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MIKE, 67,
a short, proud, ox-strong
10-handicapper who hits
the ball low and straight,
but is a li le tentative
with his swing
VERDICT
He needs something that
fits his slower swing speed,
a softer ball that will float
a bit and stay in the air as
long as possible.
BRIDGESTONETOUR
B330-RX
THE GRINDER
THE YOUNGBLOOD
WALTER, 18,
a strong, lean college
swimmer with a
loopy swing and
a wicked slice
VERDICT
Until he gets the right clubs
and the right instruction to
work on the slice, he needs
the lowest-spin ball he can
get his hands on.
There’s no shame in less
backspin, since it also
means less sidespin.
TITLEISTNXT
THE DUCK
TOM, 51,
who once had a reliable
fade that took a smidge
off the distance, so he
worked to develop a draw
and fell into a pa ern
of duck-hooking when
he swung hard. Now he
swings
very
slowly.
VERDICT
He needs lessons, but in the
meantime he should ask
for the softest performance
ball available, one geared to
a swing speed slower than
100 mph.
BRIDGESTONETOUR
B330-RX
Golf swings vary wildly, yet most golfers never truly match their ball
choice to the strengths and limitations of their game. The author
profiled seven very different friends, and—with the help of master
club-fi er Steve Grosz of Hot Stix Golf in Sco sdale, Ariz.—found the
best ball for each one.
ILLUSTRATIONS BYMCKIBILLO
JUNE 2012
95
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Parting
Shot
On Golf and Greed:
A Brief Meditation
When I play well, I find that I stick
around in the clubhouse parking
lot just a little longer than I need to.
I’ll let the sun roast me a bit more,
or lean against the trunk of my
car to inventory my pockets as if I
might actuallyfind somethinguse-
ful, instead of dimes and old tees.
It’s greed that keepsme there, the
desire for a little more, the hope
that, in teasing out those last few
moments, the smallish adventures
of a good round will stay closer to
the narrative heart, to the stories I
tell and the way I remember.
Taking the time to play golf is
a kind of assertion. By playing 18,
you are wandering away from life,
off the grid, departing things you
might otherwise know to be good
and wholesome and needed. Yes,
thereareplentyof golferswhoplay
out of blind habit, but most of the
ones I know play with this unique
thread of greed in their hearts.
It’s not the Seven Deadly Sins
sort of greed, nor the Gordon
Gekko kind. No, this greed says
that you deserve some extra time
with a puzzle, with the ups and
downs of the game, the land-
scape. It allows that walking
does not have to end at the water
cooler and that driving isn’t always
about interstates. It feels good to
hammer a 3-wood off the deck,
to descend steep and swift on a
bunker shot, to focus the entirety
of your mind on a single putt.
Is it greedy towant to learn from
a game? Sure it is. Off the links,
there’s work to be done, mouths
to feed, wrongs to be righted. But
you’ll learn about those things
whether you want to or not. Golf,
on the other hand, is an opt-in
kind of learning: a selective greed
that, if it teaches you well, dem-
onstrates that time isn’t money.
Time is just time, a gift you give
yourself. And golf, which demands
so much time, gives so much in
return. —TOMCHIARELLA