Pasture pool is a derogatory term for the noble sport of
golf, but anyone unable to see the humor is possibly also
under-appreciating some of the best things about golf.
Being outdoors, walking on smooth green grass, and
concentrating on perfecting a physical skill.

These are a few of my favorite things, and they began for
me eons ago when I was a teenager with the best summer job
in the world - assistant greenskeeper at the municipal golf
course in my small Midwestern town.

The head greenskeeper, who was also my chemistry and
trigonometry teacher when summer was over, gave any special
instructions for the day, and by 6:00 in the morning we
were at work, always beginning with the daily job of mowing
the aprons and greens.  

The smell of fresh-cut grass takes me straight back to
that summer when my body was young and strong and the
physical effort of working all morning was just a warm-up
to the game at the end of the shift. I loved the cool of
those mornings in the humid and sultry days of a Dakota
summer.

By 10:00, the working crew was expected to be totally done
and off the course. But if it wasn't crowded, and it never
was, we could golf a round - another one of the many perks
of the job.

The greenskeeper's son, Billy, was too young to be on the
staff but had a little side business of selling lost balls
he found in and around the creek. He'd stop his work of
stocking up on inventory and we would golf until it got too
hot to remain in the sun. Billy was only in 5th grade, but
he was an excellent golfer even then, and that summer he
taught me everything he knew. I've been golfing ever since.

Since being coached by a 10 year old was the extent of my
formal training, I've never taken my game too seriously.
It has always been purely a pleasure - except when my
sister comes back to town for a visit. She always wants to
play a few rounds of golf, partly because there's not much
else to do for outdoor recreation in the corn belt, and
partly because she knows I enjoy golf, and thinks she's
sharing my interest in the sport.

Here's the thing, if you only golf once a year, you're
always going to be a rotten golfer.  Golfing with Judy was
truly painful until I learned about the game of 'best
ball.' You've probably heard of it, and even played it.  It
saved my sanity.

Used to be, when Judy and I went to the course together, I
spent most of my time standing around watching her swing
and miss and swing and walk 50 feet to where the ball
landed, leaving a divot in the ground behind her big enough
to bury a Chihuahua. I gently told her that custom was that
she didn't need to keep score after the 12th stroke on any
given hole, in fact what the heck, let's not even keep
score.

Now, I don't like to complain, and I sure didn't want to
hurt anyone's feelings, so it took a while before the
subject came up among some friends and one of them was
given the opportunity to share some information that would
change the course of events.  A friend explained the basics
of 'best ball.'

Very simply, everyone tees off. Then the 'worst ball' (or
'worst balls' if you're playing in a foursome) gets picked
up. Everyone goes to where the best ball lays. The person
who hit the 'best ball' takes the first stroke, and marks
the spot. The person whose ball was 'worst' drops it on the
marked spot and takes their swing. Whichever of those balls
is 'best' is the next one to get played. The 'worst ball'
gets picked up on the way.

The owner of the 'best ball' always goes first, and the
process repeats on down the fairway (hopefully not too
often), until a ball lands on the green. Putting is not a
'best ball' kind of thing except for going from the
location where the 'best ball' landed on the green.  

The game is still pretty slow, zigzagging all over the
place to pick up the 'worst balls.' And you wouldn't want
to include your 'best ball' score in any handicapping
calculations, but it is a lot more fun - both for you as
the experienced player, and for your guest.

Every once in a while, Judy's is the 'best ball.' She hits
a good stroke and I love to see the radiant smile on her
face. It's that random reinforcement, the pleasure of
feeling and hearing that perfect "swock," and seeing the
little white orb sail straight and far over an incredible
length of verdant grass.

Sandy Coppendale's articles on topics related to golf are
published at Really Good Golf , a leading resource on-line
for information about golf. For additional articles by Sandy,
also visit All Boots and Hunting Style

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