MYRTLE BEACH GOLF

Chicks Dig the Long Ball -
Even off the Tee

By Shane Sharp,
Contributing Writer

Special for MyrtleBeachGolf.com

June 15, 1999

ATLANTA - For the first time in the 1990's, the earned run averages of Atlanta Braves aces Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine are quickly approaching their handicaps on the golf course.

This is a frightening trend if you are a Braves fan (despite the fact they still hold a comfortable lead the National League East), but it is also a statement about how well solid these heralded hurlers have been over the years on the diamond, and on the links.

While Maddux and Glavine both sport single digit handicaps, it is actually their oft over shadowed counterpart and weekend foursome member John Smoltz who boasts the lowest handicap on the staff.

With Smoltz delivering his traditionally dominating performance on the field this season (he has won more games than any major league pitcher over the past two seasons) can you imagine the amount trash talk taking place in the Braves locker room this year?

The trio takes every opportunity they can get to play in celebrity pro-ams during the offseason, and the guys don't seem to have to break out with a "Cy Young Award winners over here" bellow to get some attention from many of the tour players they are paired with.

"They're all good guys and pretty solid golfers," opined Lanny Wadkins during the 1996 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic . "They obviously have a lot of time to play golf - they only work once every five days. They're all very competitive, very focused when they're playing. Smoltz has the lowest handicap, but if I had to guess, it looks to me like Maddux has a lot of golf talent. Glavine can hit it wilder quicker than the other two."

We'll cut Glavine some slack since he was a rather talented hockey player at one point in his life. And the fact that Maddux may have the most latent golf talent comes as no surprise considering the athleticism he displays on the field (he is invariably one of the best fielding pitchers in baseball).

But Smoltzie is still the undisputed champ of the troika, and he takes as much pride in his golf game as he does in his hitting. A gifted athlete and a fierce competitor, Smoltz will not be denied at any sport he puts his mind and talents to.

In fact, Lanny Wadkins was not the only former Ryder Cup Captain to be impressed with the golf games of Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz. It seems they have also found a friend and fan in Tom Kite.

"They're all good players, but the thing that struck me was that because they're all such good athletes, they can incorporate any advice you give them into their game so quickly," Kite told reporters after a round with the Braves trio that has seven Cy Young awards between them.

"The other day, I saw Smoltzie on the practice green and he couldn't make anything. He was saying how many putts he'd missed during the round that day. I told him, 'Well, you've got too much weight on your back foot. Try putting more weight on your front side and getting your hands forward.' Fifteen, 20 putts and he had incorporated that into his stroke and was making putts, boom-boom-boom."

Just as Smoltz is not the only Braves hurler that is adept at making necessary changes in his game plan on the mound, he is also not the only Braves golfer able to repair his golf game on the fly.

"The same thing with Maddux," Kite went on to tell reporters. "Before our round, he was duck-hooking everything on the driving range. I gave him a little tip. He hit his first tee shot out of bounds but after that he was driving the ball great. Now, in both cases, you shouldn't be able to incorporate a change and trust it that quickly, but they did. That's just that athletic ability coming through."

For whatever the reason - the incredibly shrinking strike zone, Maddux's eyes, the neglect of Heather Locklear - Glavine and Maddux have not seen that athletic ability coming through for them this season between the lines.

Despite the fact that he got off to the first 4-0 start in his career, Maddux has left the majority of his pitches over the pate and hitters are taking advantage of these mis-located pitches, and the fact that Maddux has never thrown with much velocity. Glavine's problems have been even more elusive, in that he seems to be throwing like the Cy Young award winner from last year - just without getting some of the same calls on the outside of the pate.

Nevertheless, the Braves are getting it done behind the veteran arm of Smoltz and the timely tossing of youngsters Odalis Perez and Kevin Millwood. But if Maddux is as savvy at making the required adjustments on the mound as he is at the driving range, the most dominate National League pitcher of the 90's should be back on track after the All-Star break. After all, chicks may dig the long ball, but Atlanta chicks dig ERA, strikeouts, shutouts, and all things pitching.