Quarter Your Approach Shots
Day 6 on “Golf the Wright Way” by Mickey Wright
Going for the pin.
The 1964 U.S. Women’s Open was played in San Diego. It was a hot afternoon, not a lot of shade. Mickey wore black shorts, white shirt, and her trademark glasses.
As she stood in the 18th fairway, she knew she needed a birdie to win her fourth U.S. Open and 13th major.
That might explain why she went for the pin.
She pulled a 2-iron, set up quickly, and pushed the ball into a huge greenside bunker. That approach shot could have cost the match.
Mickey blasted out to three feet, sank that knee-knocker, and saved par. The next day, she’d face Ruth Jessen in an 18-hole playoff.
Divide the green into quarters.
That night, Mickey thought about course management. She had a reliable approach shot strategy which did not include always going for the pin.
The reduce pressure, she mentally divided the green into quarters.
Mickey writes, “If I’m shooting at a 4-and-a-half-inch circle from 100 yards, I’m going to be pretty unhappy if I don’t get close to that target. But if I give myself a target the size of a quarter of the green, with thousands of square inches to shoot at, I take pressure off myself, allowing for a better shot.”
After quartering the green, she considers pin placement, angle, slope, and even the direction of the grass because, Mickey says, “the ball breaks less rolling with the grain.”
She then chooses one quarter as her target. Most of the time, the hole is in that quarter. But if the pin placement is risky, she’ll leave it alone and aim for one of the other three.
She patiently approached each green.
The playoff was held on Sunday. Before the match, Mickey and Ruth had lunch together. I wonder if we’d see that kind of friendly sportsmanship today during a major playoff.
Mickey stuck to her approach strategy, landing most of her shots safely on the green. She took a one-stroke lead on the front nine and patiently approached each green on the back.
For most of the round, Ruth played just as well as Mickey but ran into more trouble. She found greenside bunkers on 10, 11 and 12. That cost her three scoring opportunities, and Mickey went on to win her fourth U.S. Open.
The author David Gerrold said, “Half of being smart is knowing what you are dumb about.”
Mickey’s quarter strategy isn’t for everyone. But it provides a simple structure. Follow the structure and, more times than not, you’re going to stay safer and score lower.
And did you know that the U.S. Women’s Open medal is named after Mickey Wright? So the next time you watch the Women’s Open, give a nod to Mickey who is up there in golf heaven, maybe playing 18 holes with Ben Hogan who said she had the best swing he ever saw.
That’s all for now. Until next time, keep imagining what’s possible.