Sunday, April 10, 2011

Making A Move?

The other day, I heard a sports report that made a comment that truly befuddled me.   I don't play golf, and the comment was about a round of the US Open that was going on this week-end.   My lack of experience in the game may be at least partly why the comment confused me.

The report said something to the effect of so-and-so was holding a one stroke lead as the round began and that the other leading players were now going to "make their moves."   The comment made no sense to me in the context of golf.   What were the other competitors going to do, stop playing badly?  

How does one "make a move" in golf?   I mean, it's not like car racing, where a driver can stomp on the gas and slip around another car.   Or even yacht racing, where a competitor can do some magical thing with the sails that allows the yacht to gain speed.   In other individual sports, you don't often hear of someone "making his move" to overtake a leader.   Tennis?

So how does one "make a move" in golf?  Stop landing in traps and water hazards?   It's not like anyone lands in those places on purpose in the first place...
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2 comments:

Robin said...

In golf, in most situations, there is the "safe shot" and there is the "gutsy shot" The safe shot means you score par (if everything goes well) If the gutsy shot goes well, you make birdie. If the gutsy shot doesn't go well, you make bogie (or worse) For example, you can hit a driver further than any other club. However, it is the most difficult club to hit straight. On a short, narrow par 4, you would ordinarily NOT use a driver off the tee. But if you're "making your move" you just might risk the narrowness and use the driver for length.

April 13, 2011 at 10:55 AM
Michael said...

Well thanks for that explanation. It makes some sense, but it still seems strange to me. Seems like someone in a golf tournament like the Masters would be going all out from the beginning, but what do I know? ;-)

April 13, 2011 at 2:57 PM

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