Friday the 13th – How Superstitious Are You?!
Friday the 13th is one of the most superstitious things around; dating back to early Christianity and our characteristic fear of the number 13. People have gone as far as doing studies to show that you’re 50% more likely to have something bad happen just because of that one day falling on the 13th day of the month.
As golfers I think that we’re all superstitious, whether we acknowledge it or not. I know personally, I always have to do things in a certain way otherwise I’ll end up playing the worst round of my life. The right shoe always has to go on first. The number of tees in my pocket must always be the same otherwise I’ll feel out of balance. I always have to use the same coin to mark my golf ball with otherwise the end of the world will come. Of course, in reality, none of this probably makes any sort of difference. But at the time, in the heat of the moment, it feels like anything outside of the norm will just equal bogies.
One of the more well-known superstitions within professional golf is that Ernie Els, the four-time major champ from South Africa, firmly believes that a golf ball only has one birdie in it – every time he makes a birdie (of which he’s made a heck of a lot over the years), he has to then use a new golf ball on the next hole. This is the kind of thing us mere mortals can only dream of. Firstly an unlimited amount of golf balls must be an incredible feeling; most of us start to get a bit twitchy if we start running a bit low. Also, to be that confident of making that many birdies….if this was me I could be using the same ball for a very long time (of course this isn’t necessarily true as we could easily part ways deep in the jungle that is the heavy rough).
We’d love to hear what your superstitions are. Do you have to have a certain number of practice swings before you hit each shot? Will you only wear your lucky pants to play golf in? Do you have to have a specific number of beers after each round?! Let us know because the guys in Bunker HQ would leave to hear your weird and wonderful habits on the golf course.
The post Friday the 13th – How Superstitious Are You?! appeared first on Bunker Mentality Magazine.