Gambling on the Golf Course

by John Hamarik

It was my junior year at the University of Tennessee. I was playing the best golf of my career and one Sunday I went to practice at Pine Lakes golf course. Pine Lakes was a public course with a driving range that we were able to use any time we wanted to. The pro and owner, Ray Franklin was a Southern boy who used to be a great player in his day, until he got into a car wreck that ended his career. He would always tell us stories that seemed so astonishing that I would have bet he was fabricating them, but I knew better.

Anyway, I was on the driving range in the afternoon working on some short irons when this scruffy looking guy approaches me and asked, “Are you on the Tennessee golf team, boy?” I smiled and said “Yes I am.” It was pretty obvious since I had an orange Tennessee golf bag plus I had a white golf shirt that had Tennessee Golf printed on it. I was wondering what the hell this guy wanted.

He extended out his hand and introduced himself as Bill White. I told him my name and the next question he asked almost floored me. He looked me in the eye and said, “Do you want to play me for some money”? I stopped for awhile and thought to myself, hey, you can certainly beat this guy, go for it. So I told Bill, sure, I’ll play you for some money.

We stood on the first tee and made the bet. We were playing a twenty dollar Nassau with automatic two down presses and one down presses when asked, plus I had to give him seven shots each nine according to the handicap from the scorecard. Well, I had no idea what I was in store for. He was kicking my butt, because he was a gambler and knew the course pretty well and pressed every time he was one down when the next hole was a stroke hole.

I was standing on the seventeenth hole, down two hundred and forty dollars, thinking to myself, what am I going to do. I only had thirty dollars in my pocket and my checking account probably had another hundred in it. The only thing I had was my father’s 1972 Buick LeSabre. I certainly was in a bind, so what did I do, I asked if he would play me the last two holes for three hundred dollars. Plus I had to give him one stroke. I know I was stupid, risking my dad’s car, but I had no choice. I some how birdied the seventeenth hole and Bill made a bogey so we headed up the eighteenth with more money on the line than I ever dreamed of. I hit my tee shot on the short 395 yard par four down the right side of the fairway about 275. Bill hit his normal drive, 240 down the middle. He put his second shot just short of the green with an apparently easy chip shot left. I got to my ball and pulled out a nine iron and was so nervous that I almost couldn’t pull the trigger. I somehow kept thinking about losing my dad’s car. I looked at the pin placement and slowly took the club back and tried to focus on the flag.

Well, somehow I made one of the best swings of my life, the ball landed ten feet past the pin and since it was into the wind and I had a lot of juice on the shot, it spun back to within two feet of the hole. I turned to Bill and smiled, he also smiled and said, “Helluva Shot”

I made birdie and he paid me the sixty bucks. I was overcome with a sense of relief. He asked me what I was doing later that night? I told him that I had a date. He handed me his business card and told to stop at his restaurant for dinner. The business card said ‘Cherokee Supper Club’.

So I pick up Tammy at 6 o’clock and told her we were going to a new place for dinner. We arrived at Bill’s restaurant at 6:30 and when we got to the door, it was locked with rusted iron gates. I pressed the buzzer and this guy who looked like Lurch from the Adams Family show opened the door and said, “What do you two want?” I told him we were guests of Bill and he immediately opened the door.

We were seated in the corner of the place and were listening to a Country band playing on stage. All of a sudden, Bill strolls to our table and I almost didn’t even recognize him. He was dressed in a white suit, white lizard cowboy boots and a white hat. He sat down and told us that he would order dinner for us. He got up and left. I told Tammy that I was certain that this dinner would probably cost me a couple hundred dollars. Fifteen minutes later our dinner arrived, Filets and Lobster and a bottle of French wine. It was pretty amazing for a college date. After the wonderful dinner, Bill came back to our table and asked if we were pleased with the food and service. I told him everything was great, but that we needed our check, since there were only a few people in his place listening to the band. Bill smiled and told me that dinner was on the house.

I thanked him and asked, “Bill, I don’t want to sound strange, but you have a six member band, three bartenders, four waitresses and you have only a few people in here, how the hell do you make any money?” Bill stopped for a moment, looked me in the eye and said, “I thought you would ask me that, follow me!” We got up from the table and he took me through a long hallway and opened a door. My eyes almost popped out of my head, he had a full-fledged casino right in Knoxville, Tennessee.

