Jack Nicklaus turned 70 years old this week and The Golf Channel celebrated his birthday with a documentary about his life and career. The show theme focused around a 12 day business trip he took checking out courses he designed that we under construction all over the world. The course check out, evaluation and recommendations segments were intertwined with plenty of Nicklaus family history as a child and his adult family, amateur golfer and playing career highlights. There were also interviews in which Jack gave us some personal insights into his life, his thought process and his present views on his golf game. He even talked about his tennis game, which seems to get more attention now than golf.
What particularly caught my attention was the revelation where he talked about that from about 60 years old, he was always asked about how long he would play on the Champions Tour and would he even venture back to the PGA Tour. He said he would like to keep playing, but as he gets older he is losing distance. This loss of distance, he explained, even playing the Champions Tour, was reaching the point where he was unable to compete on an acceptable level with the new 50 year olds coming up every year. So, with less to no chance to win on the Champions Tour, he stated with confidence and finality that playing PGA Tour events was not even a fleeting thought.
What really struck home to me was his one and only reason for the foundation of his decision. It was all about hitting it shorter. Loss of distance, especially with the driver, as well as all the rest of his clubs, determined his decision. He mentioned that he still hits the ball well with all his clubs and putts as well as ever. But his distance loss can't really be made up playing with the long-hitting younger guys from the same tees. (Note: Unlike amateurs, Jack can't move up a set of tees or two or three out on tour.)
Jack, looking straight into the camera said that now, his best power drive, hit as good and solid as he can will barely reach 100 MPH, and if lucky, may reach a maximum with roll out of 250 yards . (WOW, I am now right there with Jack except I am 10 years younger. As few as 5 years ago my max club head speed was in the range of 105 to 108 MPH. I have lost 8 to 10 MPH and unfortunately I know it will only keep getting slower.) Jack has accepted his fate as an aging golfer and I guess, as the saying goes, now plays for fun, enjoyment, exercise and still for the challenge as well as playing more tennis.
I read about another famous golfer still much in the limelight on the PGA Tour. Kenny Perry, is 49 years old and is turning 50 August 10th this year. He made some revealing comments in the January 15th issue of Golfweek Magazine on page 27 in an article titled. 'Perry to Ease into Retirement.' The first sentence states, 'At the tail end of 2009, Kenny Perry talked of semi-retirement and many laughed.' The article then details his early 2010 schedule which has him flying all over the world playing week after week. But then, the article goes into some revealing quotes from Kenny about himself.
Kenny said, 'I feel like I lost another 4 or 5 yards (off the tee). The ball's not coming off the (club) face. I need to start working out and start doing something. I can tell my body's starting to decline all of a sudden. I never felt that ever in my life until the end of last year to now. I can tell I'm changing.'
Kenny is a youngster compared to Jack. But he is already feeling and seeing the effects of growing older. And he sees it big time playing on the PGA Tour from the same tees as the rest of the players. Young GUNS, some of whom are now younger than Kenny's son, are out there BOMBING drives past his. We all know that Kenny Perry is a big, strong guy and has in the past been able to hang in with most of the longer hitters.
Time is catching up with Kenny Perry as it has caught up to Jack Nicklaus, me and for that matter, all of us. Kenny Perry is just experiencing it more drastically and realistically than most of us because of whom he plays against from the same tees on the PGA Tour.
The moral of today's article about Jack Nicklaus, Kenny Perry, and the few points I made about myself is that life goes on and can still be great as we age, including our golf game. On January 10th 2010, my daily article was titled, 'We Are'¦What We Are.' Below is one of the closing paragraphs that I think sums up the moral of that article and one which is a good message for all of us to embrace. I will add one point that is not mentioned. That is, I already have accepted 'my loss of distance.' Now, I always play from forward tees that give me a course distance in the 6500 to 6700 yard range. Playing 7000 yard courses are a part in my past. And I know that 6700 yards will also soon be too long. When that happens, I will move to more forward tees that fit my distance as I want to still shoot the best scores I can for my age and my abilities.
'The issue is we have to accept our new and unfortunately ever changing physical abilities as we age and or have some physical issues jump up and bite us. I wish I was 30 again and had my 105 to 108 MPH club head speed with a driver. I am now on my best drive likely to not reach 100 MPH any more and, as life goes on, it will continue to diminish. But I will guarantee and promise that I will never get bogged down in pity and cry over lost distance. What I will do is work on hitting it more solid and straight becoming the most boring driver of the ball and iron player hitting the green. I will also be the wizard of the short game because now I have be the master of around and on the greens. Golf for me is no longer about power, which I never really had a lot of and now even a lot less, but of control, touch and feel. My focus is getting the ball into the hole.'
We are what we are now and what we will become. The key to enjoying life and golf is paying attention and working at living a healthy life style, trying to stay fit so we can live life to the fullest. To this we have to accept change in our bodies and abilities and loss of strength and speed. We have to make adjustments in our lives and our golf games that give us challenges that we can meet and feel good about ourselves reaching our new goals.
Jack Nicklaus and Kenny Perry have seen, felt and experienced the changes in their bodies and golf games. Let the example of these two great professional golfers be the guiding light for the rest of us who play golf.
The Surge!
Comments
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