THE 60 METER MIND SET – Some advice for aging golfers from John
John Morris (now 86 years young) author of “Great Golf Holes of New Zealand” and “Famous Golf Holes of Hawaii”. Retired editor of New Zealand Golf Update magazine and New Zealand Golfing World.
The big trouble with old golfers is they still tend to be bold golfers. When you’re 70, 75, 80 plus your mind tells us that you can still hit your drive 200 meters or more, but your body simply isn’t up to it.
Bob Castle, one of the finest 88 year-old golfers I have ever played with never pressed for distance, yet he consistently broke his age in gross strokes. How? He had developed what I have termed the “60 meter mind set”. On the par fours, this joker used the six inches between his ears to sharpen up his pitch (or chip and run) into the ‘one putt’ zone. True, he bogeyed many holes but double bogeys were not on his golfing agenda. Double bogeys also became rare because he knew he could get up and down from 60-80 meters out in two or three shots.
If the high-handicap 75-80 year old wants to make golf fun again, he should try and apply a few of what I would call ‘The Twilight Rules”.
- !Bury your ego and play off the front tees.
- Slow and shorten your back swing and accelerate the club only near the bottom.
- If you can’t take a divot – don’t. A little whiff of grass will do it. In the rough, take your medicine early and don’t try for distance, just safety.
- Concentrate on the short game, the scoring game especially long lag putts. Three putts mostly occur where you didn’t get the first putt close enough.
- If you tend to pull your short putts (a common error) try the left hand low grip from 6-4 feet. It’s almost impossible to pull a putt from that distance using the Harrington grip.
- Don’t forget to say ‘thanks mate’ when your opponent has to pay for your drinks at the nineteenth.
How about old people freezing over the ball? Have a laugh at the video below.
GreyPower Golf 