I was laughing so hard. I stayed there till three in the morning playing blackjack. I became a member and went there every time I had a few extra dollars. Bill became a great supporter of the golf team and even threw a party for the entire golf team and had ten pounds of shrimp and steaks for everyone.

Bill, if you are out there and happen to read this, Thank You. I will never forget the Cherokee Supper Club.

Lessons with Ian Butcher

Lessons from £29 per half hour and £45 per hour.
Nine-hole individual lesson (including green fee) from £100

Ian is a fully qualified level 3 PGA Coach based at King’s Acre Golf Course near Edinburgh, Scotland. King’s Acre is a fully equipped modern golf facility with all the modern facilities golfers off all abilities would expect.

Lessons with Ian take place indoors in a custom studio. The studio is ideal for wet weather lessons and for swing analysis as it incorporates a state-of-the-art VI computer video system with four camera angles.

Outdoor lessons are on grass areas and include play from fairway, rough, bunkers and specialist shots for long and short games and include King’s Acre’s renowned high quality driving range with real greens, water hazards and distance markers.

The 18 hole course itself can be used for lessons and is ideal for in situ shotmaking and tackling the specifics of positional play, different types of shots and how to compile a score.

You can book a single lesson or a series to work on all areas of your game.

Booking is easy; simply call King’s Acre on 0131 663 3456.

The Greatest Game Ever Played

The Greatest Game Ever Played
Harry Vardon, Francis Ouimet, and the Birth of Modern Golf
By Mark Frost
Hyperion , 2002
ISBN: 0-7868-6920-8 $30

The Ben Curtis story is different, obviously, but it is entertaining to consider the two improbable victors of a major championship their first time out. Francis Ouimet, of course, was an amateur and had no interest in pursuing a professional career in golf. He was also intimately acquainted with the course where he beat the immortals of his day head to head. Curtis, a pro, if unheralded, had never laid eyes on Royal St. George’s before arriving to play weekend practice rounds. He was able to post a score and thus avoid a playoff against his famous rivals, leading to a less dramatic but equally satisfying result. As astute an observer as Bernard Darwin thought highly of Ouimet and his game, but you won’t find an honest scribe who believed Curtis had a shot; even his caddie had never heard of him, and, as late as Saturday night figured his man was likely good for an 80 on Sunday and a tie for 20th.

There does seem to be some common ground as regards the type of man in question, and we can assume that each firmly believed deep down that he could do it. John Hopkins, writing in The Times of London, began his account by noting Curtis’s Hollywood good looks. Ouimet, we learn here, through the eyes of one experienced writing for television, had “a clarity of spirit and …straightforward manner: happy, courteous, good-humored, well-adjusted, and uncomplicated,” even if he appears to the author physically as a cross between Woodrow Wilson and Stan Laurel, hardly leading man stuff, but a good egg nonetheless.

Perhaps it’s apt that a novelist and television writer weaves together the storybook qualities of Ouimet’s triumph for a modern audience.

The movie-goer may not care (it’s already in development) but the historian, or even the careful reader, should know that a popular device is in play. Invented feelings and words are assigned to all concerned, including the stoic triumvirate. There is “A note on the Writing” following the acknowledgements; it should by all rights be up front. The “dramatist’s license” helps in advancing the story and also in tying loose ends together. Reality’s never so tidy. History sometimes takes a seat to scriptwriting, what they call nowadays literary nonfiction. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil was wonderful, but less so after the author’s confession that well, the lines between credulity and creativity, were crossed.

It is hard for the skeptic to believe that Harry Vardon, a man by his own account “who kept quiet and never gave vent to his true feelings” held out paternal feelings for Ouimet, just the sort of embellishment Hollywood can’t seem to avoid, but who knows? Maybe he did see something of himself in the young Francis.

