"Of the golfball"

[dashanks]

A lot of golf announcers use that term, it seems.   "He's a great (driver, chipper, etc.) of the golf ball."    I believe you could pretty much leave that part out and people would still know what you are talking about.  "Of the golfball" is basically just filler in a four hour golf broadcast.    Not that I'm criticizing those guys.    I could have never started this thread and it wouldn't have made any difference either.

[Maine Golfer]

I only respect a man who hits THE GOLFBALL with BLADES 😉 

[Barfolomew]

And they're so smug with that fake laugh

[MelloYello]

There's a lot of filler language that gets used by people that could be simplified (i.e. utilize vs use). Brevity often helps the reader who is likely to prefer a concise text. How a listener responds is another matter. Speakers themselves may feel the complexity of their language is a signifier of intelligence or of membership within a particular group thus a demonstration of some authority. 

[Murphy76]

 

Often heard:  "That was a great golf shot."

 

What other kind of shot would it be?  Football?

 

 

[smashdn]

Now you are golfing your ball.  I like to use golf as a verb.

[dashanks]

4 hours ago, Maine Golfer said:

I only respect a man who hits THE GOLFBALL with BLADES 😉 

And only Wilson Staff blades.

[dashanks]

3 hours ago, MelloYello said:

There's a lot of filler language that gets used by people that could be simplified (i.e. utilize vs use). Brevity often helps the reader who is likely to prefer a concise text. How a listener responds is another matter. Speakers themselves may feel the complexity of their language is a signifier of intelligence or of membership within a particular group thus a demonstration of some authority. 

"Of the golfball" is never going to win any points from me. 

[dashanks]

2 hours ago, Murphy76 said:

 

Often heard:  "That was a great golf shot."

 

What other kind of shot would it be?  Football?

 

 

Exactly.

[dashanks]

2 hours ago, smashdn said:

Now you are golfing your ball.  I like to use golf as a verb.

Awkward, but not sure if it's incorrect.  You do "go golfing," but you seldom hear "I golfed my tee shot into the woods."   And nobody ever said "I'm going tennising."  Lot to chew on there.

[smashdn]

10 minutes ago, dashanks said:

Awkward, but not sure if it's incorrect.  You do "go golfing," but you seldom hear "I golfed my tee shot into the woods."   And nobody ever said "I'm going tennising."  Lot to chew on there.

 

Do you go golfing or do you go play golf?  I have a tendency to say "playing golf."

[BIG STU]

3 hours ago, smashdn said:

Now you are golfing your ball.  I like to use golf as a verb.

Now that is really an old school term and I mean from back in the 40s and 50s perhaps earlier. It basically means a very good player who can hit all the shots and plods his way around the course

[BIG STU]

4 minutes ago, smashdn said:

 

Do you go golfing or do you go play golf?  I have a tendency to say "playing golf."

My neighbor who is originally from Massachusetts asks me. "Golfing Today"?  I guess it is the thermology from wherever you were raised as to how one says it. 

[Mikey_HACKilroy]

There are a lot of ways folks can shorten things, but in general sports commentary of any kind uses emphasis to drive home the message. It is about being more precise rather than just concise.

Consider these two phrases.

 

1. "Now, he's a good driver."

2. "Now, he's a good driver of the golf ball."

 

Part of color commentary is to entertain, and whilst this is but a small part of it you might be surprised how boring concise language really can be.

 

Imagine Chris Collinsworth saying "That was a great pass by Patrick Mahomes."

Then consider, "Patrick Mahomes is such a great passer of the football that he is just so difficult to defend even in tight coverage."

The first Collinsworth gets fired if he does that all night..... The second one gets ratings. You've considered this from the viewpoint of an active listener of content and context in the interest of efficiency. The speaker is more interested in speaking as an art rather than a tool.
 

Edited November 8, 2023 by Mikey_HACKilroy

[dashanks]

13 hours ago, Mikey_HACKilroy said:

There are a lot of ways folks can shorten things, but in general sports commentary of any kind uses emphasis to drive home the message. It is about being more precise rather than just concise.

Consider these two phrases.

 

1. "Now, he's a good driver."

2. "Now, he's a good driver of the golf ball."

 

Part of color commentary is to entertain, and whilst this is but a small part of it you might be surprised how boring concise language really can be.

 

Imagine Chris Collinsworth saying "That was a great pass by Patrick Mahomes."

Then consider, "Patrick Mahomes is such a great passer of the football that he is just so difficult to defend even in tight coverage."

The first Collinsworth gets fired if he does that all night..... The second one gets ratings. You've considered this from the viewpoint of an active listener of content and context in the interest of efficiency. The speaker is more interested in speaking as an art rather than a tool.
 

I just don't see stating the painfully obvious as insightful or interesting.  If I'm watching a golf broadcast and a commentator says that a particular player is a great driver, I know it doesn't mean that he has skills like Mario Andretti.  It's a piddling point, I know.  But I'm a retired old fart with a lot of spare time to make innocuous observations like this. 

[dashanks]

14 hours ago, smashdn said:

 

Do you go golfing or do you go play golf?  I have a tendency to say "playing golf."

