narrominded
Jake Narro, PGA professional, head golf coach at Southeastern Louisiana University and
Backspin publisher
what kind of golfer are you?
Team golf is fun. It’s a great break
from the usual individual stroke play
grind that is professional golf. The
move to team golf two years ago by
the Zurich Classic of New Orleans
has proved to be an overwhelming
success on numerous fronts.
Let’s face it, the field over the
past decade was at best spotty with
big name players attending the
event. This wasn’t helped when the
date of the event was moved to its
current spot two weeks after the
Masters and two weeks before the
Players Championship. I sure hope
this unique format keeps the players’
interest going forward and the
tournament continues to grow.
Let’s talk about the format first.
Two days of “Foursomes” and two
days of “Four-Ball” with each format
alternating days of play. Now we in
America call foursomes “alternate
shot” which is played exactly the way
it sounds. For example, a team of two
players will decide before the round
as to who will tee off on the odd
numbered holes and who will tee off
on the even numbered holes. Once
this bit of strategy is determined, the
players then alternate shots until the
ball is holed out.
That is, if I have the odd numbered
holes and I will tee off on number
one and wherever my drive goes, my
partner will play my ball and hit the
second shot. We continue to alternate
shots until we finish the hole. When
we get to the second hole, my partner
tees off regardless of who holed the
putt out on the previous hole, and we
start the process over again.
This is a very tough format for
a couple of different reasons. First
and foremost is that it’s tough to get
into a rhythm with your own swing
as you’re taking every other shot off.
Second is we all play the game a
little different than each other, so it’s
a challenge to be on the same page
with every shot. This format will test
the best of friends as if I put you in
a bad spot all day at some point, you
will get tired of chasing my crooked
drives around.
Four-Ball is probably the most
popular format we play in the States
not only in our tournaments but also
in our fun games. This is when both
players on the two-person team tee
off and play out the entire hole. The
score is determined by which player
makes the lowest score on the hole.
As you noticed in the Zurich, this
format is much easier than Foursomes
as two players can really get hot and
shoot a low score. The key to the
doing well in this particular format is
to “brother-in-law.” What this means
is to be lucky enough to help one
another at the right time.
An example of this would be if I
bogey number one and birdie number
two and my partner happens to birdie
number one and bogey number two,
we would obviously be two-under
par. Conversely, if another team each
made pars on the first two holes, we
would have a two-shot lead over them
despite all four players being even
par. This format sometimes does not
reflect which team actually played
the best overall as a bit of luck can
play a role in the outcome.
The coolest and toughest part of
playing in a team format is playing
for someone or something else.
A comment often made by top
professionals who qualify for the
Ryder, President and Solheim Cups,
is how much they love playing for
their country. They also mention
how much more pressure they feel in
team events versus individual events.
This is due to the feeling of letting
someone else down with poor play.
Golf is normally an individual
game, and when one does not
perform well, it’s much easier to deal
with the let down as you’ve only let
yourself down. However, when your
partner plays well and you are not
holding up your end of the bargain,
the pressure really starts to mount.
This is especially true in foursomes
or alternate shot as you could hit
your drive off the tee into a place
where your partner can’t play. Or
even worse, miss a sort putt after your
partner has hit a great chip from off
the green to save par. This is why I
mentioned the teammates need to be
really good friends.
When the decision was made to go
to this unique format, I must admit I
was a bit skeptical. It has turned out to
be a great decision as the attendance
has grown over the past couple of
years. The format has attracted a
stronger field of players as the best
players in the world are just like us
normal golfers – they like playing golf
with their friends. Finally and most
importantly, the title sponsor Zurich
loves the format and the resulting
growth of the event enough to re-
up commitment to the tournament
through 2026. This is great for the
charities that benefit from the week
and also the overall economic impact
of hosting a PGA Tour event. Let’s
all hope the players continue to enjoy
the change in format for a long time.
Jake
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