Quibbles aside, the research, as history always does, turns up entertainment value beyond the imagination, what ifs like: how things would be different if Vardon’s illness hadn’t prevented him from boarding the Titanic; or how golf history would’ve changed had the volatile Johnny McDermott kept his sanity. And isn’t it interesting that at the presentation ceremony Ouimet apologized on behalf of the fans for disrupting his British competitors? The more things change… Johnny McDermott, a tragic figure, fiercely committed to defeating the Brits, was just ahead of his time. In an age of petulant tennis prodigies, the War at the Shore and sack dances, he’d have been a national hero, and golf would’ve perhaps lost its virginity and perhaps even its soul just as it entered the Golden Age of Sport. Also, a fun discovery it was to come upon this wonderfully lyrical phrase from Ted Ray: that his ball wasn’t stuck behind a tree, but was, rather, “stymied by a monarch of the forest.”

This is the USGA’s International Book Award Winner and it deserves a wide audience. “Never despair,” was Vardon’s motto – incidentally his books are worth seeking out – and it is wonderful to see, even in this day and age, how the spirit of those competitors, including Vardon’s axiom for his game and life, and Ouimet’s modesty, remain ever in vogue. Let’s hope they find someone who has a decent swing – and grip! – to play Harry on the silver screen.

Golf’s Greatest Eighteen

Jimmy Breslin was writing about the 1962 Mets when he observed that “Figures are notorious liars, which is why accountants have more fun than people think.”

Number crunchers dying to know what, say, Gene Sarazen would’ve made for winning two Long Island Opens in “new” money will enjoy the new math. Of course, money of any vintage is welcome, no doubt a comfort in old age, but what Hogan or Hagen made way back when converted to the present is far less riveting a currency exchange, I suspect for most, than what comes back from turning dollars into euros or pounds. Golf, can we agree, is about so much more than The Money?

It’s not that I don’t appreciate the effort and burned midnight oil by the calculator. But far more captivating is curling up with venerable members of the fellowship to hear tales worth retelling. And there are always entertaining tidbits, the sort of trivial detail that fills notebooks and can fill out personalities or debunk myths: Gene Sarazen unknowingly hitting on Bob Hope’s wife, Gary Player on the range when Ben Wright closed his hotel room blinds, and there again when he pulled them open the following morning, and just about anything with Trevino.

ZEN Golf

TMastering the Mental Game
By Dr. Joseph Parent
Doubleday, 2002
ISBN: 0-385-50446-2 $17.95

There’s a euphoric updraft with the best instruction books (and, even rarer, a carryover into non-golfing matters.) No telling how long it can last nor how long before excitement (Yes!) turns to inertia (#$@&*). There’s the first blush of enthusiasm, then invariably gears stick. Wheels spin. The book moves from nightstand to bottom shelf. Dust gathers on the tops of the pages. This ride may be familiar to dabblers in Harvey Penick or Bob Rotella.

Aware of having been down the road before, your correspondent can only attest that this book has been nothing short of a continual comfort and revelation, wise and insightful. Every time it’s cracked. The Hearthstone nightstand is a crowded place. Benchley and Thurber, Charteris, Honig and Hanh. This book has a permanent spot.

Conscious Golf, reviewed last time out, is an excellent primer, and I’m wedded to several techniques. This advanced edition is for those who already seriously play the game. Those who perhaps have been guilty of caring too much, who, frankly, have bumped up against themselves too often, suffering from a most spiritually unfulfilling and unhealthy frustration. The doctor has a tour presence, a Ph.D. in psychology, a Buddhist foundation, a sense of humor and a knack for compelling and believable parables.

A favorite, the case of the evil caddie is discussed in Talking Points. ViJay Singh contributes an endorsement. Perhaps his example only confirms the difficulty of catching the mental game genie in a bottle, but that wouldn’t be the Buddhist approach anyway. As they say, “Hasten slowly and you will soon arrive.” If you’re willing to consider and apply the ramifications of ancient truths – without unduly delaying play, of course – the results will truly astonish.

Don’t complain
About anything
Not even to yourself.

Best Ever Golf Movies

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all-golf – your personal golf website

All-golf is run and managed by Ian Butcher, PGA Professional golf coach based at King’s Acre GC, Scotland.

Ian invites you to participate in all-golf.

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How to participate in all-golf

There are lots of ways to take part: You can submit stories, ask for advice, read top tips, and even subscribe.

