All the ways to suck or not at this game

Oct 7, 2025, 5:14 PM•golfdigest

Golf Digest

Pardon the indelicate word, but “suck” is the frontrunning theme of our October/November Issue. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Dear Readers,

Pardon the indelicate word, but “suck” and all its variants of meaning is the frontrunning theme of our October/November Issue. If you played golf with other humans recently, or worse, tuned into the Ryder Cup, you almost certainly heard worse.

With the squarest strike, Jerry Tarde asks why we golfers are so hellbent on self-deprecation compared to other recreationalists. “You never hear, ‘I ski, but I’m lousy at it.’ Or ‘I play tennis, but I stink,’” Tarde writes in The Golfer’s Paradox.

For Hollywood producer Shonda Rhimes, the golf course became an unexpected sanctuary when she took up the game to support her young daughter’s interest despite observing, “I sucked. I sucked hard” in a new bonus chapter to her book Year of Yes: 10th Anniversary Edition, which she shared exclusively with Golf Digest.

Staying with Hollywood, I figured better late than never for my film review of Happy Gilmore 2. Believe it or not, I surprised many of my colleagues by asserting that their negative takes of the movie sucked.

As usual, our salvation comes from the hands of a worldclass player. In a cover story produced in collaboration with Jon Rahm, senior editor of instruction Ron Kaspriske explains the counterintuitive ways all amateurs, even if they don’t possess the requisite strength and athleticism, can benefit by copying the Spaniard’s very short backswing.

Until you try it, well, you know how you’re likely going to play.

Feeling your same pain always,

Max Adler, Editorial Director

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