Celtics rank their golfers, and Sam Hauser keeps landing on top

NBC Sports Boston asked the Celtics who the best golfer in the locker room is, and the answer kept coming back to Sam Hauser. In a four-minute video posted Tuesday, October 27, Chris Forsberg talks golf with the players, and nearly every ranking puts Hauser first, Mike Conley second and Payton Pritchard third.

The video shows the players in their jerseys rather than name graphics, so the names here come from matching those numbers to the current Celtics roster.

The rankings

Hauser places himself on top, though he says it's "not by a wide margin," with Conley and Pritchard "right there." Paul George goes Hauser, Conley, Pritchard, then Jayson Tatum, then himself and Derrick White at the bottom. White slots himself last of the six and gives the same top three. Baylor Scheierman also picks Hauser and says Pritchard plays the most. Tatum calls Hauser and Conley a toss-up on any given day, with Pritchard close behind.

Pritchard says Tatum hasn't beaten him yet and he doesn't see that day coming. He also praises the swings of both Hauser and Conley and notes that Hauser played high school golf. A non-player in the video says Hauser has been the best the longest, but Pritchard is so focused on getting better that he'll probably pass everyone because he plays so much.

Lefty, righty and a simulator

White calls this summer his "discovery summer." He didn't know if he was a left- or right-handed golfer, so he alternated holes, then lost his right-handed swing as the summer went on. Ron Harper Jr. says he is just trying to get to a 20 handicap and calls golf the most frustrating sport he has tried. Jordan Walsh says he isn't a golfer yet, but he tried a virtual simulator and had fun. He describes the simulator as the place to learn before getting fitted and heading out to a course.

Conley says the game gives the team another way to compete away from the court. On a team that can talk trash about last week's match play after a bad night, he sees that as part of the chemistry.

What to take from it

Walsh's path is a familiar one for new golfers: start in a sim bay, learn the basics, get fitted, then go to the course. If you're starting the same way, a fitting session on a launch monitor is a sensible next step once you're making steady contact.