GOLF: AN ALTERNATIVE WAY TO KEEP SCORE

I admit this idea is not entirely original. Softballer/golfer, Jim Trueman, talked
informally with me about this in the recent past and I have toyed with the idea on my own for years. I am sure others have also. The alternative scoring system? Don't count ALL the shots. Just count the GOOD ones. In this game, high score, not low score,
wins!
 

Why do this? Isn't it evident? You are pretty much happy most of the time. You celebrate the good shots that you hit and cheerfully look forward to the next onehappening – even though those aren't the only shots you are hitting. On the other hand,
keeping track of ALL the shots you hit is annoying, aggravating, dissatisfying, etc. You get the picture. If you play, you know what I am talking about. You are constantly at the mercy of failure. Heck, even on a good day, the longer you go, the more that dread
looms in your future. Why would you want to do that to yourself?

The history of golf or, at least, the legend of the history of the game, helps provide an answer. Golf was invented by Scots, a culture of people who, at least partially, defined themselves by their ability to encounter failure but press on anyway. They didn't intend that the game be enjoyed but rather that it be endured. Crappy weather was even part of the fun. We are all free to make our own assessments of that culture but I believe it is an accurate portrayal of their value system. Bad breaks were “the rub of the green” and tested your “Scottish mettle.” They liked it! I don't have to and I don't. I am also, by the way, Scottish by ancestry. There was even a Balfour who was a Scottish Lord who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. (We were not related.) These are my
people and I reject their premises. I am an American and I want to be happy.

This new scoring method is a step in the right direction. It might be for you, too

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Doc