Article #20
To meet this week's teacher, or to purchase a copy of MUNIE ~ The Jitterbug Collection, go to www.bobbysteiner.com
The tall, fair-skinned stranger walked up behind Jitterbug. "Jitterbug Bell! I just knew I'd find you here."
I didn't recognize the guy, but could tell Jitterbug did, as he cracked a big, heart-felt smile. "Well if it ain't Andy Earl! Tell me, where'd you get kicked out of?"
"Just in town visiting the in-laws," the man said. "Didn't want to miss an opportunity to walk around Munie."
"This is my friend, Bobby," Jitterbug said. "Me and him are goin' off the back nine. You wanna come with us?"
"I'd like that," he said.
Jitterbug, it turned out, knew Andy from some twenty years before, but seeing them together, you'd think they never parted.
"Are you playing much golf these days, Andy?" Jitterbug asked.
Andy nodded. "My fair share, I guess. I won my club championship six of the last seven years."
Surprised, Jitterbug laughed out loud. "Must be an easy course."
Smiling, Andy replied, "C'mon, Jitterbug, give me some credit. It's been a long time since you've seen me play."
"Then, show me what you got," Jitterbug said, motioning for Andy to tee off first.
Using a three-iron, Andy shaped a beautiful draw around the dogleg, positioning his ball perfectly in the tenth fairway.
"Well, I do declare," Jitterbug said. "You have gotten better."
Again, on the eleventh tee, Andy used an iron to hit a bullet straight up the gut. He did the same on twelve and fourteen. In fact, it wasn't until the seventeenth hole that Andy finally unleashed his driver, which he used to advance his ball far down the wide, generous fairway.
When we finished the back nine, Jitterbug asked Andy, "How many strokes was that?"
"Thirty-three," Andy said.
"Congratulations," Jitterbug acknowledged. "You clipped me by a shot. You got time for another nine?"
"I'm afraid I don't," Andy lamented. "We'll have to do it some other day."
We all shook hands, and that was the last time I ever saw Andy Earl.
Waiting to tee off on the front, I wondered about the fellow from Jitterbug's past. "So, does Andy hit the ball better than he used to?"
"I wouldn't say he hits the ball better," Jitterbug said. "But, he sure is a better player."
"Better short game?" I supposed.
"No, he always had a good short game."
"What makes him a better player then?"
Jitterbug, like he sometimes did, looked out in space to answer. "When I knew Andy, he was an eighty to eighty-five shooter. He was a really good ball striker, but managed his game like a madman. So, one day, after a reckless round of golf, I said, 'You know, Andy, you shot eighty-three today, but if it hadn't been for bad course management, you woulda shot closer to sixty-nine.'
"Well, that must of made an impression on Andy, because the very next day, as we were about to tee off, he said, 'Jitterbug, if it looks like I'm about to make a bad decision today, just tell me and I'll select whatever shot you say is best.' So, I said, 'All right, for starters, get that driver out of your hand, and grab your five-wood.' Well, Andy got that crazy look in his eye, and said, 'C'mon, Jitterbug, I always use my driver on this hole.' So, I said, 'And you always hit it in them trees, too.' Then, Andy said, 'Let me just try the driver on this hole. If I hit it in the trees, then I won't question you no more.' I said, 'Never mind, Andy. Do it however you want.'
"Then, I just sat back and watched as he made bad decision after bad decision: Driver off every tee. Three-wood out of the deep rough. Firin' at tucked pins. Tryin' like a dang fool to hit an eight-iron where he should hit a five-iron. All this on his way to about eighty-six shots. After that, I figured Andy would always be a good player, but always fall short of his potential. That was until today, Bobby. Today, I learned something different."
"What did you learn?" I asked. "Did Andy finally take your advice? Is what you told him about course management years ago the reason he's playing better?"
Jitterbug shook his head. "You know, Bobby, when it comes to course management, I'd say golfers are like teenagers."
"How so?"
"Well, you can bestow on them all of your wisdom-might be the best advice in the world-but there are some lessons that time and experience do a better job of teaching. After all, you can teach someone to swing a golf club, just like you can teach 'em to balance their checkbook. But, you can't tell them how to play the game anymore than you can tell them how to live their life. The good news, however, is if they stick with it, they'll figure out the important lessons on their own. So, while we, the teachers, want to prevent the world from making mistakes, the world might accomplish more if set free to do so.
"Yes sir, for all I tried to teach Andy, I never suspected he'd be the one to teach me. But, today, he dang sure did."