Golf on demand
It doesn’t matter whether you prefer the Vardon grip, the interlocking grip or the simple 10-finger grip favored by the legendary ball-striker Moe Norman: Golf is finally at our literal fingertips.
Whether it’s a few keystrokes on your laptop, scrolling through your phone, scanning satellite radio choices or handling the remote control better than a short-sided pitch shot, it’s all right there.
Swing tips. Fitness suggestions. New equipment. Pre-owned equipment. The PGA Tour. The DP World Tour. LIV Golf. Twenty-four-hour golf radio.
Beware getting lost down a rabbit hole on YouTube while searching for everything from videos of Ben Hogan’s swing to episodes of “The Big Break.”
... everyone who plays golf is searching for something and, evidently, there are plenty of people who will try just about anything. They are hopelessly devoted and helplessly hopeful.
Legalized betting has become almost inescapable now that it’s available in most states to those same fingertips.
And who needs cash to pay off a lost Nassau? It’s easier to use Venmo.
With all that is available – and this comes from someone who just received a new putter grip in the mail because the concept of reverse tapering seemed like a good idea at the time – the game hasn’t lost any of its maddening magic.
If the convenience of modern technology has demonstrated anything, it’s that everyone who plays golf is searching for something and, evidently, there are plenty of people who will try just about anything. They are hopelessly devoted and helplessly hopeful.
If you just want to watch golf, it’s never been easier. Even Netflix, arbiter of all things watchable, is two seasons deep on a series about the PGA Tour.
Some of us are old enough to remember when getting a tee time meant putting a golf ball in a metal contraption to get in line with others who arrived before and after you. Now, it’s done on an app, just like ordering takeout from Chipotle.
Struggling on the greens? Let your fingers do the walking and you’ll find more putting tips than you can watch.
The same with short-game tips, learning to hit it longer and finding exercises to free up your hips, increase your shoulder turn and strengthen your core. Everything but how to say no to the chips and queso before dinner.
The professional game may be at a crossroads, torn apart by money, but golf as the rest of us know it is alive and kicking.
Don’t believe it?
Ask Google.
Ron Green Jr.
E-MAIL RON