Page 4 - The Golf Guide, Fall 2017

Opening Shot

The Numbers Game

As the 2017 golf season winds down, how
many of you take stock in your game? Do
you sit back and figure out how much golf
you have played and how well you did? I
have an older brother who still to this day
keeps statistics on every round he plays. He
has always been a very good player, and I
guess he uses those vitals to see where he
can improve his game or just compare one
year to another. Many moons ago, I decided
to refocus my game. It wasn’t on how I could get better or stay competitive at
my advancing age. Rather, I decided I was going to try to play as many different
courses as possible as opposed to playing more golf. I looked at that as something
I could probably do well, considering my position in the golf business. I have very
limited time with my work and family responsibilities, so I might as well make it
interesting and play a bunch of tracts that I have never played before.

To date, my travels have allowed me to play nearly
350 golf courses. My realistic goal is to conquer 500
layouts while I can still play. If you do the math, I have
been lucky enough to tee it up on over 6,000 different
golf holes including 1,700 par 5s, 1,800 par 3s, 3 par 6s
and 2,497 par 4s! The longest hole I’ve played paces off
at 841 yards at Meadows Farms right in our backyard
(see page 34), while the shortest hole on a regulation
course, the seventh hole at the Donald Ross designed East Course at Pocono Manor,
measures just 77 yards. The aggregate par on these holes would be somewhere
around 25,000, and the yardage of all the holes combined caps off at nearly
2,200,000 yards. I’ve had to negotiate over 12,000 sand traps and 1,500 water hazards
on these courses. Based upon my handicap, I figure I have played those holes close
to 4,000 strokes over par, but I think I have a birdie run left it me! I have made
only one hole-in-one, maybe a dozen eagles and the rarest of accomplishments, an
albatross (double eagle on a par 5). My highest recorded tournament score on one
hole ended up at 14, and you should have seen the six-footer I sweated over to stay
away from a 15. If my average distance from the hole on a green was, let’s say 20
feet, the total distance would be 120,000 feet, and it most likely took me more than
10,000 putts. Some other quirky numbers from my golf history cover teeing it up in
25 states and six countries. More than 30 of the courses I’ve played have closed and
have become either shopping centers or real estate developments. My ball has flown
more than 6,000 feet at its highest elevation on several courses, while I commonly
go into battle at sea level.
I donʼt think that numbers truly matter. To me the people I’ve been fortunate
enough to have played with from sports superstars and television actors to total
strangers that just share the common bond of golf really matter. Those times canʼt
be replaced, just like the rounds I’ve played with my family and friends.

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