For a professional golfer the bold attack is can work very well, tempered with reasonable good sense. He has the game that can beat the course, and he will beat it only if he attacks it.
A perfect example of a top pro attacking a course was Arnold Palmer on the first hole of the last round at Cherry Hills in 1960. Palmer started that last round seven shots behind the leader. He knew that only the boldest of play could close the gap. The first hole was a par 4, slightly downhill, measured 346 yards, and the green was closely guarded by traps, although there was a narrow opening.
Palmer let out the shaft, as the pros say, and drove the green. He got down in two putts for a birdie 3, was off to a fast start, and as it turned out, a victorious round. Palmer has the powerful game to beat any course. He kept attacking Cherry Hills, subdued it with a 65, and won the Open.
Before we go into the specifics of thinking, there are two things we can all do. We can learn both the rules and the etiquette of golf. The rules are many and they are sometimes peculiar, but the etiquette is simple. It is merely the application of the golden rule to golf: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
Most of the rules of golf are restrictive; they tell us what we cannot do. But many of them afford us relief, too, from particular situations. Be certain you know the rules on a lost ball, out of bounds, an unplayable lie. Learn the rules governing water hazards and lateral water hazards. Know what a hazard itself is and what you are permitted and not permitted to do when your ball is in one. Familiarize yourself with the rules on obstructions, and bear in mind always that you cannot “move, bend, or break anything fixed or growing” except in special circumstances.
Read, also, the rules on casual water, on obstructions deriving from course maintenance, and read the local rules printed on the score-card. Sometimes you find some surprises in the latter.
The rules and etiquette are issued annually in booklet form by the United States Golf Association, the best and wisest sports governing body in America. You owe it to yourself to have a copy.
Since we play this game with clubs, our first thinking should be about the weapons we use. And there is plenty of material for thought here. How heavy should they be, what should be their swing weight, how stiff should the shafts be, how many should we carry, and which ones should they be?
Weights of clubs seem to go in cycles. In the early 1930’s the tournament pros felt that with light clubs they could swing faster and thereby get more distance. The word spread about how the pros felt, the demand for light clubs increased, and the manufacturers of course obliged.
This lasted until somewhere in the 1940’s, when the pros decided that with heavier clubs they expended less physical effort; they would, in effect, let the club do the work. So heavier clubs came in. By 1960 the trend had begun to go the other way, toward slightly lighter sticks, not much but a little.
We prefer a club a little on the heavy side, for the reason that it doesn’t have to be swung so fast. It can, and will, do most of the work if it is given a chance. With such a club the player can concentrate more on swinging correctly, making the proper moves that will bring direction, and not concern himself with getting adequate distance.