Photo: Hussain QuantumAn economist friend, who is also an accomplished golfer, recently told me the following story.
He and two friends had made a pilgrimage to the birthplace of golf: the Old Course at St. Andrews, Scotland. They had managed to secure a tee time and were just about to tee off when the starter stopped them and told them to wait — he had a fourth player who would be joining them. The three friends were disappointed; what sort of schmuck were they going to get stuck with?
After brief introductions, the fourth player asked them what their handicaps were. A handicap in golf more or less corresponds to how many strokes you shoot over par on average. They told him their handicaps, which were three, four, and seven (which by the way, means they are exceptionally good recreational golfers).
The fourth player, who was standing on the tee with a set of right-handed clubs, said “O.K., great, I get my left-handed clubs” — the implication being that if he instead played left-handed, it would be a more even match. He headed back to his car, grabbed a set of left-handed clubs, and true to his word, proceeded to shoot a three over par 75.
Who was this mysterious fourth player? None other than the dashing Spaniard Seve Ballesteros. Golf fans everywhere have been saddened by Ballesteros’s shocking recent battle with a brain tumor.
Ballesteros, who retired last year, was a brilliant golfer who won three Open Championships, two Masters, and 82 other titles. He is best remembered for his flair and creativity: like hitting a shot from a car park in the 1979 Open Championship at Royal Lytham and St Annes.
My golfing friend conjectures that maybe playing left-handed on occasion helped Ballesteros learn to hit those creative shots which won him so many championships.
For instance, when your ball stops right next to a tree trunk, sometimes the only option is to flip a club around and try to swing left-handed. It is extremely difficult, because not only are you swinging left-handed, but you are using a club meant to be hit right-handed. My accomplished golfing friend has practiced this shot quite a bit, and says he once hit it 60 yards this way, but he averages about 20 yards.
He asked Seve that day how far he could hit it when in that situation. “About 150 yards,” Seve said. “It depends if I want a fade or a draw.”
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Ian #3: My thought exactly! And he’s a Spaniard!
Seve Ballesteros: You are wonderful.
Economist: Thank you; I’ve worked hard to become so.
Seve: I admit it, you are better than I am.
Economist: Then why are you smiling?
Seve: Because I know something you don’t know.
Economist: And what is that?
Seve: I… am not left-handed.
REALLY, Tyler – you have a better story than playing 18 at St Andrews with Seve Ballesteros while Seve plays left handed ???
Just because he’s an economist doesn’t mean he doesn’t have golf stories.
This is a GREAT story.
lol – Ian – how about…
Seve – I give you my word as a Spaniard, you will finish the round
Economist – No good – I’ve known too many Spaniards
AWESOME! Talk about lucky! I’m jealous of those guys handicaps too…
Another perfectly good walk, ruined.
So there I was outside of Dublin with my brother at Portmanock. The starter told me that the group ahead had gone off an hour ago, and should be playing quickly as they had caddies and a forecaddie. Great, we’d be able to play a quick round of golf and then some sightseeing around Dublin.
After the 8th hole, I found a wedge by the green. Hmmm…must be from the group an hour ahead! On the 9th tee, we saw them, a swaggering 4some that looked anything but quick. Playing the hole, I quickly spied an out-of-breath forecaddie running up to us wondering if we’d found a wedge. Of course, I returned it, and he thanked us heartily before running off.
Amazingly, the group ahead never let us play through, even though the last 9 holes took 3 hours! Thank you Bryant Gumbel and son, and friends of the family for being so gracious! Yes, it was that Bryant Gumbel, you’d know his voice anywhere, and no, we did not get to do any sightseeing around Dublin that day.
Uh, Tyler? Because this is a blog about economics, was written by an economist, and this blog is followed by people who have an interest in……………….economics. That’s all.
When I play cricket (informally, not at a high skill level) I can bowl and bat both ways, to the amusement of other players. Table tennis likewise.
Billiard games are a prime example of games where the lie of the ball regularly calls for a shot the other way around (if you don’t like going around the back).
In the movie Happy Gilmore (ages since I saw it, can’t remember details), the main character was a golfer with an ice hockey background, so when he hurt his right hand, he should have gone lefty, as ice hockey players are good at hitting both ways. I thought missing this was a tragic failure of imagination on the part of the writers.