The LPGA Tour’s Amy Olson, who holds the NCAA record for most Division I individual tournament victories, opened up for us in the 2019 Links Players Magazine–about her disappointing runner-up finish at last fall’s Evian Championship, about marriage and family, about loneliness on the Tour, and about her faith. The magazine is on the way to mailboxes this week. (Need one? Order here)

Apart from that article, however, we found some great interview outtakes from Amy, including the pleasure she takes in puzzle building and pickleball.

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PUZZLES WITH MOM
One of the biggest things I like about puzzles is that growing up my mom and I did them together. So it was especially quality time between me and my mom. I feel like sometimes you have the best conversations when you’re not staring eye-to-eye, having that eye contact. I remember having the best conversations with my mom growing up doing puzzles together. I think that was kind of what got me into it, that spending time. And then I just love the details, looking at, OK, this color matches this, or this shape should fit in here. There’s a sense of accomplishment when everything gets organized and put into the right formation. So it’s a combination of things, but the main thing that got me into it was the relationships—my uncle did it all the time when he was home for Christmas—just the memories I would have around it. I loved that aspect.

So if you had a minute, you’d sit down and work on it?
If you had a minute, then it turned into an hour. But in the winter, there was always a puzzle going.

Was there a method to our assembly?
Start with the frame, then usually there’s a solid section, like a barn or house or an animal. Do that next, then slowly kind of work into the things that have less distinct differences. But always frame first.

Do you have a favorite scene for your puzzles?
Most of my favorites were landscapes or if there’s animals on them. That outdoors theme is kind of my favorite.

PICKLEBALL AND GRANT
We have a lot of things that we really enjoy doing. Pickleball, that’s been a lot of fun for us, we do that quite a bit, and tennis. We’ve been trying to find activities where we’re equal. You’ve got to think about a linebacker. He’s spent a lot of time working on footwork and moving around, moving back and forth, side to side. So he’s really good at anything that requires footwork. I’ve spent my entire life planted in one spot on the ground. But hand-eye coordination, that’s where I shine. So like ping pong, that’s my gift. So pickleball and tennis kind of combine the two, so it’s a pretty level playing field. We enjoy that. We’re pretty competitive.

Have you learned much from pickleball or tennis that you can transfer to your golf game?
In pickleball, you can’t really think about it. The ball’s coming at you fast and you have to react. I think that’s helped me approach golf a little bit like that, coming up to a shot and instinctively feeling what you’re going to do rather than when I tend to get too mechanical—OK, this is where my right elbow needs to be, you know, a list of things. You can’t play that way. So that approach in pickleball of, OK, ball coming at me, instinct, whatever shot you’re visualizing, instantly you have to react, trying to have that approach in golf, I’ve learned a little bit from pickleball.

Anything else?
Every once in a while when the ball goes high in pickleball, you need to slam it. It’s called a putaway. So you try to slam it at your opponent’s feet. It’s an opportunity to be really aggressive and win the point. Now when I have a birdie putt, I kind of think about it like a putaway in pickleball. It’s now or never, and being aggressive with it. I like how that transfers as well, because a lot of times in golf I can tend to get a little bit conservative, lag it up there, whatever it is, trying not to hit a bad shot instead of, This is what you need to do, so execute it.

My first steps into the local pro shop in 2019 produced the desired effect: argumentation.

I’m only half kidding. I wasn’t trying to stir up an argument. And it was already going before I got there. And maybe it was closer to a discussion than an argument. But the pot was stirring, and it made double sense here, in the hometown of Bryson DeChambeau.

By now, you’ve guessed the point in question. Should I or shouldn’t I putt with the flagstick in? If you’re in a climate warm enough to be playing golf this time of year, you’ve probably already done some thinking on this. You have, like me, perhaps already played a round where the decision was being made “in real time,” as they now say. But if you’re like DeChambeau, you may still be undecided.

In case you missed it, the five-time PGA Tour winner kept true to his December word by leaving the flag in often during his opening round of 2019, at the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii. And it seemed to be working. The putts kept going in. Of course, would DeChambeau needed to be convinced of was that at least one of those putts would not have gone in if the flagstick had been out. Apparently, he wasn’t so sure, because as the tournament progressed, DeChambeau was using the flag less and less. He had his reasons, though, and some of them show up on our list of pros and cons that may help you decide whether to keep the flagstick in the next time you’re putting.

