“It’s a fair test” is a phrase we often hear from golfers when they describe a course, but what does it really imply?

The phrase itself is misleading when you take a step back and realize any course played by all competitors under the same conditions is “fair.” Even then, weather changes throughout the day force golfers to play under varying circumstances which can cause a course to become more difficult. Golf is an outdoor game and with that brings in an uncontrollable element that golfers must deal with whether it be wind, rain, heat, cold, and even on occasion snow. As unfavorable as the conditions might get, they will always be “fair.”

Next, we have courses, and they generally fit into two loose categories: resort-style with wide fairways and easily accessible greens and traditionally penal championship-style with longer rough, narrower fairways, and smaller or extremely sloping greens. Regardless of handicap, both styles can be enjoyed by golfers, and following the recent U.S. Open, it’s good to remind ourselves its ok to shoot a higher score sometimes—because it’s all relative to the day and conditions.

Ejection is OK

The term ejection has made its way to golf, and it often goes along with someone making a point that a golf course, hole, or even a pin position isn’t “fair,” but I believe golf is about facing adversity, and overcoming challenges—if it was easy would it still be as much fun?

The perfect example is fast sloping greens surrounded by short grass. It’s an extremely playable surface that can leave golfers feeling nervous about their approach shots or if missed how a ball could end up right back at their feet. We saw this during the U.S. Amateur held at Bandon Dunes, where on multiple occasions competitors tried to “get cute” and ended up in worse situations than where they started—it’s the perfect example of not taking your medicine and moving onto the next shot, which brings me to my next point…

Golf is a game where the goal is to make the fewest amount of strokes to get the ball in the hole, but nowhere does it say that when making each stroke, it is only fair that the ball must end up closer to the target after each stroke is made. Sometimes the ideal position is to play away from the hole or intended target in favor of creating a better opportunity for the next shot.

One of my favorite quotes on the subject of navigating a difficult course comes from a friend of mine,

“The entire journey is spent on the razor-thin edge between heroism and disappointment.”

– Peter Schmitt, GolfWRX Feature writer

It sums it up so elegantly yet in the most simple way possible.

You see, a golf ball will only ever end up where you hit it; down a slope, in the sand, over a cliff, back at your feet, the end result entirely dictated by the shot your choose to make and the skills you are able to apply, all in all, that seems pretty fair to me.