I've been thinking about one of my favorite books, the columnist Neil Steinberg's classic, "Complete and Utter Failure: A celebration of also-rans, runners-up, never-weres, and total flops."
The book asserts that failures often are more interesting than successes, and "6 to Scratch," the GOLF.com series in which I am trying to erase my handicap, has so far largely failed.
My handicap has in fact gone from 6 to 6.1, a reversal that elicited laughs when I told coworkers at GOLF Magazine recently. This untidy fact makes the hopeful title of "6 to Scratch" no more accurate than the title of the Silicon Valley book of the moment, "The 4-Hour Workweek."
While I have hardly Ian Baker-Finched (my scores aren't much higher than before) the numbers say I've not improved. This despite new clubs, lessons from GOLF Magazine Top 100 teachers, the ear of a renowned sports psychologist (Dr. Dick Coop), a personal trainer and every other advantage save for more free time.
And so I've been taking criticism. A blog post from John Davis:
"Just a quick comment on your series, which is very good. It seems from your columns that you've been able to get nice clubs, a good coach, in shape, and a new commitment. But the one thing that makes this series absolutely untrue to its purpose (to see if a dedicated 6 handicap can make it to scratch) is that you aren't spending enough time actually playing golf or practicing. So it's totally bunk — unfortunately these factors put you into the same place that probably 10% of other well-to-do golfers find themselves: with great equipment, a good coach, decent athleticism, but not enough time. I was expecting a true column about someone who is given the time to really go for it — but without playing at least 2-3 hours 5-6 days a week, I just don't see it happening."
Ouch.
Talk about a backhanded compliment. But the truth hurts.
