English Deficiency vs. Personality Deficiency

by Ryan Ballengee on Sep 8, 2008 10:39 AM EDT Comment 13 comments

The AP's Tim Dahlberg had a bit of a revelation the other day - pro golf can be awfully boring. I'm not sure that this is headline news to anyone, but in light of recent events in golf, Dahlberg decided to take some shots off the bow.

My favorite part, though, is at the end. He talks some about the LPGA English fiasco, which I won't rehash here. Instead - after the jump - I want to talk about the part where he compares English-deficient players (less than a dozen according to a report I read) on the LPGA Tour to uninteresting players on both the PGA and LPGA Tours.

Here's a suggestion: Instead of forcing your players to speak English, force them to at least fake having a personality. Is there any difference between South Koreans who can't speak English and some of the best players on the LPGA Tour (Cristie Kerr comes to mind) who are so into themselves they don't say anything at all?

The PGA Tour is also filled with players just like that, which hasn't been a problem in recent times because Woods has been such a dominant personality. But with his knee problems, the increasing likelihood now is that he's closer to the end of his career than the beginning, and other players are going to have to step up to make fans care.

Right now they don't, and a few English lessons and well-placed mirrors aren't going to change that.

No matter what, golf relies on personalities. The greatest golf personalities had some of the most tenuous grasps of the language that I can remember. Chi Chi barely could speak English. Trevino almost tried to be impossible to discern. And there are others down the line over the years.

I am firmly convinced that the language of golf does more to win fans over than anything they might read in a game story. Frankly, they reveal nothing except cliches that VIP fans were treated to viewing in a Execution Chamber styled one-way mirror at Bellerive.

Players become the stuff of legend by what they DO on the course, not as much what they SAY off of it. In some cases, they are known for what they do off of the course as well, like Lorena Ochoa and Mi Hyun Kim. And there certainly are some who are remembered more for running their mouths than playing, such as Rory Sabbatini. Hunter Mahan may join that list if he isn't on the game at Valhalla.

0 recs | Comment 13 comments | Share

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Unless I'm wrong

Dahlberg hasn’t been to too many LPGA pro-ams. He wrote

The women of the LPGA, meanwhile, are enjoying a few weeks away from the course, studying hard so they can learn a few key phrases like “You’re away” and “Quit walking in my line” for their pro-am partners.

So far as I know, with the exception of the Stanford Intl Pro-Am, the LPGA uses the scramble format for Pro-Ams. They do at the ADT. So why would LPGA pros need to learn to say those phrases Dahlberg mentions. The best placed shot is used on every hole.

Some how I think AP again has proven they only hire lazy or no nothing writers to cover pro golf.

by Bill Jempty on Sep 8, 2008 12:43 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

scrambles

to the best of my knowledge – almost all pro-ams on all tours play a scramble format trying to save time. When I caddied for one at the defunct Chick-fil-a, the am’s played a scramble and the pro played her own ball with the lower score going on the team card for the prizes.

The Nationwide Tour stop in Athens allowed everyone to play their own ball. They have a 5 hour time limit on theirs. At the 5 hour mark – a horn sounds and the players pretty much stop either right there or they will finish the hole they are on.

Dahlberg thought he was being funny.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Sep 8, 2008 1:51 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Attempt at humor

I was hoping you all would look at the point of the humor instead of the error, but yes, almost all pro-ams use scrambles these days.

by Ryan Ballengee on Sep 8, 2008 2:07 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Humor or ?

Ryan,

Never overestimate the intelligence of your average golf writer. I forget which AZ golf writer(Bohannon?) mistook Cristie Kerr for Juli Inkster when talking recent winners of the Safeway Intl. For chrissakes, its his hometown golf tournament.

Bill

by Bill Jempty on Sep 8, 2008 2:12 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I don't disagree

about the problem with facts that a lot of golf writers have. I just think it’s a separate issue than the one raised in this post.

by Ryan Ballengee on Sep 8, 2008 2:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Sometimes

I try working with a golf writer to figure something out. For instance the 2007 Honda Classic saw Jose Coceros be one of the losing players in the playoff. Coceros had lost in Mexico the week before in a playoff. Craig Dolch of the Palm Beach Post and I tried to figure out when the last time a player lost tournaments in a playoff in back to back weeks.

Being a golf trivia buff, I remembered Rex caldwell losing the Bob Hope and Phoenix back to back in 1983. Craig thought it had been done more recently. David Toms lost back to back PGA Tournaments in a playoff, but it was the 2001 Tour Championship and the 2002 MB Tournament of Champions. Not exactly back to back weeks. The PGA Tour didn’t know the answer at first either. So who was it?

Clues-

1 It happened in the 1990s
2 The player is a former major champion
3 The playoff was famous for being the first something for one tour player

by Bill Jempty on Sep 8, 2008 2:39 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs