Approach shot flagsticks

Moe Norman would go and play golf some days just to see how many flagsticks he could hit, and sometimes didnt putt. Think about that for a second. He would drive a ball, have somewhere between 20-160 yards to the pin, and he would have a pretty decent chance of hitting it with his approach shot. Decent enough chance to make a game of it. Does anyone in today's game have that kind of alignment/straight control? Ive heard many times that when he shot an easy 65 it could have easily have been a 58 if he could putt worth a damn.

And if our club pro had wheels, he'd be a golf cart.

These are the sort of stories that grow arms and legs over the years. I have no doubt that Moe Norman was an incredibly accurate iron player and obviously hit it very close and he will of course have hit the pin often, perhaps more often than anyone else ever but I don’t for a second think that he was going out there just to hit pins and if he was, he wasn’t making if round particularly successfully.

For one thing, actually hitting the pin with a full iron shot generally tends to result in the person who did it being worse of than they would have been if they had missed it. If he was good enough to regularly hit a pole half in inch in width from 150 yards, would he have not been better aiming half an inch to side of the pin and leaving himself in a better spot?

Exactly, After all, the whole point of the game is in the cup in the fewest strokes.

There are a lot of Moe Norman myths out there, but nobody-nobody-was ever good enough to regularly hit flagsticks.

The hole is much larger in diameter than the pin, why not just hole it from everywhere? Very silly to just hit the pin over and over again from 160

This reminds me of the ESPN 30 for 30 on Bo Jackson. He was obviously was one of the greatest raw athletes of all time, but they talked of how the stories of his freakish athleticism grew over the years to mythical proportions.

A lot of people credit Moe Norman with inventing the internet - also doughnut holes.

Need to put up the BS flag on this one.....

Stories always grow over the years. The few times I've seen video of Norman's swing, even though he was accurate, it didn't look like he would be able to get much distance. Was he ever on the PGA Tour?

I'm pretty sure in one of the Johnny Miller docs he states that in his peak he'd hit the stick either a couple times per round or per tournament. Something along the lines that he was so confident (cocky) that he'd put up his hand as if to acknowledge the crowd just while the ball was still in the air. Typical Miller bravado. There's no denying just how good Johnny was at his best for that short period of time, but unfortunately much like Norman there is not enough footage from those days to verify disprove.

Hogan said that he never aimed for the pin because nothing good happens when you hit it and I agree. Hitting it often result in spin back and going in penalty areas around the green. Most of todays Pros can drive it 290-300 yards but can't get it 20-30ft to the pin.....so, no worries there....LOL!

He played on the Tour but not often. Preferred Canada.

After hitting the drive, distance doesn't really matter anymore provided you still have a club that gets you where you need to be. It becomes an accuracy contest. Whether you hit a 7iron or 5iron to 2' it matters not, the result is the same.

Of course on today's greens conditions are different, but for some reason I feel like today's pros cant do that level of accuracy.

That was hyperbole. Norman couldn't do 2' accuracy either regularly. He would not have had to worry with putting if that were the case.

I think part of the "mystique" surrounding him was that he was pretty accurate, but he also hit a dead straight ball (which is sort of rare) and he was on the autistic spectrum and as such had many quirks. He is a good story.

Another contributor to the Moe and Hogan mystique is simple. They didn’t keep stats. So the best ball strikers of yore “never missed a green or fairway” and “ hit the pin every other hole”. The lack of stats and the fact every single shot today is cataloged/scrutinized makes the players of the pst seem better.

Or it's possible they hit 1000 balls a day for 20 years and really did hit flagsticks a ton. Not to mention their balls were extra spinny meaning they had to be even more precise

Anyone who "chokes on the purity of technique" could hit pins regularly! Lol

JM used to ask his caddie for distances to the half-yard.

Today's pro's hit it to about 5% error. On average. 150 yard shot, on average 22.5 feet away.

Massive eye roll

The older I get the farther my home runs used to go,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Golfjack, no facts, what are you thinking?

So Moe was good, but not that good?

I once speared a line drive that was 20 feet high.

Was just like this but twice the vertical ; )

He had 17 hole in ones in competition...

Great interview with Moe Norman: https://www.golfdigest.com/story/myshot_gd0411

"My best day, I hit the flagstick six times."

Oh yeah ?!?!?!

Good interview.