To get started, what format of golf do you play? There are lots – here is a list. Is your preferred format included? Let us know (use the ‘comments’ link at the top of this article) and we will come up with a list of all formats played by all-golf subscribers.

1-Player Golf Formats

Worst Ball

Play two balls (if they let you!) and only count the ball with the higher score on each hole and see if you can play to your handicap.

Herman & Sherman

Play 2 holes playing a draw on every shot and then the next two with a fade on every shot. Take lots of spare balls with you if playing a tight course.

2-Player Golf Formats

Singles

The classic form of golf: play off scratch or full handicap difference.

Skins

Each hole is worth one ‘skin’ and whoever wins the hole gets the skin. If no-one wins the hole outright then the ‘skin’ is carried over so the next hole is worth 2 skins, and so on until someone sinks that pressure putt. Play off scratch or handicap as per singles matchplay.

Stableford

Points are awarded for your score on each hole on either a nett or handicap basis. 1 point for a bogey, 2 for a par, 3 for a birdie, 4 for an eagle and 5 if you bag an albatross (fat chance). Anything worse than a bogey, pick up and stop wasting everyone else’s time.

Stringball

Instead of handicap strokes, each player is allocated one foot of string for every shot of his/her handicap. Each player can move the ball by measuring the distance moved and cutting that amount from the ball. You can use the string to remove your ball from hazards, get it out of a difficult lie or to hole out. If you like you can offer the option to gain one foot of string for each birdie scored. Remember to take your scissors!

3-Player Golf Formats

When you have a four arranged, someone always calls off and who wants to play strokeplay anyway? Have fun with these instead:

Skins

Each hole is worth one ‘skin’ and whoever wins the hole gets the skin. If no-one wins the hole outright then the ‘skin’ is carried over so the next hole is worth 2 skins, and so on until someone sinks that pressure putt. Play off scratch or handicap as per singles matchplay.

Split Sixes

There a six point up for grabs at each hole. If someone wins it outright then they get 4 points. The second best score gets 2 points and the third zero. If one person won the hole and the other two halved then it would be 4-1-1. Two players halving and beating the third 3-3-0. You get the picture. You don’t need a maths degree and can be tactical near the end. Use full handicap allowance.

Stableford

Points are awarded for your score on each hole on either a nett or handicap basis. 1 point for a bogey, 2 for a par, 3 for a birdie, 4 for an eagle and 5 if you bag an albatross (fat chance). Anything worse than a bogey, pick up and stop wasting everyone else’s time.

Murphys

Modified Stableford played in exactly the same way except the points are different: -3 for bogey or worse, -1 for bogey, zero for par, +2 for birdie, +5 for eagle, +8 for albatross.

Chairman

The player with the lowest net score on each hole becomes the Chairman on the following hole. The Chairman can win the hole if he/she again has the lowest net score. The winner is the person who wins the most holes. If two players tie then the current Chairman continues for the next hole.

Stringball

Instead of handicap strokes, each player is allocated one foot of string for every shot of his/her handicap. Each player can move the ball by measuring the distance moved and cutting that amount from the ball. You can use the string to remove your ball from hazards, get it out of a difficult lie or to hole out. If you like you can offer the option to gain one foot of string for each birdie scored. Remember to take your scissors!

Ghost

This is a game of Fourball Better Ball matchplay (see below), but with 3 real players and one imaginary player called the Ghost. One player elects to play with the Ghost who always pars every hole. The Ghost plays off scratch and gives shots to every other player in the group as per normal. The game is usually best when the highest handicapper plays with the Ghost.

4-Player Golf Formats

Lagging

After everyone gets on the green and regardless of the number of strokes, the player closest to the hole gets 3 points, the next player closest to the hole gets 2 points, the next player closest to the hole gets 1 point and the player farthest from the hole gets 0 points. Total the points for all eighteen holes and pay the winner.

Foursomes

Two players form a team and hit alternate shots at each hole until they hole out. One player tees off at the even holes and one on the odd holes. Handicap allowance is half of the combined total of both players. Played to schtrict rulesh of matchplay golf!

Greensomes

Matchplay game for teams of two where both partners drive and they choose the best drive and then play alternate shots for the rest of hole as in foursomes. For handicap matchplay, take the combined handicaps of both teams and the lower pair gives seven-eighths of the difference.

