By Tim Clark / July 21, 2024 / Column, Tim's Two Cents, Golf
Two

Golf is a wonderfully frustrating game that can have you pumping your fists one hole and throwing your club the next. To this day, Mark Twain said it best: “Golf is a good walk spoiled.” I don’t even do that right. I ride a cart these days when I play.

Still, there are very few places I’d rather be on a golden summer’s day than on a golf course.

I have been playing golf for 40 years. Often times something gets stale after that long of a period. Not golf. Every day brings something different. Some days bring something good. Some days bring lots of bad. Either way, you are still outside in a beautiful spot surrounded by nature on all sides.

The courses I play in Central PA offer me views of lush, green mountains on all sides. Flowers and vegetation, trees that sometimes get in the way, the occasional stream or creek, and even a deer or two.

Obviously, it is more fun when I am playing well. Still, it is hard to not enjoy the time on a golf course.

Playing well. Another cool thing about golf. Playing well means different things for different players. I remember when getting the ball in the air was me playing well. I advanced to trying to play “bogey golf”. That took my scores from triple digits to 90. Then playing well was shooting in the 80’s.

When I became a member at my local course, I got a handicap. Lowering my handicap became my playing well moment.

I have always been ultra competitive, so I am not going to lie. I still like to score well. It is just that I don’t stress as much about it. Oh, while I’m on the course I still get upset. However, I don’t feel the need to cheat, lie, or fudge my score just to feel like I played well. Some days require a mulligan somewhere along the way, but nothing more nefarious than that. I am at peace with my golf game.

I am not good enough to be a club champ, or to even come close. There, are a lot of really good players at every course. I strictly compete against myself.

How about the guys that compete against the best in the world?

The best in the world had the pleasure of playing in Scotland, where they were met with changing wind gusts, torrential downpours, and chilly temperatures. The British Open often forces players to adapt to changing weather. Links golf, baby.

When the rain stopped, the winds died down, and the proverbial dust settled, Xander Schauffele was holding The Claret Jug.

 

 

Suddenly, Scottie Scheffler has company at the “Best Player in the World” hotel. Scheffler has been in a different stratosphere. In 2024, Scheffler has recorded 14 top ten finishes, 2 second place finishes, 6 victories, and 1 major championship. Again, otherworldly.

Schauffele is playing a damn good Robin to Scheffler’s Batman. Schauffele has 12 top ten finishes, 2 victories, 2 major championships.

At the start of this majors season, Schauffele was one of a few players who people were labeling the best player to never win a major. Schauffele took care of that at Valhalla, winning the PGA Championship. Now he adds the British Open after taking Royal Troon. For those paying attention, Schauffele has a 1, 1, 7, 8 in major finishes this year.

With all due respect to Bryson DeChambeau, Xander Schauffele is the second best golfer in the world. And it isn’t even close. While DeChambeau is yucking it up with the Happy Gilmore LIV crowds, Scauffele is beating 90% of the best players every time he enters an event.

At Royal Troon, Schauffele survived and thrived. He survived the first three brutal weather days by being steady and putting himself in position. The weather cleared Sunday, and Schauffele thrived while others seemed to succumb to the pressures of Sunday at a major.

Schauffele went from never winning a major to winning half of them in one season.

Now the players will focus on the Fed Ex Cup, jockeying for position in the standings. It wouldn’t be all that shocking if Scheffler and Schauffele dominate.

For golf fans it is back to the course to focus on their own games.

I have become a seasonal golfer, at least until retirement. I golf through the summer months and then pack up the clubs. If a friend or group wants to get together in the fall I will play, but otherwise it will have to wait until next spring.

Just about all of my golfing friends live 2, 3, or more hours away. I am not a go meet new people kind of guy. I am a little bit like Jerry in them Seinfeld episode where he tells the pool guy he already has three friends and can’t fit in any more.

Consequently, I play a lot of solo golf. It isn’t that I wouldn’t like to play more with my friends, but I don’t mind playing solo. I actually kind of like it.

I pick times the courses aren’t crowded, allowing me to play my round in three or less hours. I play fast —probably too fast— so that is right up my alley. Playing solo allows me to just relax and enjoy my surroundings. I can think and ponder about things in between shots.

