Georgie Bingham: losers, losing and losses
Georgie Bingham interviews Stephen Dodd of Wales at Constance Belle Mare Plage on April 03, 2022 in Port Louis, Mauritius. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
May we talk about margins? Because we all know golf is a game of margins. Hard work leads to tiny gains that make big differences.
A few months back I filmed a feature with a couple of the Legends Tour wives who caddy for their partners. The Legends Tour is a destination tour, we go to some amazing places, it makes sense that many golfers bring their partners with them as they enjoy the twilights of their careers. During this feature where we spoke about what it’s like to eat, sleep and live with your golfer; one of the women noted “golf is a losing game. You lose about 99% of the time even when you are on top of the game. Imagine being a lawyer and losing almost every single case you take on … you’d give up. You’d be considered the worst lawyer ever. Golfers have to suffer that ALL the time, even when they play well.”
And, it’s true. Margins aside, you can hit top tens week after week on any of the tours, earning big money to almost none and feel like you’re doing well, but winning is just so elusive. Amateurs can come off the course disappointed, but we don’t have to suffer the indignity of shooting 64 and being the loser because there’s 48 other losers in the field and only one winner.
“There can’t be another sport that’s as time consuming and the odds of winning are so low.”
I realise I am simplifying a lot here; you can be a DP Tour player, finish top 20 week after week and earn really well. You’d be well considered for that consistency - but honestly with the exception of all those mad Olympians who are forced to wait four years between elusive attempts at glory, there can’t be another sport that’s as time consuming and the odds of winning are so low. Tennis players play tournaments in rounds; they win until they’re knocked out. Footballers win, lose and draw week in week out.
Georgie Bingham chats with Adilson Da Silva ahead of the prizegiving during Day Four of the Staysure PGA Seniors Championship 2022. (Photo by Phil Inglis/Getty Images)
I’ve thought about a lot recently (particularly when Rory McIlroy has been on one in a season where he’s been there or there about almost all the time, the losses probably still grate!) but it came to my mind again as I followed the Challenge Tour Grand Final and also the mid stages of Q-School. Obviously the Challenge Tour gives players a season long chance to stake their claim for the DP World Tour and some of the players even get the chance at next season in Europe’s top tier with their expenses covered; this is a test of consistency over a long period.
Q School is something else - not just a grind, it’s like torture! Former golfer Andrew Murray tweeted about his son Tom leading Stage 2 of Q School - noting that after rounds of 67,67,67,66 he has “just the 6 rounds next week then…” Yes indeed, Murray Jr has to find that near winning touch another four times in a total marathon of TWELVE ROUNDS just to have a chance to mostly lose over 72 holes next campaign.
Golfers are basically mad no?
Georgie Bingham, broadcaster and journalist, writes a bi-weekly column for The Cut Stuff. She’s golf obsessed. She’s ready to go behind the tour.
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