Gruesomes

As per greensomes, but after both players have driven, your opponents choose which ball you should play.

Shambles

As per greensomes, but after both players have driven, you choose the best tee shot and then both players play from that spot with their own ball and complete the hole. Scoring can be done any number of ways, such as using the lowest score per hole or the combined score per hole as the team score.

Canadian Foursomes/Pinehurst Foursomes

Same format as greensomes, but you choose which ball to play after you and your partner have both played your second shots.

American Foursomes

Another variation on greensomes, where both players drive and then play their partners shots before deciding which ball to play.

St Andrews Foursomes

Similar to an ordinary greensome, except that one player plays all the second shots on the odd numbered holes and the partner plays the second shots on the even numbers holes. They still both drive and elect the better drive for the appropriate player to play.

Scotch Foursomes

Similar to ordinary foursomes except the alternate shot is carried on from hole to hole. That means if Partner A holes out on the first green then Partner B will drive off on the second and so on throughout the round. Will you be tempted to the occasional tactical miss on the green to ensure your stronger driver is in control on the next tee?

Fourball-Betterball

Teams of two play their own ball and count the ‘better ball’ or score on each hole. Played in matchplay, handicaps are three-quarters of the difference form the lowest handicapper.

Fourball-Aggregate

Teams of two play their own ball and take the combined score for the team. Handicap is full difference from the lowest handicap player and then you add the nett scores for each player together to get the team score.

Better-Aggregate

A combination of Betterball and Aggregate (funnily enough). On each hole a point is awarded for the betterball and one awarded for the combined. Good game for mixed handicap groupings and should be played off full-difference.

Daytona

If you like risky games, you’ll love this. Each team of two add their scores together, so if they both had fours the score is 44. If the scores were different then the scoring depends on how you fared to par. If one of you got a par or better you would take the lower score first. For example a 4 and 6 on a par 5 scores 46. If you are both above par, say on a par three, then you take the higher score first giving 64. The lower total takes the money, but be prepared for some big swings.

Outings Golf Formats

Never mind the strokeplay or the stableford! Give one of these a whirl and make it a fun day out.

Stringball

Instead of handicap strokes, each player is allocated one foot of string for every shot of his/her handicap. Each player can move the ball by measuring the distance moved and cutting that amount from the ball. You can use the string to remove your ball from hazards, get it out of a difficult lie or to hole out. If you like you can offer the option to gain one foot of string for each birdie scored. Remember to take your scissors!

Pink Ball

In teams of three or four, each player plays there own ball and one plays the pink ball. The pink ball score plus the best of the other three counted for each hole. The lowest aggregate score and the lowest pink score take the money. Mind you if you lose the pink ball, you’re out!

Texas Scramble

Players play in groups of three of four. All drive and then select the best shot and mark it. Everyone then hits the next shot form this point. Repeat procedure with each shot until you hole out. This event is played off handicap and if you do not have special tables, add all the teams member’s handicaps together and divide by ten. Deduct the handicap from the final total.

Bloodsome Scramble

As per Texas scramble but the worst shot is selected. Beware, as everyone has to hole out for a hole to be completed! Best played over nine holes or you’ll never finish in daylight.

Bisque

Players can nominate to take their handicap strokes at any time. Strokes must be nominated before playing the hole. Can be used to liven up matchplay, strokeplay or stableford events.

Bingo, Bango, Bunco

Also known as Bingo, Bango, Bongo. A great format when the company is of mixed ability because final scores don’t count. Instead points are awarded for firsts: first player to reach the green, player closest to the hole, first player to putt out – and any others you’d like to include. Great fun and a brilliant way of including everyone in the day.

Side Bets

As well as your main event have a few side bets to keep interest up. Decide your own value for units and don’t get carried away. It’s meant to be fun not financially life threatening!

Oozles & Foozles

At a par 3 the player on the green nearest the flag after one shot has to hole out in two putts or better for an oozle and a unit. If the player fails to do this it is a foozle and is a loss of a unit. If no-one hits the green then the oozles can accumulate on subsequent par 3s. One-off oozles can also be played for gorillas who drive par 4s.

Gritty Pars

Getting a par after being in the sand at any point on the hole.

