The nuance of this video is easily overlooked by the casual, non-golfing observer, and I feel compelled to explain why it is such an amazing piece of everyday life.
The start of the video is clipped from the end of the video which I missed the first time.
It begins with older brother Eli chunking a shot to the fringe. He immediately asks if he can “move it off the fringe.” Dad says, “Yes,” but younger brother Max rejects the ruling with a stern, “No,” accurately pointing out that it’s not “against it.”
Max calls a two-stroke penalty for moving the ball, then decides that’s a bit harsh. Instead, he gives his brother the benefit of the doubt, saying he can play it from that spot for just one stroke. That’s a bit questionable, though, because if that were the case, Eli would simply play the ball as it lies.
Chaos ensues as Max becomes determined to point out the mismanagement of the situation.
Max begins approaching the ball, only to be blocked by his older brother. As an older brother myself, we know there’s nothing a younger brother can do IF you don’t want them to do it. However, I gather Eli knows he’s getting a lenient ruling so he let’s Max proceed while defending himself by pointing out that Max gets these kinds of calls too.
Trying to prove he can still take a swing, and why the ruling is absurd, Max inadvertently steps on Eli’s club and gets called an “asshole.” Frustrated that he’s the one enforcing the rules while Eli appears to be getting a favorable ruling from the official, Max fires back with an emphatic, “Fuck you,” bringing the dispute to an unforgettable conclusion.
Here’ another solid reaction from Max. I can’t wait to see this kid on the PGA.
I love this video because the kids are taking it completely seriously. To a non-golfer, it’s just two brothers arguing over nothing. To anyone who plays, it’s exactly what golf looks like.
Golf is full of rules that are clear on paper but messy in practice. Every group has moments where someone asks, “What would you do here?” and everyone suddenly becomes a rules official.
Just this past Sunday, I hit a 3-wood long on No. 11 at Raven’s Claw. It caught the cart path and kicked another 50 to 100 yards into absolute junk, way left of the hole. I was already taking a penalty stroke, then my drop landed on a patch of bare dirt with no realistic chance of advancing the ball.
So I moved it onto grass.
Watkins saw me do it. I don’t care.
I’m already taking the penalty. I’m not making a 10 because my legal drop happened to find the one unmaintained patch of ground in the area. I moved it a few inches, hit the green, and made bogey.
If Watkins wanted to Max me, he absolutely could have. I would have called him an asshole. He probably would have told me, “Fuck you.”
The funny part is we’d both think we were right.
Technically, he’d be right. But I’m not playing on the PGA Tour. I’m out with my friends trying to have a good time. Golf has always lived in that gray area between the letter of the Rules and what feels fair to the people actually playing.
That’s why I love this video. It isn’t really about a ruling. It’s about the strange little courtroom that every foursome becomes whenever something weird happens. Everyone has an opinion, everyone is convinced they’re right, and somehow everyone still tees it up together on the next hole pissed off at each other. Adam and I still laugh about his 79. Well, I do.
Recent Comments