Sometimes I talk to myself about my game.  With that in mind, I started doing these little videos and narration of my day of golf. I post some to social media and have turned a few into movies I post on my new YouTube channel(TrojanTim66). Here is my latest from last week.

 

 

I started a YouTube channel to get my podcasts out there to more eyes, and then decided to post a few of my golf videos. I am a nobody in the YouTube community, so none of my videos get a lot of views. The one that has the most views? My video entitled “Bad Golf”. I even got some advice from a viewer on that one. All of us hackers like to commiserate in our trials and tribulations on the course I suppose. Either that or our culture has become warped and people saw the word bad and became curious. Nah, our culture is just fine. Must be the first thing.

Anyway, I really enjoy my solo golf days. I enjoy making the videos of my hackeresque swings. I’ve enjoyed some pretty good days on the course this summer. The days that my score wasn’t what I wanted were still good days. After all, I was on a golf course.

I may not be Scheffler or Schauffele —the pressure would kill me— but I am still out there competing. I don’t compete for Claret Jugs, but rather to score the best I can on that given day. 

Everyone has a happy place. The mountains, the beach, the lake, the couch in the basement. In addition to the couch, the golf course is one of my happiest places. Admittedly, it is happier at 76 than 84.

Maybe Twain was wrong. Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn would have had a blast on a golf course. Of course, rules would have been optional.

Two Cent Takes

I am at the beach —one of my other happy places— this week. My takes are taking the week off —no pun intended. Maybe I will get some inspiration from the people I meet this week.

 

 

The Weekly Shiny Penny

I usually look for uplifting things to put in this segment each week. Occasionally it is something I find incredibly hilarious. This would be one of those weeks. Here is proof that John Harbaugh is as crazy as his brother.

 

 

I mean, c’mon. Best ever? Jackson is hurt often. When he does survive a season, he treats the playoffs like a hand grenade he pulls the pin on then fumbles right in front of himself. Best ever? Good one John boy.

A Penny For My Final Thought…

One of the many things baseball has screwed up is rivalries. At least the one that means the most for Keystone state baseball fans.

The Phillies traveled to Pittsburgh for three games over the past weekend. It was fantastic. Phillies fans traveled well, creating an electric sellout crowd atmosphere. Admittedly, the two teams haven’t done a good job of upholding the rivalry. The Pirates have been mostly miserable for the past 30 years. The Phillies have had a couple big moments, but in between those moments it hasn’t been good.

But, man, did this past weekend bring back fond memories.

This is a rivalry that bubbled over in the 70’s. My entire childhood, my Pirate fans learned to hate the Phillies. The same was true in reverse for my Phillies fans. For most of that decade, either the Pirates or Phillies won the division. The Pirates won a World Series in 1979, and the Phillies followed that with one of their own in 1980.

Back in those days the teams played 18 games versus each other. It was pretty easy to create a rivalry seeing each other that many times.

The first death knell to this rivalry came in 1994 when MLB realigned to three divisions. For what I can only assume are idiotic reasons, MLB split the two Pennsylvania teams up. The Phillies stayed in the East while the Pirates moved to the Central.

The second death knell came when baseball decided the most important thing with scheduling was inter league play. With the American League playing the National League it took away games against fellow league members. Then the powers that be increased the number of inter league games. Finally, they wanted each team to have a geographic rival in the other league.

The Pirates new rival? The Detroit Tigers. Laughable.

So now the Pirates and Phillies play 7 times. It isn’t more because the Pirates have to play Detroit, their rival, 5 times. In addition, the Pirates play 42 games against other American League teams. That is a total of 47 games against the American League. Over a quarter of their schedule is against American League competition. Hardly space for two teams that were separated 30 years ago.

The weekend series at PNC Park was a clear reminder that the two teams should be in the same division because they are, indeed, rivals. True rivals. Oh, I know. It isn’t the Yankees and Red Sox so who cares? 

And, yea, I realize many younger fans love getting to see their team play all these different teams in the other league.

Hogwash.

Give me a whole bunch of games against my in state rival. That seems like it would be better for baseball. I mean it’s no Tigers/Pirates duel, but Pennsylvanians would make do.

Just my two cents…