The ultimate goal of every golfer is to shoot as low a score as possible. When playing stroke play, the responsibility to play our best golf relies solely on our shoulders. This is a challenge I relish and as I enjoy the pressure of figuring out the best shot for each situation. Playing in a scramble format, however, this strategy is less advantageous because there are other players we can rely upon to make the most out of any shot. This situation occurred last Thursday when I was invited to play on my friend’s team of long hitters. I was by far the shortest off the tee and my normal role of anchor was relegated to a different player.

Playing a 9-hole scramble Men’s Night match with Josh, Brad and Cody was great fun. They were relaxed and yet very focused on each shot. When hitting their ball well, they were easily 20 yards farther off the tee and with their long irons/hybrids than myself. It was fun playing closer to the green than I am used to playing. Normally, this would be to my advantage because my short game is usually consistent, but it took a few holes to get in my groove.

When asked what position they wanted me to play from, the said I could hit second throughout the round. In hindsight, I should have played first because of my high fairway percentage. It is will be something to keep in mind the next time we hit the links together. As the short hitter, it would be my responsibility to get the ball in play, hit the green on approach shots, and show the way on the putting green. Playing first on any team has a great deal of responsibility often overlooked when making up a the hitting order of a scramble team.

When playing golf with long hitters, it was important that I still played my game. I knew I could not keep up in length and if I tried my ball would be uncontrollable. I purposely focused on staying in play and bunting my drives out so we always had a shot to the green. I figured 240 yards in the fairway was better than 260 or more in the rough or woods. By being safe, the long hitters were empowered to hit without reservations. I accepted my role that ultimately benefited the team.

As I suggested earlier, this was a new role for me. I enjoyed the responsibility of being in play after each shot. I was comfortable watching the long hitters do their thing. Interestingly, one of the three big hitters had a ball in play off the tee 8 out of 9 holes. That is a pretty good percentage. Being closer to the green on all the but one hole, produced an eagle putt all three par 5s; unfortunately, we walked off with three tap in birdies. After only being one under after the first four holes, we proceeded to birdie out for a total score of six under 31. As always, we left strokes on the course, but what team of golfers doesn’t!

I am not sure how we finished in the standings for Men’s Night last Thursday, but it really does not matter. I enjoyed looping the course with the long hitters because it was different and they were great guys to boot. Next week I will be back with my old team (point of note: my regular team shot the lowest round (28) during Men’s Night last year) and I am putting the long hitters on alert that we short hitters are gunning for them. 😉

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!