Ferrets

Holing out from off the green without using your putter. Golden ferrets are for holing out from a bunker and count double.

Birdies & Eagles

No prizes for guessing this – just put a premium on this depending on handicaps and the course’s difficulty.

Dr Doolittle

Dr Doolittle comprises various accumulators, such as Snakes for three-putting. Each time someone three-putts, this adds 1 unit to the value of the snake. The last person to three-putt is deemed to be holding the snake and pays out the total value to all others in the group. You can combine this with other accumulators for various misdemeanors using the same principle: Camels for going in a bunker, Fish for hitting into water, Bears for hitting trees, Rabbits for going in the gorse or bushes and Grouse for landing in the heather. Keep the monetary value of each unit low as they will mount up quite quickly!!

Flaps

When playing from off the green, a player shouts ‘Flap’ between hitting the ball and its first bounce. The player then has to hole out with the next shot to gain a unit. Failure to do so loses a unit. If a player calls a flap, opponents may shot ‘double’ before the ball makes its first bounce to double the win or loss.

Portuguese Caddy

Each player is allowed to move the ball without penalty by kicking it. Specify a number of Portuguese Caddies allowed per person per round.

Gotchas!

Each person has one opportunity to shot ‘Gotcha’ during an opponent’s swing during a round. Sometimes the anticipation is enough to put someone off.

Mulligans

Ever wanted to play a shot again? Give each person a mulligan and you disregard a bad shot and play it again. Named after a member at Winged Foot who always hit a second ball off the first tee and counted it as his first.

Metoo

A metoo is where you are allowed to swap your shot for someone else’s in your group at any hole, be it a drive, iron shot or putt. Move your ball to where the other shot finished and you both play the next shot from there. You may use your metoo to join someone in holing out. Agree the number of metoos among you depending on your handicap.

Dunce

Whoever has the worst score on each hole has to wear a designated hat for the following hole. The sillier the headgear the better.

Buckshot

Similar to Dunce, whoever hits the widest tee shot on each hole has to get the silly hat on. Have a Buckshot of the round too – you will have the funniest after round chat ever debating this one!

Adolf

Penalty for failing to get out of a bunker.

Seve

Scoring a par without hitting the fairway and having only one putt on the green.

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A (tall?) Tale of The Old Course

By Steven D. Levitt

An economist friend, who is also an accomplished golfer, recently told me the following story.

He and two friends had made a pilgrimage to the birthplace of golf: the Old Course at St. Andrews, Scotland. They had managed to secure a tee time and were just about to tee off when the starter stopped them and told them to wait — he had a fourth player who would be joining them. The three friends were disappointed; what sort of schmuck were they going to get stuck with?

After brief introductions, the fourth player asked them what their handicaps were. A handicap in golf more or less corresponds to how many strokes you shoot over par on average. They told him their handicaps, which were three, four, and seven (which by the way, means they are exceptionally good recreational golfers).

The fourth player, who was standing on the tee with a set of right-handed clubs, said “O.K., great, I get my left-handed clubs” — the implication being that if he instead played left-handed, it would be a more even match. He headed back to his car, grabbed a set of left-handed clubs, and true to his word, proceeded to shoot a three over par 75.

Who was this mysterious fourth player? None other than the dashing Spaniard Seve Ballesteros. Golf fans everywhere have been saddened by Ballesteros’s shocking recent battle with a brain tumor.

Ballesteros, who retired last year, was a brilliant golfer who won three Open Championships, two Masters, and 82 other titles. He is best remembered for his flair and creativity: like hitting a shot from a car park in the 1979 Open Championship at Royal Lytham and St Annes.

My golfing friend conjectures that maybe playing left-handed on occasion helped Ballesteros learn to hit those creative shots which won him so many championships.

For instance, when your ball stops right next to a tree trunk, sometimes the only option is to flip a club around and try to swing left-handed. It is extremely difficult, because not only are you swinging left-handed, but you are using a club meant to be hit right-handed. My accomplished golfing friend has practiced this shot quite a bit, and says he once hit it 60 yards this way, but he averages about 20 yards.

He asked Seve that day how far he could hit it when in that situation. “About 150 yards,” Seve said. “It depends if I want a fade or a draw.”