Twice Open Champion Willie Park coined the phrase ‘A player who can putt is a match for anyone’.
He’s right. Being accomplished with the flat stick can mask all manner of short comings that may exist between tee and green.
And most golfers will be familiar with a reworking of Park’s phrase. One which has long been adopted into the golfing lexicon: ‘Drive for show, putt for dough’.
Anyone care to take issue with a twice Champion Golfer of the Year?
Well J.H Taylor actually – and he won five Opens.
Taylor’s take was this: ‘The player who can approach doesn’t need to putt’.
In stroke play of course you do have to hole out. But John Henry was talking about match-play, by far the more common version of the game played in the early 20th Century. And in match-play if you can pitch it close or pitch it in, you won’t be required to hole out too many times.
Taylor was championing the ability to get ‘up’ and ‘down’ over the ability to sink a lot of putts.
I recently experienced Taylor’s truism in a match-play competition at Eastbourne Downs Golf Course.
It was a ‘better ball’, stableford, format – the lowest (net) score in each pair deciding who was ‘up’, ‘down’ or ‘all square’ after each respective hole.
The match went like this.
Our opponents, one taller than the other, I will refer to as: ‘Up’ (the taller man) and ‘Down’ (his companion).
First hole(par 4): ‘Up’ and I were green side in two. I chipped first and got up close to the hole – almost certain to be down in 4. ‘Up’ chipped in for birdie! So, ‘Up’ and ‘Down’ went one up and my partner and I were one down.
Second hole(par 5): both ‘Up’ and ‘Down’ lost their drives off the tee – things were looking up! My partner and I found the fairway and proceeded down to the green in regulation. ‘Up’ and ‘Down’ gave up and conceded the hole. My partner and I were no longer down. Match all square.
Third hole (par 4): All players fired balls down the fairway. ‘Up’ and I were again both greenside in two. I chipped up leaving a three-footer to get down for par. ‘Up’ chipped up to a few inches inside my ball and was also likely to get down in four. I putted and watched the ball disappear down the hole. I picked up ‘Up’s’ marker who, with this concession, and getting a shot at the hole, won the hole. This put ‘Up’ and ‘Down’ one up again.
Fourth hole (par4): Our team failed to get up and down for a half. ‘Up’ and ‘Down’ both got up and down. ‘Up’ and ‘Down’ were now two up.
Fifth hole (par 4): I had the only makeable birdie putt once everyone had played up and was down on the green. I felt confident looking down over the putt but, didn’t get the ball up to the hole. A chance missed and ‘Up’ and Down’ had been let off the hook! We remained two down.
Sixth hole (par 4): ‘Up’ chipped in again for birdie! A waste really for ‘Up’, as it was another ‘shot hole’. I had chipped up and was going to be down in four, so ‘Up’ only needed to also get up and down for four (net three). Chipping in got him down in three (net two)– a wasted birdie? Time would tell. For now, ‘Up’ and ‘Down’ were three up.
Seventh hole (par 5): By time we’d all played up to the green ‘Up’ and I were both at the back of the green in three, ‘Down’ was up on the rear fringe of the green in five. Both ‘Up’ and ‘Down’ were getting a shot at this hole so in essence ‘Up’ was ‘playing’ three and ‘Down’ was ‘playing’ four. ‘Down’ putted up from the back of the green – and in! ‘Down’ was down in six net five. I chipped up from the fringe for birdie, but the ball didn’t get up to within four feet of the hole. ‘Up’ putted up for birdie and left himself a three-footer to get down for par and a win. I needed to down my putt to force ‘Up’ to hole his three-footer. I stepped up and, with a sure stroke, saw my putt disappear down the hole. It was now up to ‘Up’. ‘Up’ got down over the ball but pushed his putt and the ball failed to go down. We had escaped with a half at a hole we were often looking down in. ‘Up’ and ‘Down’ were still three up, but we’d slowed down their momentum.
Eighth hole (par 3): ‘Up’ hit a good iron up to the back of the green. ‘Down’ left his tee shot short, with a tricky chip up for his second shot. My partner hit a good shot, but it stayed on the left side of the green – he would need an ‘up and down’ for par. ‘Down’ played first and hit a good chip up stone dead. We conceded the putt and told him to pick up. ‘Down’ was down in three. My partner hit down from the left-hand bank, but his chip didn’t run up close to the hole – leaving about a ten-footer to get down for par. ‘Up’ putted down from the back of the green to within a couple of feet. He’d surely be down in three too. My partner just missed his ten-footer for par, the ball shaving the hole but staying up above ground. ‘Up’ and ‘Down’ were now four up.
Ninth hole (par 4): ‘Down’ chipped up leaving a tricky five-footer back down to the hole. Neither ‘Up’ or I could get up and down for par and in fact ‘Up’ didn’t manage to get down in five, so it was down to ‘Down’ to secure a half. It was teeming down with rain by now and an easterly wind was also getting up. ‘Down’ took his time settling down over the ball, and then, stopped and stood up. ‘Down’ called ‘Up’ up to look down the line of his putt. ‘Up’ looked up and down between ‘Down’s’ ball and the hole before confirming that the line was right half down to the hole. ‘Down’ once again got down over the ball and hit a slow-paced putt that just had enough on it to topple down into in the right side of the hole. Yet another good up and down from ‘Down’. My partner and I remained four down heading to the back nine.
Tenth hole (par 5): My partner and I were trying to stay upbeat. If we could get up early on the back nine, we felt we could still chase ‘Up’ and ‘Down’ down. Right on cue we won the tenth hole with a good up and down of our own! We were now only down by three and had hopefully given ‘Up’ and ‘Down’ something to think about.
Eleventh hole (par 4): ‘Up’ got his driver out of his bag for only the second time that day and hit a good shot up the right side of the fairway. His second shot, in wet conditions, was a seven iron from about 170 yards. ‘Up’ hit the shot of the day! The ball soaring up into the sky before coming down to land two foot from the pin. ‘Up’ was certain to be down in three net two. Too good! ‘Up’ and ‘Down’ were back to four up.
Twelfth hole (par 3): I was the only one to hit the green from the tee, everyone else requiring an up and down for par. ‘Down’ chipped up to within five feet and resolutely putted down the green to complete yet another up and down. Hole halved. ‘Up’ and ‘Down’ remained four up.
Thirteenth hole (par 4): The wind had really got up and severely beat back all our tee shots. Consequently, they were all well down on their usual distance off the tee. By the time we’d all played up it was up to ‘Down’ and I to once again trade up and downs. ‘Down’ continued to excel and managed to get up and down with a good chip up to within a couple of feet. I overhit my wedge and couldn’t down the return putt. ‘Up’ and ‘Down’ were now five up…with five holes to play…
Fourteenth hole (par 3): ‘Up’ found the green, ‘Down’s’ tee shot went up and through the green with the ball resting up on a small ridge of grass at the back. Neither of the tee shots hit up by my partner or I found the green. ‘Down’ chipped up to within gimme range. This meant a two from us was needed for the match to continue. I chipped down onto the green, but the ball remained up about five feet from the pin. The game was up! ‘Up’ and ’Down’ had won the match five up.
My partner and I had been in every single hole, but on the day had come up short against a strong performance from our opponents.
When it boiled down to it, ‘Up’ and ‘Down’ had dovetailed well. If ever one was down in a hole the other was invariably up.
Significantly, both ‘Up’ and ‘Down’ had gotten up and down a few times each at crucial times during the match.
So well done ‘Up’ and ‘Down’ and best of luck in the next round. I’m sure your next opponents will be up for the challenge, but they’ll have to play well to down you.