I ended up sick on Friday with a fever and stomach flu, so I couldn't go to Seattle for the golf tournament as a guest of MasterCard's. As a result, I got to watch a lot of the McDonald's LPGA Championship and the Booz Allen Classic.
First, Annika is amazing and arguably the best and most consistent golfer of both tours. She won the LPGA Championship three consecutive times and is on her way to the Grand Slam. I was pleased to see how well Michelle Wie played as she finished a solid second to Annika.
As to the Booz Allen Classic, we saw an example of improper etiquette from Rory Sabbatini while playing with Ben Crane. On the 17th hole, the twosome was put on the clock for slow play. Self admonishing is Crane for his slow play, but on the Tour, if you're on the clock ten times in the season, you are fined. Sabbatini is a notoriously fast player and was annoyed with Crane's slow play and presumably being on the clock. So, on the 17th green, Sabbatini putted out of turn (i.e., he putted when Crane was further from the hole), and then walked to the 18th tee and hit his drive leaving Crane to putt out on the 17th green.
There are a couple of lessons for business golfers. First, if you're slow, you need to figure out a way to speed up without interfering with your game. Whether it's determining your distance as you walk up to your ball and knowing which club to hit, or taking one practice swing only. Slow play is annoying to faster players and the rest of the field. Although faster players need to control their emotions and behave appropriately around slower players, playing slowly will not win you golf friends.
Second, be mindful of who you invite to your foursome and pairing of your group. On the Tour, players have no control on who they're playing with during the tournament. It depends on the scores shot the day before and the pairings are determined by the standings. But, if you have some say in pairings of your group or a tournament, don' t pair a slow player with a very fast player. Players may develop not so pleasant feelings about one another and your intended goal of building business relationships may be defeated.
2 comments:
Hi Dave, Yes, indeed that was a strange scene. I saw a replay of it last night and more egregious was Sabbatini refused to shake Crane's hand after the round.
I am a fast player and understand his frustration, but he's a professional and should act accordingly.
Hi Richard,
Thanks for the kind words and for including me in your list of blogs. If I'm in SLO, I'll be sure to let you know and perhaps we can play 18 together. You live in a beautiful area.
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