Distance In Golf Doesn't Matter
Yesterday Ben and I got up at seven in the morning and went to the summit at Hatcher Pass, him on snowshoes and me on skis (hence, the new picture). We got back at eleven, had a quick lunch, then left to hike to the picnic table on Byer's Peak. After that, we went to a bonfire barbeque at the neighbors and got home at eleven o'clock at night. So today I wasn't up for doing anything active, and what could be less active than watching golf on TV. There were a couple things that bothered me about the advertising. Most noticeably, Tiger Woods was in about half of the ads, which seemed a little excessive, but what do I know. Most of the rest of the ads had pros saying, "I use this club," and that's supposed to make me think, "If Ernie Els uses that club, then maybe I should too." Unfortunately, there is a horrible logical flaw in that advertising scheme: to need clubs similar to what the pros use, I would have to be at the same ability level as the pros. Your average weekend hack really doesn't need to buy extra-stiff shaft blades and balata balls.
But the main theme in the ads was distance. Distance, distance, distance. This club ads ten yards to your drives, this ball goes five yards farther than other balls, this golf glove magically improves distance. The main problem with this obsession on distance is that distance on your drive doesn't matter much. A 260 yard drive isn't that much better than a 220 yard drive: it all comes down to iron play, chipping, and putting.
© 2004, Michael Logsdon