“Golf is a game that is played on a five-inch course – the distance between your ears.”
– Bobby Jones
While writing this post, I typed in ’10 Greatest Collapses in Golf History’, and oh man did the 1999 British Open deliver. Rather than try to describe Jean Van De Velde’s epic meltdown, I’ll just leave this link here, its 14 minutes well worth it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QV8Qj91T3o0. The commentary had me laughing out loud, and the meltdown itself is all too relatable. I would love to hear a professional’s assessment of my game as I hit my third ball into the bush to go +8 through three holes.
For me, the mental aspect of golf has always been the most challenging. I’m reasonably athletic, in good shape, and relatively young – I possess all the physical attributes one would want to be a good golfer. I have a passable swing, long backswing and full follow through. When I inevitably struggle, I regularly get some variation of ‘your swing looks fine, I don’t know what’s going on.’ Meanwhile, I know. Where my game falls apart, like many, is not in my swing, but between my ears. While I would no longer consider myself as having a temper, the closest I get to getting angry these days is a shank into the bushes or a bladed chip. Unfortunately for me, my bad shots seem to come in bunches.
If I’m going to consistently score in the 80’s, I cannot have strings of triple bogeys because I checked out mentally after I bladed a chip 20 yards past the green. The great golfers still make poor shots, they just have the mental fortitude to look past their poor shot, and continue to make good decisions on the golf course. The fastest way for me to improve my score is to learn to accept bad shots and let them go, saving bogey where needed.
Breaking Ninety 