What’s the hardest shot in golf?
Knowledgeable golfers have been trained to respond, almost by reflex: the long bunker shot. It requires a long carry from sand, from 25 to 100 yards, and that scares most recreational golfers.
But is that truly the hardest shot in golf? Is it harder than hitting your first tee shot of the day with a waiting crowd of other golfers watching? Is it harder than the same first tee shot to open a member-guest tournament — and you’re the guest? Is it harder than the first tee shot of the day if the first tee is positioned directly in front of the clubhouse deck, where dozens of people usually gather?
And if you hit that first tee shot of the day out of bounds and have to re-tee with everyone watching, does that next shot become the hardest shot in golf?
Or, is the hardest shot in golf the dreaded “playing through” shot? You know the one I mean. Your group has been coming up on a slower group for several holes, then, as you approach the tee of a nasty par 3 over water, they decide to wave you through. They stand to the side of the green, their hands on their hips, and wait for you to hit.
Now that’s a tough situation. Even if they’re not annoyed at the interruption, you worry that they are. You must hit, and do so quickly. But you sense, perhaps irrationally, that the golfers in front are judging you, standing there thinking, “Well, you’ve been pushing us for an hour, let’s see how good you are.”
And this always seems to happen on a treacherous hole, usually the highest-handicap hole on the scorecard.
So is that the hardest shot in golf?
I have a few other candidates to propose:
by Bill Pennington, NY Times | Read more:
Photo: Andy Lyons/Getty Images
