By Alan M. Watson, President, GOLF+ PCB
In every round of golf that I’ve ever played, I’ve hit a bad shot. Sometimes I’ve even hit more than one bad shot. Shocking I know! But the good rounds versus the bad rounds – what was the difference? A short memory.
When you dwell on your mistakes, your poor choices, your chili dips and your chunks, your short putts and your sliced drives that went OB, then you can’t focus on the next good shot you intend to hit. Simple advice I’m quite aware. Easy to say but much harder to do. Yes, we all know what to do, yet it’s the execution that is much more difficult.
I haven’t taken much time for golf this year. Work, travel, and a little bit of rest have taken priority but in my last three rounds, I’ve scored surprisingly well compared to what I expected when I arrived at the course. The key for my better than average scores has been in my memory not in my shotmaking. Sure I have made some putts and I have hit a bunch of fairways but the best club in my bag lately has been forgetfulness. Hit a bad wedge shot – ok then – let’s hit the next one close. Misread a green and leave myself four feet for par – no problem. Drive a tee shot into the water – that’s okay – I can still score from here. My attitude and my ability to shake things off has led to three great rounds and I know why. By accepting the fact that the bad shot or shots are inevitable I have removed the anger fit that comes after hitting that shot. In other words, I already made up my mind that I was going to flub one here or there so when it happened I wasn’t surprised. Sure I wasn’t happy, but I wasn’t shocked that it happened. And because I wasn’t shocked I was able to keep my composure and play on. Would I like to hit each shot exactly as I had hoped? Sure. But having made peace with imperfection I can play and have a good time and keep reasonable expectations and have fun.
I’m certainly not advocating for a negative mindset that is ready to make mistakes. I’m simply saying that no one has ever played the perfect round of golf and so having a more balanced approach gives us a chance to enjoy ourselves without getting too upset when things don’t go right. And the best part is that with a short memory we can get back to hitting good shots rather than stewing on the negative shots.
Try it sometime. I think you’ll be a lot happier. And more realistic.
Fairways and Greens!
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