Gadgets galore
Golfers must be the most gullible creatures on earth. Should you have any doubt, consider the number of devices that have been created with the intention of making the hateful game just a little bit easier.
Imagination, intention and investment – not necessarily in that order – have no doubt inspired an industry that should have its own dedicated shopping network.
It’s possible that already exists, online at least, and there is one place to get everything ever needed to fix your slice, cure your shank, smooth your tempo, keep you from coming over the top, align you properly, replenish your electrolytes, measure your launch angle, evaluate your smash factor and, should you care to, dress more like John Daly.
Golf devices have probably existed since shortly after the shepherds started swatting rocks into holes while tending their sheep (“Hey Angus, take a few practice swings with this heavier stick to get loose”) and it’s good to know that it is not just the tortured double-digit handicap who buys them.
The practice green is like a shopping mall of gadgets, the most common being thin and flat and having pegs that will knock an off-line putt sideways almost the instant the ball is struck. Some have mirrors. Some have graphs.
Spending time on and around the practice green and range at the Truist Championship last week, it was evident that even the best in the world rely on more than their own feels and their teachers’ guidance to get better.
Rory McIlroy arrived at the range with what looked like a mini-Nerf basketball with sticks protruding from two sides then proceeded to plant it between his elbows to reinforce something in a swing that was good enough to win the Masters last month.
Pádraig Harrington has been known to practice wearing a shirt that resembles a straitjacket because, well, he’s Pádraig Harrington.
Players carry their own aiming sticks in their bags, headcover included, then act like surveyors setting them properly before, as Hogan said, digging it out of the dirt.
None, it should be noted, come with a money-back guarantee.
There are, of course, bags full of putters from various manufacturers sitting out before the tournament begins because even the most loyal putter occasionally needs to be reminded it can be replaced.
Golf may be the unconquerable game, but the same can be said about the human spirit, especially if it might shave a stroke or two off someone’s score.
Ron Green Jr.
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