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First, here’s a quick review of the new rule, which was changed to help speed up play. You now have three choices when putting from on the green. One, you may take the flagstick out before you putt. Two, you may have the flagstick tended (though if the tending party does not remove the flagstick and your putted ball strikes it, you are penalized the same two shots you’ve always been). Or three, you may leave the flagstick in and putt without concern of penalty should the ball strike the flagstick.

Now, consider our pros and cons of leaving the flagstick in.

PROS

– The science seems to prove you’ll make more putts with the flagstick in. Short game guru Dave Pelz wrote a piece posted on golf.com last week where he talked about a study he conducted as far back as 1990. He’s convinced you’ll make more putts with the flagstick in the hole. The leading player in my local pro shop agrees with him.

– The flagstick narrows your focus on the center of the target. This may be especially helpful if you are the type of putter who likes to hit your putts firmly rather than die them in. But it’s true that all of us can become better putters if we visualize a target smaller than the hole itself.

– From longer lagging distance, where the consistency of your speed is less reliable, hitting the flagstick may not keep the ball in the hole but will at least keep it near the hole. This same idea would hold true for severe downhill putts, no matter the length. The principles here may sound similar to those you’ve already been using for chipping from off the green.

CONS

– Your eyes aren’t used to it. You may just be too used to the old way of doing things to feel comfortable with a change. And even guys like Dave Pelz will tell you that comfort producing confidence goes a long way on the putting green.

– The flagstick is a narrow target. If putting with the flagstick makes you more aggressive, the result will be worse if you miss that dead-center target.

– You’re bothered by the flag or its shadow. DeChambeau mentioned this was something that made him uncomfortable in the Hawaiian tradewinds. A windblown flag makes noise and a dancing shadow can mess with your line of flight. If these bother you, you might want the flagstick out.

VARIABLES

There are a couple of variables in making your decision as well.

– The science seems to favor keeping the flagstick in, as long as that flagstick is made out of fiberglass. These fiberglass flagsticks are nearly universal on the PGA Tour, but at home you may have a metal flagstick. Then the science isn’t so clear.

– If the flagstick is moving in the wind, or it doesn’t sit well in the bottom of the cup, you might want to take it out. But not so fast–Pelz’s study notes show that the advantage probably remains even if the flagstick is leaning toward or away from you.

In the end, here’s to making more putts in 2019, however you get it done!

Links Players Atlanta representative Josh Nelson’s new book, Stop Calling Me Christian: Discovering the True Gospel of Jesus, has just released. You can find it on Amazon here, but we’re headstarting you with an excerpt today.

The inability to recognize God’s true nature is the first sign of Phariseeism. The problem is that it is difficult to recognize our own inability to see something that is invisible in nature, especially if it is not “of this world,” as Jesus said under trial about the kingdom of God. A Pharisee relies on human effort to be “set apart” from the world. Jesus and later the apostle Paul, a reformed Pharisee himself, spoke often against this human tendency, but eventually it worked its way right back into the beliefs and practices of the very people who claimed to be adherents to Jesus’s and Paul’s teachings.

Today, these people are most commonly called Christians.

The word Christian has many connotations, and depending on one’s personal beliefs and experiences, they may be positive or negative. Regardless, we must acknowledge that it has become an extremely polarizing word today.

Many people are very proud to use the word Christian, just as I did for many years. It is hardly a coincidence that pride can be a good Christian’s greatest stumbling block. Ever since the enemy of God used human pride to trip up man in the garden of Eden, God has warned us to guard against pride.

It was not just an issue for the Jews in the old covenant, but it continues to attack Christians in the same way it did for many years before Jesus. Many of the ancient prophets, such as Isaiah and Hosea, expressed God’s distaste for what Israel’s religious practices became, yet despite repeated correction, these devoutly religious people did not turn from their self-reliance or man-created traditions. Woefully, some of the very things from which Jesus came to free humankind have reemerged as the focal point for many Christians today, even as they wave the banner of Christ.

It is because of my personal background that I know this all too well.

(excerpt from Stop Calling Me Christian: Discovering the True Gospel of Jesus, copyright 2018 by WestBow Press)

Priscilla Du Preez