Sam Snead, after hitting three beautiful 3-irons, was asked a question about them. So he hit again, but again he was asked.
He then hit a fifth time — and was asked a third time.
This response received just 10 words.
Peter Kostis is telling the story on the most recent episode of the “Kostis & McCord – Off Their Rockers” podcast, a GOLF production, and you can listen to the full episode here, or watch it here. It came to mind as Kostis and co-host Gary McCord hosted a clinic, and an audience member asked Kostis how to hit a draw — to which he responded by just hitting a draw himself.
Snead, a seven-time major winner, had once answered a question in similar fashion, as Kostis told it.
“Years ago, when I was working with Golf Digest Golf Schools, we had these VIP schools, which was a reduced number of students, low handicap, they paid a lot of cash, and we would go out and help them,” Kostis said on the podcast. “And my cart partner for three days a week during these golf schools was a guy — the name you possibly would remember — his name is Sam Snead.
“And so we’re out there with low-handicap school and the guy asks Sam — Sam is talking with a 3-iron, we’re at Pinehurst, and he said, ‘Look, all your clubs just don’t go one yardage; you can make them go different yardages. And he’s got a 3-iron, and we were about 200 yards from the middle of the green, and says, ‘Watch.’ And he hits a high fade with a 3-iron and it lands short, right, on the right-front part of the green. And then he hits a big, high draw, lands on the back corner, goes to the back of the green. And then he hits the high, straight 3-iron and it lands flag-high, in the middle of the green. He goes, ‘See, I made my 3-iron go 25 yards difference in distance by shaping my shot.’”
But there was a question, Kostis said on the podcast.
“This one guy goes, ‘But how did you get the ball to stop? I can’t get my ball to stop like that,’” he said. “And so Sam goes, ‘Well, I’m going to show you one more time.’ So Sam hits one more 3-iron, up on the green, one hop, stop.”
The man asked again, Kostis said on the podcast.
“The guy goes, ‘I know you can do it. But how can I do it?’” he said. “Sam goes, ‘Pay attention. I’m going to show you one last time.’ He hits the fifth 3-iron, up on the green.”
There was still confusion, Kostis said on the podcast.
“The guy goes, ‘That doesn’t help me. I know you can do it. You’re one of the greatest players ever. I want to know how I can do it,’” he said. “Now Sam is getting visibly frustrated because Sam is an artist — he demonstrates; he doesn’t talk a lot. So he says to the guy, he goes, ‘How far do you hit your 3-iron anyway?’ And the guy goes, ‘About 150.’”
And Snead responded with the 10 words.
“Sam goes, ‘What the hell do you want it to stop for?’” Kostis said on the podcast.
“So that was the end of that question.”
Editor’s note: To listen to the entire episode of “Kostis & McCord – Off Their Rockers,” please click here. To watch it, please click here or scroll below.
Nick Piastowski is a Senior Editor at Golf.com and Golf Magazine. In his role, he is responsible for editing, writing and developing stories across the golf space. And when he’s not writing about ways to hit the golf ball farther and straighter, the Milwaukee native is probably playing the game, hitting the ball left, right and short, and drinking a cold beer to wash away his score. You can reach out to him about any of these topics — his stories, his game or his beers — at nick.piastowski@golf.com.
