I had been reading up quite a bit during the last couple of years, Netflix movies and internet got a lot of my time at the beginning but they gradually took a second seat to old fashioned reading. Internet source still not matching up to the volume and coverage from all the books that were written.
Anyway, came across a few golf related books and one in particular sparked my interest. The book exposed the mental state from some of the top golfers from the 40’s to the 90’s.
It explored the mental state of these great golfers, in particular how they dealt with tournament golf in bad weather and the unfortunate bad bounce which all golfers would encounter.
Nicklaus liked to read the Sunday Newspapers at breakfast to see if any participant in the tournament complained to the Press about the weather, the bad bounce they had … he’d mentally chalked them off as a potential competitor for the trophy.
Watson really enjoyed playing in the windy, rainy condition instead of a sunny calm day. He thrived on getting out of a bad situation to make the impossible Watson’s Par. Had his body not failed him, he’d won the Open at the age of 59.
Bad golf shots happen to every golfer, the difference is how one handle them.
We could witness plenty of bad situation by watching the golf tournaments on televised events. How the players come out of the situation, interested me the most.
I had discover this from long ago by golfing with some good local golfers; the difference between a 10 index and a scratch is how one could get out of the trouble spot by playing smart golf.
One of the guy had won several City event made no hero shots when he was in trouble. He told me the trick is to stop the bleeding and not to make it worse. Everyone will make mistake on the golf course, the one who can deal with the issues will come out ahead.
So how do you deal with bad weather? Unfortunate bounce which turned a good golf shot into a bad one? Undesirable playing partners?
The last by playing a lot of rounds by myself!
Seriously though, the essence of golf is to understand that it’s you against the golf course, including the weather conditions, and on any particular day, the course may throw things at you that will hurt your score. How you react to those things helps determine how much those things will hurt your score.
Playing yesterday, I was faced with a short third shot into the green of a par 5, about 25 yards away with the green elevated about six feet from my lie. I figured a bump and run was the shot. I hit the shot just a little short of my intention and probably should have landed short of the fringe, but when the ball landed, instead bouncing up a couple of times and coming up short of the green, the ball hit something and went dead left, rolling back down the hill, ending up approximately the same distance as I started but now off to the left of my previous lie.
This is where the reaction comes into play. I had hit a mediocre bump and run but got a result much more miserable than I deserved. For the next shot, I again figured the bump and run was correct but made a slight adjustment from my first attempt. The second hit a foot or two higher than the first, bounced a couple of times, ran up on the green, and almost dropped in the hole.
Had I reacted differently, maybe I don’t realize the small mistake I had made on the first attempt could be corrected by a slight adjustment. Maybe a hot temper would have affected my feel on the second shot, leaving me a difficult putt for par and maybe even a long enough putt that might have resulted in a three-putt.
Almost all professional athletes I’ve ever read about seem to talk about their disappointments more than their accomplishments, but I believe that in the moment, they are able to drop the immediate disappointment and focus on the next task at hand.
I’ve found that in life in general, not just golf, it can be helpful sometimes to react to something bad by immediately thinking of the positive aspects of the situation. It’s a bit pollyannish, I know, but stopping for a second “to smell the roses” can reduce the negative effects so that you can focus on what is important, the next shot.
Strangely enough, the last sentence of Hogan’s Five Fundamentals, provides some (perhaps unintentional) advice regarding a postive attitude. “Whether my schedule for the following day called for a tournament round or merely a trip to the practice tee, the prospect that there was going to be golf in it made me feel privileged and extremely happy, and I couldn’t wait for the sun to come up the next morning so that I could get out on the course again.”
If someone perceived as taciturn as Hogan could feel that way about golf, maybe it’s an atttiude we can copy when we’ve just seen the golf gods turn against us again.
Very true.
In golf, there is always the next day. In life, our time/opportunity will run out first before we realized the urgency.
When I was much younger, the only goal on the golf course was to go low in scoring. Now, I appreciate being on the golf course, being with friends. Sometimes I’d spotted more scenery on a golf course which I played for more than 3 decades.
You were correct on how we handle the “situation” on the golf course and in life often determine the outcome. One of my close friends had a divorce and bankruptcy 15 years ago. He still had a good job but lost everything else. He bounced back in 6 years, has a new family and is doing very well.
Looking at all the success stories, most the known names had their shares of ups and downs. Many had multiple bankruptcy before they finally ended up where they were.
Golf is more an instant reward than lifelong trial. We can have a series of bad shots and all it takes is one great golf shot to keep us in this game.
