Entry 25.17

Rules. Life is full of them. Rules in the classroom: Raise your hand if you have a question. Family rules: if you’re going to act like a wild child, go outside. Professional rules: even if you disagree with the decision, once the decision is made, you get behind it to show unity. And the all-important rule at social functions: no double dipping. I don’t even want to know how many rules the government has set. Some rules are absolutely ridiculous. In Arizona, donkeys aren’t allowed to sleep in bathtubs. Pickles must bounce to be sold in Connecticut. In Scotland, if a random stranger knocks on your door requesting to use your restroom, you aren’t allowed to say no. In so many cases, rules are created because one person did something completely off the wall. Most of the time, many rules created for one offs don’t do anything but restrict the normal everyday person who doesn’t understand why the rule exists in the first place. Some rules are said to be created for one reason, but it really was done for another. For example, right now the National Football League is looking at banning the “tush push”. The owners say they are looking at banning the play because they are worried about players sustaining injuries. A quick Google search shows the NFL stated there were zero injuries as a result of the play during the 2024 season. The rule is more than likely is being considered because other teams are tired of the Eagles’ success in running the play and having no answer to stop it. Golf only has twenty-five rules. That’s not too bad. Until you realize how complicated the rules are. It’s like reading Homer Kelly’s The Golfing Machine. Should be simple to understand, but the only way to understand it is to read the book three, four, or five times in a different order every time. And even then you still have questions. If you want to understand a rule in Golf, you have to go to the Definitions, then Clarifications, Committee Procedures, Rules of Amateur Status, Equipment Rules, etc. But there are other rules in Golf that are much more helpful when your goal is to play better golf. Written by two of the Greatest of All Time (GOAT) in the game, these rules aren’t about how to play the game. These rules are designed to help you score better.

When we think about the GOAT as a player in golf, so many names could cross your mind. Bobby Jones, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Phil Mickelson, the list could go on. Let’s not get hung up on the debate of who is the actual GOAT. Let’s just agree (as we all should) that Tiger Woods is the GOAT. His impact on the game is why the game has grown to what it is today. One of those impacts is what is known as the “Tiger Five”. These are five rules that Tiger has for himself when he plays to help him score better. Not hit the ball better, not play better, but to score better. Now, many people do not play the game to score better. I would call these player leisure players. They enjoy getting outside and spending time with friends, usually throwing back a few brewskies while they play. But making the occasional par makes these players extremely happy. Scoring better does matter to these players, even if it isn’t the reason they play. So, I suggest they continue reading on with my players at the other end who are looking to play professionally or in elite amateur events. Tiger’s Five Rules have been made more popular by Scott Fawcett through his DECADE Golf system. Scott is an energetic, passionate statistician and strategist who is a good player in his own right. I’ve talked with Scott several times in person and he is eager to help all players improve in their course management. So let’s go through the rules.

Rule #1: Don’t make six on a par 5. There are so many ways to play par 5s. You can do it like Cam Smith who in his last season on Tour took three shots to get to the green on par 5s most of the time or like Bryson DeChambeau who is at the other end and went for the green in two more often than other players. The result? Both had the same scoring average on par 5s. It isn’t mandatory that you make a birdie on par 5, so don’t get too aggressive. It’s more important to not make six. Many players try to go for the green in two shots too often, and don’t have the skill to do so (raising my hand here) and as a result make bogey or worse. Most golfers will have the opportunity to have a scoring club in hand going into the green, even my amateur players. They might play the first two shots smartly, but then they get that scoring club in hand and get too aggressive seeking a birdie. I’m going to skip to rule #4: No bogeys with scoring clubs in hand. When we have a wedge in, all of a sudden we think ourselves to be a great wedge player and we go flag hunting. Tiger hit the green 80% of the time from 100-110 yards. We can surmise that if the GOAT is missing the green from that distance hunting flags, most of us have no reason to be flag hunting. Rather than go for the flag, cut the green into quarters and make your goal to get it into the correct quadrant. But what if we hit the wrong quadrant or miss the green all together? That’s where rules #3 and #5 come into play.

Rule #3: no three putts. Tour Players average a three putt on 3 holes out of every 100 holes they play. Nothing is worse than turning a good par chance into a double (which is rule #2: no doubles). This is where following rule #4 helps. If we get it into the right quadrant, our proximity to the hole will be smaller for our first putt. If you happen to miss the first putt, the goal should be to have the shortest possible second putt. I like to use the rule for every ten feet of putt, the ball should stop within one foot of the hole. So, on a thirty-foot putt, the ball should end up within three feet of the hole. It’s not going to happen every time, but it is a solid goal to have. This feeds right into rule #5 which can be looked at two ways. First, no easy blown saves. This is the rule that better players should have. If you are faced with a straight forward chip or pitch, you should expect to get up and down. For players who are newer to the game or don’t play often, make the rule “no two chips”. One of my PGM students who wasn’t scoring very well in Player Development made a huge difference by implementing this rule. We played a round together and I suggested he change his mindset from the first option to the second. The result? His lowest 18 hole round score during our Playing Ability Test recently. Remember, these are the GOAT’s rules. We can adjust them to fit our skill levels and our games.

