15 March 2023|Golfing with gratitude
After reading "The Four Foundations of Golf" by Jon Sherman and listening to a recent "Hack it Out" podcast about consistency, I am committing to playing the most boring golf I can from now on! I know I talked a bit about this in my review of Jon's book but I think it's worth expanding on.
What do I mean by "boring golf"? Basically, keeping the ball in play, hitting fairways and greens and having two putts for par (or bogie at worst). Watching some of the disastrous scores at The Players Championship this weekend really brought home the concept that eliminating the blow-up holes can do more for your score than chasing birdies. I'm sure Taylor Montgomery would likely agree with that sentiment.
It sounds so easy, but I know it's not! My primary aim is to reduce the blow-up, high-scoring holes, by picking better targets. The secondary aim is to convert some of those two-putt pars into one-putt birdies. Hopefully the learnings from "The Lost Art of Putting" will help with the latter. It'll take discipline and patience and a commitment to stop going for the pin every time, unless I'm close enough that taking it on is the sensible option.
Implementation is definitely harder than theory. When I was working I always like the phrase "the difference between theory and practice is that in practice, the theory doesn't work". I'm definitely trying to practice what I preach though and for the few rounds I've played I've been pleasantly surprised with my scoring when I've kept the focus. There have still been a few lapses and poor choices that have derailed decent rounds but I can see them and will hopefully learn from them. With almost all of my play being on courses that I know well, it should be easy to go into rounds with a game plan and manage my way around. I should know the "sensible" shot for me and understand the impact of different weather conditions etc. I should also be old enough and sensible enough not to let other players club/shot selection impact mine and stick to my plan. There should be no macho "Oh, you hit a wedge there, I've got an 8i" stuff going on. While I know I shouldn't, it can still be tempting to go for that "hero" shot now and again rather than just getting the ball back into play post an error. Ask Min Woo Lee about his three shots to get out of the trees on Sunday. Equally as important will be keeping my expectations in check; stop getting too down on myself and not getting too far ahead of myself either. That is still difficult. I know I have the ability to play good golf but I have to recognise that not every shot will be good. The Four Foundations and The Lost Art of Putting are both really good at framing what is realistic and what's not so hopefully I can keep the devil in check.
This all sounds so easy, but I know it's not. However, it does feel like a mental switch has been flicked and I've definitely enjoyed my last few rounds since I've stopped obsessing over score and swing mechanics. The last two rounds have actually been poor front 9 scores and excellent back 9 scores with good total scores. They have actually been mentally rewarding and demonstrate the benefits of patience and sticking with a process. Sandy and other instructors have been great at working on my swing mechanics, but course and personal management have been left to me to figure out. I have to thank Jon again for pointing me in a better direction.
This also links back to my previous post about changing the thread from "Quest for scratch" to "Golfing with gratitude". I'd set some of my goals poorly and it was impacting how I played and my enjoyment of the game, as I was chasing the wrong things. Bring on boring!
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