Neal Shipley’s favorite math theorem? Ito’s lemma.
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As you may have heard, the pace of professional golf is often glacial.
This is a challenge for those watching at home, but it’s a problem for those participating in the slow crawl. Golf is the famous mental gameand nervousness can only increase if you are forced to spend 10 minutes or more on each hole in the company of your thoughts. As a result, golfers have gone to great lengths to find alternative solutions for the moments in between the big moments talking about nothing between player and caddy, or breathing tricks to slow down the central nervous system.
But as it turns out, one professional golfer has found an unusual solution to the problem of golf pace: advanced mathematics.
In an interview published on the official Korn Ferry Tour social media channels, beloved mullet owner and former lowam champion Neal Shipley talked about his unique zen strategy on the course: SAT Math.
“Last year, my caddy printed out math problems for the SAT and we did them on the golf course,” Shipley said. “Then we would go back to the hotel and check my work to make sure we did it right.”
Shipley says he has always had a knack for math — he has a degree in quantitative finance with minors in math and economics. However, there is a certain irony in pursuing mathematics during your career these days: For a long time, the 24-year-old believed that mathematics would be the center of his professional life, not a distraction from it.
“At first, then [math] that was the game plan,” Shipley said. “[I thought I would be] I deal with finances and I am a statistics specialist. I always loved golf and wanted to play golf professionally, but you know, I always had it in my back pocket where I could take care of the finances. [It wasn’t until] when I finished with James Madison and saw that I was playing really good golf, I put it on the back burner.”
How proficient is Shipley? Well, we’ll let him answer.
“Ito’s lemma, this has always been my favorite equation. It’s more of an equation, more of a proof.
Of course, Shipley isn’t the first aspiring professional golfer to become proficient in math. The economics of professional golf at a level below that of the PGA Tour require skilled players cheating on small amounts. The business of professional golf depends on those who commit to small improvements. And of course, the job of scoring low on the golf course doesn’t require mathematical calculations.
“When we plan to build golf courses and prepare to attack holes, I think about numbers and probabilities,” Shipley said. “Because ultimately, when we take shots here, it just ends up being a shot distribution and you have to figure out how to put the target in the most optimal location for that distribution.”
In other words, for Neal Shipley, golf is a numbers game. AND slow golf?
Well, this is a game with several other people involved.