Now we shift from the GOAT who is a player to one of the GOATs in coaching the game. I’m lucky enough to work alongside Steve Conley every day. Coach has been the head coach of the Men’s Team at Methodist since 1987. His teams have won fourteen national championships. He has been the Conference Coach of the Year 26 times, Regional Coach of the Year 19 times and National Coach of the Year 9 times. He has developed 10 individual national champions, 64 All-Americans (with 116 honors) and 23 Scholar All-Americans. Early in his career, he developed what is known as “Monarch Golf”. It is his rules for how to score well and its obvious they work. Now you might think that they are as strict as the Tiger Five, but in actuality, they are applicable to a much wider range of players. Two rules are in bold: Commit to every shot and Keep Grinding. These are mindsets and there’s a reason they are in bold. They are the most important rules on the sheet. There are several rules when it comes to putting: Good speed with putter and Zero three putts inside 20 feet. Good speed with the putter is subjective. Every player has the speed that works best for them on the greens. There may be times where you need to be a little more aggressive on the greens and times where you need to be a little more defensive. Both situations need a different speed, but either way it needs to be good speed. But good speed feeds right into zero three putts inside 20 feet. The further you get from the hole, the more important good speed becomes with the putter. Good speed is essential to three putt avoidance. The next rule applies to putting and short game. Ball below the hole. While Scott Fawcett would tell you a ball above the hole that is closer than one below the hole still has a higher chance of being holed, Coach and his players have found enormous success by getting below the hole. In fact, even while playing for fun, players who played golf at Methodist as part of the team or as a PGM student will say “That’s good Monarch Golf” when they get the ball below the hole, even if it was a mistake. While putting is on one side of this rule, short game is on the other. Coach sets a goal of 50% up and down for his players. The average on the PGA Tour is around 60% so 50% isn’t too shabby for players who aren’t Tour players (50% would rank you 181st in the PGA Tour standings). Trust wedges is the next rule. He doesn’t mean just around the greens with finesse wedges, but as we creep away from the green and get into distance wedges. I feel this is a sub-rule of Commit to every shot but is important enough that Coach spelled it out. Distance wedges are all about distance control but should be taken on with the mentality of finesse wedges. Don’t think of them as full shots you knock down. I’ve found this slight switch in thought process is helpful.

The last three rules are most focused on scoring. Zero no penalty doubles is like Tiger’s no doubles rule with a slight twist. Penalties happen in golf and making double after taking a penalty happens. But a double with a penalty is easier to swallow than making double from the middle of the fairway. I think we can all agree on that. If you play Downback long enough, you are going to take a penalty. A few years ago, number 3 used to be a tight tee shot. The tee shot called for a fade since the fairway opens up to the right. It is so hard to get out of the mindset that you have to hit a wood of some type off the tee. But taking 7 iron over the trees to the right off the tee was just a much smarter play than trying to fit a draw in with a 3wood or hitting a fade when fades just aren’t your thing. I’ve probably taken way more doubles on that hole do those two things. Either a 3wood draw down the tree line which hits the fairway that slopes left and runs OB or trying to hit a fade and flaring it out to the right into the penalty area right. When I finally beat it into my head to hit something shorter, the risk of double shrank. The last two rules are hole specific: Play par 3s even and Play par 5s under par. Par 3s statistically are the hardest holes on the golf course, but many golfers think they are the easiest (I mean no driver right?) and are firing to make birdie. Coach isn’t saying play every par 5 under par. He wants the combined score of par 5s in a round to be under par. Just give yourself an opportunity to make a birdie on one hole and don’t make any bogeys on the others to satisfy the rule.

Two GOATs, two different ways to get it done. Sometimes rules are nonsensical or complicated. The Tiger Five and Monarch Golf are all about how to score better. No matter your skill level or purpose for playing, scoring better makes the game a whole lot more fun. Use one of these two lists or start by picking one of these rules to start. Or build your own set to fit your game. With golf season in full swing, it’s time to not only work on your physical skills, but also to refine your though process as well. A great golf swing helps, but the golf swing isn’t playing the game. The game is all about one thing: getting the ball in the hole. Don’t take it from me: listen to the GOATs.