The Magnetic Properties of Water

Let’s start this story with a quick quiz.  Answer the following question:

Which of the following options would you expect LEAST to see on your local golf course?

• A herd of giraffes rampaging through the 154 yard Par 3 7th.
• A windmill through which you actually had to hit your drive to reach the green.
• A team of scuba divers preparing for a rescue operation.

If you answered number 3, then consider yourself to be considerably smarter than I (which should not come as much of a surprise).  I was playing at my local course when I stepped up to the aforementioned 154 7th hole – minus the giraffes – and was met by a team of Volunteer Fire Department scuba divers readying themselves for what I could only assume was the rescue of a major sunken vessel.  Since my errant tee shot landed within feet of them, I had the opportunity to wander over and strike up a conversation with them.  It seems that the golf course asks these fine ladies and gentlemen to come out for training several times a year and do a search and rescue operation for wayward Titleist Pro V1’s and their brethren in the dark, murky depths of this man-made lake.  I learned that in the course of a 2-3 month period, they haul 20-30 large garbage bags full of soggy golf balls out of the water.  I’m honestly not sure what is done with these balls, but the sheer number of lost balls was amazing to me.

So why do we lose so many golf balls in the water?  Is there somehow a magnetic principle at work that attracts small white objects into the depths of a body of water?  I guess to answer that question we need to take a look at a few pictures.  How would you, Mr. or Mrs. Average Golfer, approach these three random golf shots:

Normal Hole

Normal Hole with Wildlife Crossing

Normal Hole with Water

I’m sure that you can tell by my limited Photoshop skills that all three of these pictured holes are exactly the same.  The tee box is the same.  The green is the same.  So why do you walk up to a tee shot with water between you and the green and see all sorts of horror shows happening?  Shouldn’t you be treating each of these shots as a 154-yard shot?  Nothing more, nothing less?

If that were true we wouldn’t have much need for our scuba diving buddies.  Water has a magnetic impact on our psyche – if there’s water we’re more than likely going to hit it.  Why?  Because when you get on the tee box, you’re not thinking of the 154-yard shot in front of you.  You’re thinking “What is it going to take to clear the water.”  Boom.  One more Titleist Pro V1 sent in to Davy Jones’ Locker.

Next time you face one of these holes, ignore the water.  Look at the yardage and clear your mind.  Pick a “safe” target on the green, choose the appropriate club for that yardage, and take your normal swing.  If you can remove the “don’t hit it short into the water….lost ball…extra strokes” thoughts from your head then you are half the way to success.  Don’t donate to the Volunteer Fireman Scuba Diving team any longer.

Recently, I was playing one of these type of holes with two other players.  We stepped up to the tee box and here is the conversation that ensued:

• Player 1:  “Hey, there’s water.”
• Player 2:  “I didn’t even see the water until you told me…”

Guess who had the better tee shot?

Cover Photo by Dan Perry on Flickr.  Course photo by GolfTripper.com