I generally say "playing golf."   I'm not sure if what I do on the golf course actually qualifies as such.  I am a great tee-er up of the golf ball.  After that, it's a crap shoot.

[Maine Golfer]

15 hours ago, BIG STU said:

My neighbor who is originally from Massachusetts asks me. "Golfing Today"?  I guess it is the thermology from wherever you were raised as to how one says it. 

totally something I hear in New England. My mom will ask me, my coworkers will ask me such. 

[Mikey_HACKilroy]

23 minutes ago, dashanks said:

I just don't see stating the painfully obvious as insightful or interesting.  If I'm watching a golf broadcast and a commentator says that a particular player is a great driver, I know it doesn't mean that he has skills like Mario Andretti.  It's a piddling point, I know.  But I'm a retired old fart with a lot of spare time to make innocuous observations like this. 

 

I totally get it, and frankly I don't watch much golf. The commentary I absolutely can't stand is of Tony Romo yammering on and on... So inevitably, it could be worse. 😄

Maybe talking through the entire shot about how the golf ball rotates better off the face of {Insert Players} irons, but not just that... maybe physics equations and descriptions of degrees of side spin and how far off the commentator thinks the shot was.

"Well Rick, it was looking like a beautiful drive but he just got too much side spin and that's a really big problem in this wind. I think if he would have made a slight adjustment he would have gotten that angle he was looking for to boost that launch and reduce side spin so the ball would have landed in a more optimal position because right now he's about 2 or 3 yards off target and you've gotta be better than that with the golf ball."

Yeah..... be happy they aren't "Romo-ing" golf commentary. 😄

[jholz]

I always enjoy a nice "blading" of the golf ball. 

 

As long as I'm not the one doing it and the golf ball isn't being bladed in my general direction. 

[slocalifglfr]

Related rant:

I'm bothered by

"He plants his foot in the ground" - Where else would he put it? (This one is still around but is phasing out.)

"Time out on the floor" at a basketball game. Where else would there be time out?

"He plays the quarterback position." How about, "He plays quarterback."

 

[dashanks]

2 hours ago, Mikey_HACKilroy said:

 

I totally get it, and frankly I don't watch much golf. The commentary I absolutely can't stand is of Tony Romo yammering on and on... So inevitably, it could be worse. 😄

Maybe talking through the entire shot about how the golf ball rotates better off the face of {Insert Players} irons, but not just that... maybe physics equations and descriptions of degrees of side spin and how far off the commentator thinks the shot was.

"Well Rick, it was looking like a beautiful drive but he just got too much side spin and that's a really big problem in this wind. I think if he would have made a slight adjustment he would have gotten that angle he was looking for to boost that launch and reduce side spin so the ball would have landed in a more optimal position because right now he's about 2 or 3 yards off target and you've gotta be better than that with the golf ball."

Yeah..... be happy they aren't "Romo-ing" golf commentary. 😄

Uh-oh.  This isn't helping.  I like listening to Romo.

[Mikey_HACKilroy]

Just now, dashanks said:

Uh-oh.  This isn't helping.  I like listening to Romo.

LMAO!

My dad says the same when I go off on that. Mostly, I think he's better than he was when he started, so I'll give him that. He's learned how to place the commentary better.... 😄

[TiScape]

On 11/8/2023 at 8:22 AM, dashanks said:

A lot of golf announcers use that term, it seems.   "He's a great (driver, chipper, etc.) of the golf ball."    I believe you could pretty much leave that part out and people would still know what you are talking about.  "Of the golfball" is basically just filler in a four hour golf broadcast.    Not that I'm criticizing those guys.    I could have never started this thread and it wouldn't have made any difference either.

Like saying kneeling down… Can one kneel up? 🤷🏼‍♂️

[TiScape]

21 hours ago, BIG STU said:

My neighbor who is originally from Massachusetts asks me. "Golfing Today"?  I guess it is the thermology from wherever you were raised as to how one says it. 

My GF is from Italy. One day she said “we should play bowling 🎳 today”. We had a nice exchange of why do “you” play football, play baseball, play tennis etc, but play bowling sounds so odd??? 
 

These are the hard hitting off golf season questions we ask ourselves! 😜

[dashanks]

1 hour ago, TiScape said:

My GF is from Italy. One day she said “we should play bowling 🎳 today”. We had a nice exchange of why do “you” play football, play baseball, play tennis etc, but play bowling sounds so odd??? 
 

These are the hard hitting off golf season questions we ask ourselves! 😜

And the off-season is young.   This doesn't bode well.

[the bishop]

Just remember, when a young great driver of the golf ball finally wins their first Tour event, the "floodgates will open". 

[bobfoster]

The best: Guy is standing with one foot in a swamp, the other planted precariously on the very edge of a cliff, hitting off the side of a hill with the ball 30 inches above his feet, then the announcers be like "Well I'll bet he's never practiced that shot Paul ... "
 

[dashanks]

Probably will not get "the result he wanted."

[st1800e]

He really wants to make this putt. 

[denismcg]

"I'm an excellent driver"