Six Words Is All It Takes


December 10, 2008

By Scott Smith, USGA

Think you could break 100 on Bethpage Black from the tips and set up for the U.S. Open? Enter the U.S. Open Challenge and you may get the chance to show the world you can. (John Mummert/USGA)
Word from our friends at Golf Digest is that the inspiration for the six-word signup for the 2009 U.S. Open Challenge came from Golf Digest Creative Director Bob Carney. His job was to brainstorm a way to top the 65,000 entrants to the 2008 Challenge contest who mustered up 100-word essays on why they thought they could break 100 at Torrey Pines in U.S. Open condition.

Carney recalled a writing contest that Ernest Hemingway entered as a youngster, to pen the world's shortest novel. Hemingway won with this tautly tragic piece of prose: "Baby shoes, never worn. For sale."

An average amateur playing 18 holes at Bethpage Black, under U.S. Open conditions and USGA Rules, will certainly involve drama; it may even end badly, but we're far from tragedy. As NBC Today Show host Matt Lauer said after playing in the first Challenge at Torrey: "It was the most incredible experience I've had on a golf course and yet the most horrifying." Lauer, a 6-handicapper, started off with a snap-hook on the first tee. He continued: "I remember at one point during the first four or five holes just being in a tizzy because I was playing so poorly, and then all of a sudden being reconnected to the reality of just what a special opportunity this day was."

Lauer's reality check came from a fan, who shouted, "Hang in there, Matt!" He looked over to the gallery and saw that it was none other than Fred Couples following the round from outside the ropes. "So no matter how miserable I felt about the way I was playing," Lauer said, "I kept thinking, 'How many millions of golfers out there would want to be in my golf shoes right now?'"

All it takes to put yourself in Lauer's shoes, in June at Bethpage Black, is six words.

Hey, how hard could it be? (That's six words right there.)

  • U.S. Open Story Of Year

  • What's Next For Annika

  • Palmer's Historic Visor Lands In USGA Museum

    • Related USGA Insider Links

    If you're judging by the bottom line, the six-word stricture is doing the trick: Since the start of the Challenge contest on Nov. 7, entries are running at roughly double last year's rate. Others are not convinced that settling on the right six words is so simple, as this hilarious exchange on a recent Mike & Mike sports talk show on ESPN2 suggests:

    MikeGreenberg: "The way you get to be a part of this foursome this year with [Michael] Jordan and whatever the other two celebrities they wind up getting, is a six-word essay.

    MikeGolic: Where was that when I was in school? Your home work tonight is write a six-word essay. Whoo-hoo!

    Mike: Let me tell you, to write a good six-word essay is much harder than a good 600-word essay.

    Mike: You added the word "good." I'll take my chances on a good six-word over 600-words.

    Mike: That's you.

    Mike: No, no, no. That's most of America.

    Mike: To write a good -- let me put it this way. It would be harder to write a six-word essay that would be worth reading than to write a 600-word essay.

    Mike: If you give somebody the choice of a 600-word essay over a six-word essay, we know which way they're going to go. End of story.

    That was hardly the end of the story for Mike and Mike that morning, as they spent many, many more words discussing the relative merits of six words vs. 600.

    To provide you with some inspiration, we took a sneak peek at some of the 20,000 or so entries submitted to date. For sure, most of the six-word entries play off the "I live for golf" theme, but it soon becomes clear that most of sign-ups fall into several basic archetypes, from the "Bring it on" boasters to the "What have I got to lose?" hopefuls to the "Watch my train wreck" types:

    The "Bring it on" golfers:

    Piece of cake, yes I can! Patrick, Ventura, Calif.

    Strong enough for the Bethpage rough. Michael, Highlands Ranch, Colo.

    Nothing compared to Baghdad Country Club! Nick, Pawleys Island, S.C.

    The "What have I got to lose?" golfers:

    Asked Wife Got Permission Coming Soon. Carlos, Guaynabo, P.R.

    We beat Russia in hockey, right? Jason, Frederick, Md.

    Please Please Please Please Please Please. Andrew, Cypress, Cal if.

    The "Watch my train wreck" golfers:

    The nation needs a good laugh. Edward, Minneapolis, Minn.

    Single Dad looking to embarrass daughter. Todd, North Port Carrier Annex, Fla.

    Dress Like Tiger. Swing Like Barkley. James, Bridgewater, Mass.

    Think you can do better? Think you could break 100 at Bethpage Black? Six words is all it takes to find out.

    The deadline to submit your six-word entry and optional 60-second Web video is Jan. 29, 2009. To sign up for the 2009 U.S. Open Challenge, click here .

    Scott Smith is Director of Communications, Editor. As a USGA staffer, he's not eligible to enter the U.S. Open Challenge, but if he could, the 14.3 handicapper's six-word entry would be, "A true miracle makes great TV" - because that's what it would take for him to break 100 from the U.S. Open tees at Bethpage Black.