I love a good survey, especially a relevant golf survey. More specifically, I like seeing how “conforming” or “nonconforming” I actually am.
The Golf.com 18 Toughest Choices in Golf was quite well thought out, although I hope that they follow-up with other surveys that dive deeper into specific areas of the game, such as the use of electronic devices on the course.
I could have guessed how most of the answers would have tallied for the country as a whole (i.e hybrid over 3-iron, putter over wedge from the apron, and August over Pebble Beach), but a few winning answers were shocking:
- 64% Walking vs 36% Riding — Really? I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen more walkers on the course than riders over the past few years. Maybe this was people aspiring to walk more rather than reflecting reality.
- 60% By the Book vs 40% Fast and Loose — Maybe, but again, I think that people are aspiring to play by the book rather than actually playing by the book. And anyway, the book is really meant for professional golfers, not weekend warriors. For example, even Dustin Johnson didn’t know that he couldn’t ground his club in a waste area, so how are amateurs supposed to follow the book when they couldn’t possibly know all the rules?
- 49% As Long as Dustin Johnson vs 51% As Accurate as Zach Johnson — I really wish that this one came with distributions of golf handicaps for each set of answers, but I’d imagine that the Accurate responders had a much better average handicap than the Long responders.
