"The Most Important Golf Shot"
For years in many locker rooms and clubhouses, one of the main topics of discussion has
been, "What is the most important shot in golf?" One side of the argument
is for the tee shot, and the other side is for the putt.
One of the strongest proponents for the tee shot was Ben Hogan. In the early 1960's, while
a teaching pro at The Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, I discussed this with
Ben, and he
felt strongly that a players tee shot was THE most important shot.
It was Ben's fervent belief, that from a mental standpoint, one's whole round depended on
the initial tee shot. He claimed to have rarely witnessed or been part of a great round
that started with an errant tee shot. He believed that when you begin with an excellent
tee shot, your mental attitude
would carry forward on all successive shots.
On the other side, many argue that the putt is the most important. One such advocate
was the legendary teaching pro Harvey Penick, who strongly believed that the short game,
around the green, was the essence of scoring well. He contended that a two foot putt
counted just as much as a tee shot.
This argument did not hold water with Ben. Adamantly he stated, "If
you are trying to make a two foot putt for a seven, due to an errant tee shot, who in the
hell cares? After all, a missed two foot putt will generally only cost you one shot,
whereas a missed tee shot can easily cost you two or more shots."
After listening to Ben's logic, I calmly explained, that in my humble opinion, I
thought both sides were wrong. This definitely got Ben's attention. I hurriedly added,
that while both sides had made good arguments, I considered Willie Ogg's, the original
teaching professional selected and respected by the membership of the PGA to conduct
business school teaching seminars, to have been the best. You see he told us that the most
important shot in golf is always "the next one."
Hogan laughed out loud and completely agreed (And some of you thought he was always
"the wee ice-man"). So the next time you overhear the discussion about the
most important shot in golf, just sit back and laugh to yourself because you already know
the RealTruth.
Sincerely, a friend to any golfer. Pat Dolan Golf Pro Please feel free to visit my site at
Golfers
improving EASILY !!!
By Pat Dolan Golf Pro
Pat Dolan has been the teaching professional at such prestigious golf courses as "The
Colonial
Country Club" in Fort Worth, Texas, "The Country Club" in Salt Lake City,
Utah and "The Palm Springs Country Club" in the world famous golfing resort of
Palm Springs, California. He was the Head Pro-fessional at the "The Russell Municipal
Golf Course" in Russell, Kansas and "The Jal Country Club" in Jal, New
Mexico and "The Riveria Golf Course" in Palm Springs, California. He graduated
from the second P.G.A. school in January 1958. It was held at the P.G.A. National
Headquarters in Dunedin, Florida. He served as chairman of the education committee
for
the New Mexico Chapter of the Southwest Section of the P. G. A. for 2 years, 1965 and
1966.
Golfers Lee Trevino, Sandra Palmer, Carlynne Whitworth and General James Wilson sought his
advice before they became famous.
In his playing career he won a number of professional tournaments and set seven course
records. He has written "How to turn bogeys into birdies" (c)1988 and "The
Worlds Greatest Golf Teacher" (c)1994, and two newspaper golf columns. He currently
writes golf articles for WorldGolf.com and GolfSupport.com
His business career included serving as consultant to many golf course owners and The Tony
Llama Boot Co. The Braille Institute and the John Riley Golf Co. also as loan officer of
the Clarendon Trust Co. in Arlington, Virginia and sales manager for various companies. He
is the designer of the Sure Out sand wedge in the Ben Hogan line of clubs.
Visit his site at http://hometown.aol.com/snrgolfpro/