same height throughout the competition. You know—like Goldilocks. We like things just right.
What I’ve found baffling through these first two rounds are the stories of players not being prepared for the elements … scrambling for stocking hats, base layers, hand warmers and more. I never traveled, even during the summer months, without my “bad weather bag,” including Goretex socks. Maybe growing up in Upstate New York where late May snow isn’t unheard of was a reason for this preparedness, but living in the era where specifically how much cold, wind, humidity and nearly any other factor can influence a golf shot has become a known, how can players overlook the basics of preparedness?
Weeks like this are exhausting with starts, stops, irregular sleep and eating patterns, travel adjustments to be made, etc. But, with a belly full of grit, outdoor competition essentials and a “roll with it” attitude, there can be a lot of “just right” Goldilocks moments at the end.
Oh, and a Gold Man trophy, too!