I very much enjoy the game. I learned in the beginning not to have highs and lows… stay steady. At my peak, I really had trained myself to just deal with one shot at a time. I was taught to do my utmost to avoid a Double Bogeys. I had a streak through almost 2 years of playing, about 35 rounds in a row where I broke par 6 times and never scored higher than a 77. I can turn that on and off a little bit now, I just play to have fun, I’m not trying to beat someone elses brains in… so I vary alot of shots, I hit Driver alot, even though it is not the required shot… why? Just because I can! It’s fun. If playing conditions are slow, I slow down. In rain, I take the extra club, I swing the same, wind same thing. One thing I learned a very long time ago, is how to flight my ball in windy conditions, just through position in my stance and a short follow thru. I learned to accept what each shot yields, hit it, find it, hit it again philosophy. 2 weeks ago, while we were waiting on a tee, I noticed a Blue Heron in the pond fishing… we spent 15 minutes watching it stalk a fish and spear it. Here’s my TOP 10 LIST of what I know about this sport. 1) it’s expensive 2) you have to be patient, you’re going to deal with some sort of adversity out there 3) you have to be able to deal with humiliation, like not getting out of a bunker or someone picking up your ball in a match and your partner says oh well lost ball, I win the hole! or the ever dreaded “it’s still your turn” quote. 4) you have to put in the work to improve and even with that, improvement is in small increments 5) everyone has the same troubles you do at some point 6) it’s a great way to make friends 7) a great player or very good player although amazing to watch, is also incredibly boring. You know how I said hit it, find it, hit it again, a very good player isn’t looking to find their ball. Yeah, they just hit it walk to it and hit it again! Back to the expensive part; a poor player might take 120 swipes at the rock, A very good player 75 swipes. Who got their moneys worth? 
8) you ain’t playin baseball at Yankee Stadium, but you could play St Andrews and can compare your game on any given hole to Jack Nicklaus! 9) you can play the game almost until you drop dead! 10) If you have a spouse that plays, well nothing more fun than that! (except what happens later when you get home!)
Very keen insight. I agree with all of the points especially the “expensive” part.
Golf around here has never been cheap, but it seems to be affordable through the years. If one is not expecting the resort type or the top 100 golf courses; a municipal or public daily fee were always withing reach for anyone who want to participate.
By growing the game, more golfers on the scene, even with additional new built the golf courses started to feel like out of reach for many of the retired folks with fix income.
I often wonder with the inflation going without relieve in sight, will this game remain being affordable for the general public. When it gets to a level that golfers need to think of the alternative use for the green fees, that’s the breaking point when someone will be leaving the game.
Numerous of the golfers in one of the groups left the game after 3+ decades. These are the ones who used to golf at least once a week and participate in monthly tournament play.
Many more will give up the game when the cost becoming concerning. The dream of playing golf after retirement might not be financially feasible for many.
My home course is a muni. I used to belong to a Private Course, but the cost went out of control years ago. I mean Trump Natl Philly is across the street… it’s an annual $10K note to sniff it. I’ve been playing at a muni for the last 15 years, 3 years ago I qualified as a senior. So join the Association for $70, get a county card, Senior walking Rate on Saturdays is $30 and we play 27 holes. So pretty good deal. Anything else in the area… $85-$175 a round… I’m not that wealthy. I mean, I thought Drivers were expensive at $399, now they are $599. Set of irons, a solid set, I paid brand new for my Forged set 30 years ago… $399 and that broke me…You’re not sniffing some of these sets today for less than $900 and that doesn’t include wedges or low irons… utility clubs sold separately. $55 for 12 Titleist? NUTZ… it’s not a common man sport at the moment.
Not sure how to overcome this hurdle! It is not an issue between the ears. It is hard dinero. I had learned to overcome to ignore the climate, the indifferent golf course design, the bad bounce off a good golf shot; but the squeeze of economy is something I have no solution.
Senior round at my closest Muni golf is $36 weekdays, walking and $62 weekend. plus cart fee if one decided to walk. These are the “senior rate” The greens were just aerated and sanded but the rate is the same.
Used to be $28 weekdays senior rate, not to mention I had paid $19.25 not that long ago for regular green fee.
This is one of the issue which we have no control of. I told my wife, who just picked up the game not long ago to prepare for her retirement in a few year, that she can enjoy the game and I had my share for 4 decades now so, I’ll get the steak for dinner.
