Most golf around the United States is played on smooth, consistent, grain-free surfaces like Bent Grass and Poa. For players, this means the correct read of a putt involves calculating the tilt–uphill, sidehill, or downhill. But in hot areas of the country, especially the Southeast, you are going to find Bermuda Grass. Reading a putt on Bermuda requires finding the grain of the grass, which often changes multiple times before the ball reaches the hole. Pinehurst Resort has Bermuda Grass greens. And the Sendell boys can’t read them. A good analogy would be imagining your favorite short story–one that you practically know by heart–written in Mandarin Chinese.

Since Bermuda grows along the ground instead of standing straight up, the first key is figuring out the direction it’s growing. A big clue is if the surface looks light or dark. In simple terms, if it looks dark you are INTO the grain and the putt will roll more slowly. If it looks light or shiny, you are DOWN GRAIN and it will roll much faster. One can also look at the wear around the hole. The wear pattern shows a general direction, but just in that part of the green. So successful putting on Bermuda requires a read of the tilts and the multiple grain changes from ball to hole. And the grain can override the tilt. So if it looks like right to left, the grass can actually make it break left to right. Are you confused yet? My youngest son, who is like his Dad, can be logical to a fault. And his head was about to explode as he racked up another three putt.

Course #4 is widely considered the 2nd best course at Pinehurst. It resides comfortably in the Top 100 Courses of the United States and went through a Gil Hanse remodel eight years ago. This was the 7th course we have played with Gil Hanse’s fingerprints on it. You know what doesn’t have Gil Hanse’s fingerprints on it? A roll of food stamps.

Today, I am not going to bore my audience with another play-by-play of my mediocre 77 with one birdie. I am not going to talk about my oldest son’s brawl with a bunker face at the 5th. And I am not going to discuss my youngest son’s unhealthy obsession with pine straw. James the First had the shot of the day at the 7th. From about 30 yards out of the bunker to a tight pin, down grain, he hit it to a gimme. Course #4 is great and I recommend it highly, but I have a more important topic to address. ChatGPT’s stupidity when it comes to the subject of golf swings.

Over dinner at the Carolina Hotel, there was a decision made to input the golf swings of my sons into Chat GTP for an estimate of their handicaps. My youngest son, who is 25 years old, went first. He recently shot even par over 54 holes at The Clint Eastwood invitational and his handicap toggles between scratch and 2. Chat estimated his index was between 12-15. When prompted for more information, it broke down the different positions in his swing, which were either “great” or “pretty good.” It said he lacked good compression while at the same time saying he was likely hitting his driver 275 yards. As a 40 year golf professional, this hacked me off.

Then my oldest son, who is 27 years old and in the PGA program, inputted his swing. He is currently a plus 1.2. Chat estimated his handicap at 15-25. This led to us asking Chat for the estimated indexes of two of the very best players in the world: Rory McIlroy and Cameron Young. The answers? Rory was a 6 and Cam was between 2 -5. I am certain Chat would recommend that the undisputed best player in the world, Scottie Scheffler, should focus on a future as a ballroom dancer because of his foot movement.

To those of you that want to become better golfers, please do not use Chat, YouTube, Tik Tok, or any of these other platforms for advice or instruction. Every swing is like a fingerprint. You need the personal attention and individual roadmapping to get the most out of your game. I guarantee your body does not work like Rory McIlroy or one of these youthful college bombers you see on TV. Work on your short game and get full swing instruction from someone that can help you navigate your own personal journey in golf!

Boomer rant over.