If Dolly Parton played golf: rated 80, best at nerve

Dolly Parton as a golfer: scouting report

If Dolly Parton played golf, she would be the player who never looks rushed and never stays in trouble for long. She came out of the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and built a career that runs from the Grand Ole Opry stage to her own theme park in Pigeon Forge, and that same steady self belief sits at the top of her golf card. Her nerve is the best thing she has, and her course IQ is right beside it, so she plays the percentages, takes her medicine from the rough and rarely makes the big number that wrecks a round.

The scoring clubs are where she shines. Her short game and putting both grade out near the top of her card, which fits a songwriter famous for saying a great deal in very few words. Give her a delicate chip off a tight lie or a curling ten footer to save par and she will usually find the bottom of the cup. Her iron play is solid rather than spectacular, good enough to find the middle of most greens and leave the rest to her hands.

Driving is the honest weakness. She will give up yardage on most tees, which is why The Long Course Championship is her worst fit: long par fours that demand a big carry take her wedges out of play. The Links Open is the opposite. Firm ground, wind and bump and run shots reward imagination over power, and that is her kind of week. Draft her in the middle rounds, pair her with a long hitter who can handle the big venues, and point her at the seaside majors.

Plays like A crafty scrambler who wins with touch and a cool head

Put Dolly Parton in your lineup

5 rolls, a team of five, four majors. Can you win the Grand Slam? Free, no account.