Tips for gambling on the golf course

Golf may be the ultimate gambling game.

I would be willing to wager (not much, of course) that more money is exchanged on golf courses than any other sport.

Oh, the big gamblers may put more on the line in pro football, basketball or horse racing. But every Saturday and Sunday the weekend warriors of what one wag called "cow-pasture pool" will win or lose anywhere from $1 to $15 or $20.

And that's just the guys — and some gals — who don't want to risk more than just a few dollars on a few presses (doubling a bet from, say, the fifth hole) or taking a partner or partners in cross bets with their buddies, of which there may be two to five foursomes.

Anyway, you get the idea.

There ought to be some written rules about gambling on the golf course.

Rule No. 1: Sam Snead once said that he never took a bet, regardless of the amount, until he shook hands with his opponent. If the guy's hand was calloused, Snead would immediately suspect a potential shark looking for Sam to give him too many strokes.

Rule No. 2: Never put a large amount of money on the line with a stranger. That simply underscores what Snead warned about.

Rule No. 3: Don't take the guy with the funny looking swing on the practice range at face value. I recall a story about the late Jim Hatfield, a club pro who tried the PGA and PGA Senior Tour a couple of times. If you were looking for a picture-perfect swing, you wouldn't take a second glance at Hatfield.

Jim had his right hand under the club, an extremely strong grip that promotes a big hook, and he had an ungainly squat at address. But Bill Parker, then head pro at Twin Hills Golf and Country Club, told me that Hatfield's swing was as good as any pro he had seen in those vital few inches before hitting the ball and few inches afterward. I agree.

An intriguing story, which I believe is probably true, had an area golfer making a date with a couple of hustlers from Kansas City at Crestwood Country Club in Pittsburg, Kan. When the K.C. guys arrived, the gambler informed them that they couldn't have a “game” because his partner was ill.

The two guys were pretty angry after making such a long drive. So, in attempt to appease them, the gambler said he would take the fellow with the strange swing pounding golf balls on the practice tee as his partner. By the end of the day, Hatfield had shot two rounds of 64 or 65, and he and the gambler had won $1,500 or more each.

In that same vein, Titanic Thompson, the king of luring unsuspecting golfers into making silly bets, used to stash a top young player near the clubhouse. So that when he hustled a couple of eager players into a money game, he could select an “unknown” as his partner. I suspect that Ti never took a bet that he thought he had the slightest chance of losing. Among those players he would randomly choose in the 1930s were the likes of Ky Laffoon and Clarence (Doc) Yockey, both of whom carried plus-2 or plus-3 handicaps. They rarely shot over par. But then Thompson didn't either, at least from the left side.

No. 4: Keep bets simple so you can always ascertain where you stand. Never ever bet with your ego. A lack of knowledge on what you are betting on and believing that you are better than you are will almost guarantee you will be asking for cab fare home after the match.

I ignored that rule once and wound up winning quite a bit more money than I expected. I was whistling on my drive home and contemplating my good fortune when I realized that I could have lost just as much if my partner and I hadn't played above our heads.

No. 4 1⁄2 : In keeping with Rule No. 4, don't bet more than you can afford to lose. You might get lucky, but putting big bucks on the line is more likely to cause you to tense up rather than play better.

One player who I never worried about was Barry Franks. He would play in games where his opponents would consistently double the bet and he never flinched. The more on the line, the tougher Barry got. Not many players, even good ones, have such steely nerves.

No. 5: If you suspect that someone is a hustler, try to pick him as your partner and don't take many or any bets against him.

There are probably another hundred or so do's and don'ts about betting on golf. Probably the best advice is not to take a bet. But if you feel you must, bet within your circle of golfing pals. You know how they play and they know your game.

Featured

Miami (Okla.) swing sage Marshall Smith is featured in the June-July issue of Golf Oklahoma, a slick new golf publication of the Oklahoma Golf Association.

Smith is widely known around pro golf for working with such luminaries as Chi Chi Rodriguez, Gary Player, Walt Zembriski and Craig Stadler on the PGA and Champions tours.

The story, written by Clay Henry, touches on Smith's crusade to give golfers age 70 and over a bigger break on senior tees and on the teaching lessons he learned from Ky Laffoon, a star on the pro tour in the 1930s and 1940s who helped Ben Hogan develop his swing.

I recommend reading both the Smith article and Ken Macleod's story on Champions player Gil Morgan.

Four-person scramble

Osage Lodge No. 303 in Nevada will hold its second annual golf tournament at Frank E. Peters Golf Course on Saturday, July 30. The four-person scramble will feature an 8 a.m. shotgun start.

Entry fee is $240 per team. There will be four flights, based on 36 teams. Entry deadline is Monday, July 18. Entries should be mailed to David Grubb, 16315 S. 1354 Pass, Nevada, Mo. 64772.

Volunteers from Tuscaloosa paying it forward in Joplin

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One of the first bills that Gov. Jay Nixon has signed into law this year is one that redirects casino fees to nursing homes for military veterans. Do you think this is a good bill?

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