I was standing in the left rough after a clanky, hooky drive. I hit a nine-iron that made my hand rattle to its core and my throat issued a growl of displeasure. Then the ball went in the hole for an eagle-two and I realized in that moment that the golf score is irrelevant.

That little episode took place more than 20 years ago on the Idaho Palouse. It was my first hole of the day and nobody was there to witness it. I’ve since had many more holes and full rounds that prove score is meaningless when assessing one’s game as a whole.

Last summer, I turned in a 76 in the opening round of the Palmer Invitational. I hit the ball terribly that day and left the course feeling like I needed to make some serious adjustments to my game, but five people in the clubhouse complimented me on a nice round. They weren’t there to see the round, but saw the score and made assumptions. I’m never unappreciative of people noticing I shot a decent round and complimenting me, but I find it interesting how score alters an outsiders view of one’s game.

To go back to a single-hole example, earlier this summer, I was playing the fourth at AGC. I hit a perfect drive, a perfect 8-iron and made double bogey, because I misjudged the wind and my approach sailed right over the flag and under a tree behind the green. I left that hole thinking about how awesome my two swings were and how great my game felt, but to anyone following my score on the Grint it probably looked like I hit one sideways off the tee.

An outsider has no choice but to judge another player’s golf game by their score, because they aren’t there to watch the player play. In reality, however, we shouldn’t judge any other golfer’s game by their score, because it is not the best indicator of how good a player is.

I am often amazed when I meet new golfers in Alaska, many who don’t bother to play in tournaments, and I find out how good some of these players are. Watch them hit a shot or two and you can see they have serious game, even though they may have shot an 84.

I look forward to seeking Alaska’s best players, as that is really the mission of this blog. I’ll do my best not to judge golfers by their scores as much as what I see from them in person on the golf course.

A handful of new golfers who jumped out at me last year as previously unknown, but impressive were Jeff Turner, Erik Thompson, Michael Boothman, Russell Marion and Josh Ellis.