Experts' Expert: "Use your putter cover in your golf bag"

Wrote New York Times golf writer Bill Pennington, "One of my favorite insights [from Sean Weir's new book, 'Putter Perfection: The Groundbreaking Guide to Finding The Right Fit for Your Game']: use your putter cover in your golf bag. Weir says a nick on the milling pattern of a modern putter can throw hundreds of putts offline. But people are more likely to worry about the cover on their driver, where a scratch may not matter so much."

I haven't played golf in a very long time: I'm thinking mid-to-late 90s, when I played 18 holes at UVA's Birdwood course with my late dad, my brother, and a good friend.

My friend called it "The round from hell" and it's hard to argue, at least from his perspective.

He's a very good golfer who once seriously considered trying out for the Senior Tour; my brother's pretty good; I'm terrible (as I recall I shot around 110 that day, though back in the day — a good day, admittedly — I was capable of a round in the 90s); and my dad was hopeless.

The thing that made it "The round from hell" was the constant back-and-forth between me, my brother and my dad:

"Joe, what club do I use, a wood or an iron?"

"A 6-iron."

"Are you sure?"

"Joe, he can't get there with a 6, he needs a 2."

"I don't know.... I'm going to use my driver."

Etc. etc., for five hours.

I'd like to take up golf — and tennis, for that matter, though my tennis is even worse than my golf — again in the near future.