Noise comes in all forms for pro golfers, but eating chips is worst

Imagine teeing off on Interstate 30 at I-35W. Try to ignore the SUVs and 4x4s screaming by, and try to split the asphalt fairway ahead.

Or imagine someone crunching down on Cool Ranch Doritos on your backswing.

What’s more distracting?

“The one thing that drives me nuts is when people are eating chips from a bag,” LPGA standout and Fort Worth resident Angela Stanford said. “That is the one thing that you always hear.

“You can always hear when people are eating chips. I don’t know why. It’s the crinkle from that bag. It’s so much louder from everything else.”

What about the roar from another green or those “You da man!” shouts that have lasted far too long?

“When you get out there and start playing, you really don’t pay any attention to that other stuff going on,” said PGA Tour golfer and Fort Worth resident Martin Piller, who will be competing in the Dean & DeLuca Invitational. “Your mind has a way of tuning it out and focusing on what you need to do. You’re much more focused on the golf course and the game. It’s amazing how your mind does that.”

The size of the gallery also has a way of playing with a golfer’s head. And not the way you might expect.

As Stanford alluded to, having just a few people around is often more disconcerting than a gallery reserved for Spieth, McIlroy, Day and Watson.

“Normal crowd noise actually is the energy that fuels the fun of playing the tournament,” said David Ogrin, a retired PGA Tour pro. “At a place like Colonial, which is packed and small, you’re playing 16, 17, 18, 10, 9 all right there by the clubhouse, there’s this background noise always there that players hear but don’t listen.”

Piller can hear a cough and people talking during those early-morning rounds where squirrels outnumber spectators.

Put him on the tee box at “The Coliseum” — TPC Scottsdale’s famed par-3 16th — and all is right with the world.

“Playing that stadium hole, honestly it’s easy because it’s like standing next to a freeway and hitting a shot,” Piller said. “Nothing really stands out.

“If it’s a big crowd, it’s similar to being in a crowded stadium like a Rangers game. It’s kind of a buzz. You can’t really pick anything out, so it’s easier play when there is a big crowd because you tune it all out.”

Those chips will get ya, right, Angela?

“That’s one where I back up because I’m usually thinking, What are they eating? Do they know they’re that loud?

“If people are talking, I tell my caddie, because I know they’re going to bother me and to ask them to be quiet before I get on to things,” Stanford continued. “Usually if I back off, it’s something that’s very sudden and very last second. I’m usually pretty aware of what’s going on around me before I hit it.”

Course management goes beyond plotting landing spots and attacking angles. Being conscious of the groups ahead and your position on the course relative to other holes is also an important strategic factor when dealing with noise.

“Players are always pretty aware of where they are on the golf course,” said Stanford, a five-time winner on the LPGA Tour. “If you’re on a third or fourth green and you know there is another green or tee box close, you know what to expect.

“You know what group is in front of you and when people are going to cheer or when people are going to yell. That has never bothered me.”

Just leave the Lay’s at home.

This story was originally published May 25, 2016 at 4:39 PM with the headline "Noise comes in all forms for pro golfers, but eating chips is worst."