Last year’s models and ebay/GolfWRX etc…
But yeah, I feel ya’. My new driver was like 500, and I didn’t get an upcharge shaft. (No reason, when the basic Alta was that automatic for me.) Add a Velocore on there, if you can get one, and we’re talking another 350. Let’s not mention Autoflex…
The dirty secret is that, with adjustable heads/hosels and fitting, the woods are about as good as they’re going to be. It’s a lot like chasing the latest graphics card in computer gaming. IME, you have to wait about four-five generations before you notice a real difference. Of course, if you’re a hobbyist? Rock on. But me, I’m waiting a few years.
The 905R i moved up from, would probably be perfectly fine in another shaft, at another lie. As ultra-forgiving as a 425 Max? No, but does it need to be? OTOH, the System2 TaylorMade that the 905R replaced for me? Yeah, quite a bit of improvement. (Still a wonderful driver if you flushed it though. 300+ yds at Pebble. Downhill helped… Despite it being the size of a modern 3W.)
But the price of modern clubs—and fees, and everything else—has gotten stupid. I found what i hope will be my bargain set. Had i not, i think I’d be on the phone with Sub70. I think @Craigers is onto something there, and they sound like fantastic people.
Just speaking directly about equipment and not green fees but over the history of golf the increase in equipment prices is extremely minimal when compared to almost anything else. TM Bubble shaft driver was $499 in 1998 of the rack, somewhere near $1000 in todays dollars. Hack it Out did a podcast on this, pretty interesting. The increases we have seen recently could have been easily predicted.
Not saying golf is cheap or even affordable for everyone. Green Fees have gotten insane and being a club member is super expensive. Was talking to a member at a local club in my area and his bill averages north of $1000/mo. Mine is about $400/mo. for my club. Different clubs and different individuals however either way it is pricey.
If you compare the top shelf equipment from the 80’s and the 90’s, I agree with the inflation rate calculated the iron sets are not outrageous.
But, the price from those years could be recouped much easier than today’s. Older generation of iron sets will last for decades, you can still see them in the bags these days. I’d bet the new iron sets will disappear from wear and tear in less than a decade if they last that long. I paid near a thousand for a set of Hogan Apex in the early 80’s 1-sw and it’s still in the bag. It could get close to half the price I paid today if I decided to let it go; but no chance.
Private membership is never about the cost but the opportunity to rub shoulders with those in the “same class” or the “same social status”.
So many of my friends quit the private memberships from about early year of 2000. The trend has not stopped. Watch out for “special assessment” from the private club to all members, for capital improvement. One top end local club lost a lot of members when they announced to rebuild the club house to keep up with the competition. $39K special assessment for their members in the early 90’s. Another guy dropped his membership ( with equity" he surrendered the membership without claiming the equity since there was a waiting list to “sell” the membership. $600/mo ( back in the 2004) and he played only a handful of rounds each year. When the tax law changed, no more write off for golf club membership… the membership dropped quite a bit. With the $1000/mo dues, one could travel and play the top 100 public golf course several times over.
Unaffordable green fee/member dues will be the reason many quit this game. One only buy the equipment once every few year, that could be budget for. Weekly or monthly hit with green fee or membership due are the ones which will make people think twice.
Outside of this country, golf is more a privileged event. Don’t go backward on this for thee be no recovery if we let it happen.
Agree completely with this. It’s a tough scenario, keeping courses in decent shape is expensive any way you slice it, so somebody has to pay for it. Could get real interesting in CA in the next decade with the water issues in this state. I am positive that most clubs don’t have a budget that will support any expense for water.
Mismanagement for the appropriated fund marked for maintenance.
Municipal golf courses are not supposed to be a money maker for the government to use the income from the golf courses on other projects. What’s generated from the green fees goes back to the golf course first. Instead of milking the cow to feed the world. 40,000 + rounds played per year is a lot of money for any Municipal golf courses. They are also funded by the tax collected from the properties tax and should be treated as it was intended to serve the general public like a public park. They are not a private country club. If the city could not make do, then should look into having a private contractor manage the maintenance; at the present time the city insisted on using their parks and recreation crew to do the maintenance.
As for water shortage, nothing wrong with dormant grass in the fairway and the rough. Slow drip lines under the green should keep the greens healthy and use very little water. Yes, I’m thinking when there is shortage of potable water then, we’ll see no water for golf courses period. They need to look into how the other country, manage the golf courses in the Winter and the Summer. It’ll be a different look without the lush green grass in the fairway; but it’ll be golf.
Received this message from a friend the other day and I thought about it after the second glance, the message mirror the game of golf and match the thoughts from many of the great golfers in their publication regarding the mental state on the golf course.
Stop the bleeding from getting worse, minimized the lost and move on, focus on the only shot in front of us, one shot at a time, one hole at a time, it’s not that hard to do if e are used to the routine.