My First Time

Golf Digest, March, 2002

Do you remember your first time? Whether it was breaking 100, 90 or 80, we'd like to hear about it. Fax us at 203-371-2162 or send e-mail to editor@golfdigest.com. This month we hear from a pro of international stature, as well as a middle-handicap player.

Clear choice

It's not like golf was the only sport I played when I was growing up. When I was 12, 13, 14 years old, I played anything I could get my hands on. At one time when I was in school, I was a member of 10 different sports teams.

The turning point came after I had been playing golf a few years--I was OK at it, not anything fantastic. I was playing goalkeeper on the soccer team at the same time, and we had advanced to the top schoolboy division, although we were slightly outside of our depth. So every week we were losing by two or three goals, and I was seeing a lot of action and a lot of the shots were going in. I wasn't getting much of the glory, and obviously I was getting a lot of the criticism. At the same time, I was starting to win tournaments in junior golf and had earned a spot on the national Under-18 team. So it became a matter of weighing the success of golf against my lack of success in soccer.

Of course, even then, I did not know I could have a real future in professional golf. But when I was 15, I remember playing in my first big provincial championship. I was away from home for the first time, staying with friends, but on the golf course, I was totally on my own. I remember playing a practice round and watching a four-ball behind me. Every time I looked back, they were flying two and three balls right at the flag. I started to feel down at that point, wondering whether I really belonged there and wanting to just quit and go home. Of course, only later did I realize that each guy was hitting a handful of balls at the green to get two or three beside the pin. As it turned out, I reached the final of that tournament, losing on the 22nd hole. It was a heartbreaking defeat, but it made a big difference in my future. I saw I could play with these guys and perform at the highest level when it mattered.

Padraig Harrington

Bee sting

I had the privilege of playing in my first pro-am at the B.C. Open in July of 2000. Our foursome was joined by veteran tour pro Larry Rinker.

Excited, I headed to the driving range to warm up. Hitting with the "big boys" had its own level of intimidation. I hoped my 16-handicap wouldn't embarrass me. But after 10 minutes of practice, everything became the dreaded shank. I began to panic. I tried different clubs, techniques. Nothing corrected the problem. My caddie started joking with another caddie: "Looks like he's lost it."

The first hole played short and narrow so I teed off with an iron, hooded the clubface and took a massive inside/outside swing. I hit a big, ugly high hook, which stopped three feet from an out-of-bounds stake but with a clear shot to the green. As I addressed the next shot, I must have stepped on a nest of bees, and they began swarming. So I had to wait for the bees to calm down before I could hit my next shot. When the coast was clear, I leaped into position and hit the ball right on the green and two-putted for par and a nice hand from the gallery.

The dreaded shank never raised its ugly head. By the fourth hole, I was back into a routine of hitting shots down the middle. I finished the day with an 80, tieing my career best. Accomplishing this feat "inside the ropes" on a tour-ready course made it even more memorable. It was as if the bees changed my entire mental outlook.

Ron Tarter
Cary, N.C.

RELATED ARTICLE: Troubleshooter Challenge: Breaking 90

Every Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on The Golf Channel, during "Academy Live," a golfer trying to break 90 gets one of 10 lessons from Golf Channel Troubleshooter Dean Reinmuth.