Big Break

As much as I have a distaste for reality TV, I am excited for this season of Big Break on the Golf Channel. It's about golf after all, and they're all essentially trying to do the same thing as me. They are just a smidge further along the path than I am. You have the essential cast of characters, the annoying "I love me" guy (K-Max); the angry guy (Blake); several associated-with-famous-people guys (Andrew, Andreas, Mike); the nice guy (J.R.) and a pair of brothers and an Olympic gold medalist to spice things up.

The thing that amazes me is how unimpressive the first show was. The first challenge was to pick one of three lies; fairway, rough, and bunker; and be the closest to the pin. Even from the fairway lie, nobody was closer than seven feet. The second challenge was to pick a distance between 100 and 200 yards and hit the green. That's it. And three of them missed! Come on, you have to be a scratch golfer to be on the show and you can't hit the green from the fairway at a distance that you chose? I think that's the thing about golf that is so hard to grasp. You don't have to dazzle to play good golf, you just have to be consistent. Be in the fairway, on or close to the green in regulation, and you should par most holes. It seems so easy! I guess it's the nerves.

For now I'm rooting for J.R. for no other reason than he's the nice guy. We'll see how that goes next week. I'm also looking forward to the crazy challenges that the producers concoct.