Taylor Everson rolled against boys and girls at Mackinaw City, Michigan. The competition was long and hard but Taylor finished fifth overall in the 11 and under age group and second in her normal girls’ U-10 class.
There’s a saying amongst golfers, “Drive for show, putt for dough!”
Some golfers can blast it off the tee down the fairways hitting it over 300 yards. Dustin Johnson is averaging almost 320 in driving distance. That’s crazy long. It looks good and is impressive (the average drive for most men around a 20 handicap hit it about 225 yards).
The “putt for dough” means that where you will really make some money, or low scores, is being a good putter of the ball. Putting accounts for about 40-45 percent of your golf score. It’s a skill that, with some practice, can lower your score quite a bit.
I believe that you drive and putt for dough. You don’t necessarily have to be a long hitter of the ball, but you do need to be accurate.
Look at some of the better golfers in pro golf history. Jack Nicklaus, Arnie Palmer and Tiger Woods were very long hitters of the ball. Lee Trevino and Ben Hogan curved the ball a lot. Gene Sarazen was only about 5’5” tall and didn’t hit it very far.
Paige Everson (on the left) studies her opponent’s feet to see if she can make a quick move, which will cause a fall. A winner in a log rolling match is determined when someone takes 3 out of 5 falls.
This year’s Open Champion Zack Johnson was sometimes 50-75 yards shorter off the tee then his playing partners.
What they all have in common is that in their prime they were very accurate off the tee. Nick Faldo (six-time major champion) said that at a time in his playing career he would aim at a stripe in the fairway that the mowers make and he could hit his ball on that stripe almost every time. Now that’s accurate.
The point is, work on your accuracy off the tee. Steal some of that pinpoint aiming that Nick Faldo had and try to hit it on a stripe.
If you have a small target and you miss it by a little, you’ll be okay. It’s hard to make pars when your first shot is in the trees or out of bounds and you have to take a penalty.
What made the players I’ve mentioned great is that they were also accurate putters of the ball on the greens. They believed they could make every putt they looked at. At times it’s seemed they did.
You’ll make more putts if you believe you will make it, not just try to hit it close. Being accurate not only applies to the direction you putt the ball but more importantly the distance you hit it too. Just because you roll the ball right next to the hole, but it finishes 10 feet past, does not exactly count as a near miss…it’s 10 feet past.
A near miss finishes near the hole, hopefully only a few inches past. Ideally a good putt that doesn’t go in, stops past the hole no more than 18 inches. This shows you hit the putt with good direction and the right amount of speed. You can more easily make a 10-inch putt versus a 10-foot putt.
Drive for dough and putt for dough!
Heath Ekstrom, PGA, Golf Professional at Superior National at Lutsen will periodically provide golf news and tips from Superior National.
Paige and Taylor Everson traveled with their parents Tony and Andrea Everson to Mackinaw City, Michigan to take part in the amateur log rolling competition held Saturday, August 15 and both rolled well against mixed competition.
“This tournament has a junior and senior division,” said Andrea. In the junior division boys and girls 11 and under roll against each other while in the senior division boys and girls 12 to 17 go head to head.
Because it was a roundrobin tournament there was a total of 160 matches which, said Andrea, “Made for a long day in the extreme heat.”
Only first place in each division was awarded a trophy. Mathew Thibault of Grand Rapids, Michigan won the junior division while Anthony Polentini of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin won the senior division.
Paige placed 5th in the senior bracket but ended up second in her normal U-13 division while Taylor placed 5th in the junior division and second in her normal U-10 class.
By placing second in their age groups both Paige and Taylor earned valuable points in the United States Log Rolling Association (USLRA), which will help propel them up the rankings in their age brackets.
At tournament’s end Taylor said she liked rolling against kids she had never rolled against before and Paige said she liked rolling against older competitors that she is friends with but never rolls against because they are either in a higher age group or are in the boys division.
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