Sculling your drive at the first tee, shanking every wedge close to the green, missing every short putt on the practice green every time someone with a better golf game than you walks by – yeah, we all know the drill. With better weather coming up, it might just happen that you have dusted off your clubs and are in the mood for some golf. However, if you recognize yourself above, these following minutes of reading might be useful before the upcoming golf season.
Low HCP Does Not Give You Any Bragging Rights
We all have that friend who plays around single handicap, never stops bragging about his good shots, and always has the top tier newest clubs in his bag. Whenever you play with this friend, all of his insane bombs down the fairway, Phil Mickelson like flop shots, sinking putts all over the dance floor, are just gone. This friend might blame his gear, the weather or he might come up with something like “today is not my day”. However, it is like this all the time, and everything this friend talks about is just never happening, at least not when he is playing with you. Everybody has a friend like this, and if you don’t – you are that friend.
Drive for Show, Putt for Dough
Yeah, I know it’s one of the most frequently used clichés in golf, yet it’s true. Golf is a game involving finesse and skill, not hitting bombs down the pipe like you would imagine looking at the TV. Let’s just take the now playing major tournament, the Masters, as an example. With greens undulated and fast like a parquet floor, not even the best ball striker in the world that isn’t able to putt would ever even be close to break 80, perhaps even 90!
Having said that, it’s very important to remember that playing safe sometimes might be the better play. Even though somebody might uplift the bragging rights of hitting a flush with your driver down the first tee, it is definitely not bragging rights shooting a bad score. With this said, sometimes it’s just better to play a safe iron down the fairway and focus on hitting the green on the following shot – so that you can putt for dough.
A Bad Putt is Always Better Than a Bad Chip
Well, in some cases this quote might just be what you need. Let’s assume the following:
The sun is shining, light but refreshing wind gusts are the only thing keeping you from being drenched in sweat. As you walk closer to the putting surface, you suddenly spot your ball right in between two of the bunkers just short of the green. In front of you there are five meters of fairway, half a meter of fringe, then comes the green. The flagstick is tucked to the edge of the green, and you have no more than nine meters from where you are standing to the hole. Slowly you grab your 60 degree wedge, trying to impress your fellow golf buddies with a fancy chip shot. As you start your swing, you feel confident of where you want your ball to end up – two meters short of the pin, then some roll and you will sink the putt for par. However, instead of doing what you just thought of, you hit a worm burner ending up in the rough behind the green – not again, you may think…
As portrayed above, hitting a chip shot might not be the right shot for you in the long run. One bad wedge can ruin a whole day of golf, and in some cases, you might just be better off hitting a putt from outside the green.
Golf is a beautiful game that can be enjoyed by anyone. Doesn’t matter who you are, where you are or what you dream of becoming – we all can enjoy the refreshing outdoor game that golf is. Nonetheless, golf can be tricky and with the wrong mindset, you might just not enjoy golf the way it should be enjoyed. How well you play is closely correlated with your mood for the day, and it shouldn’t be this way!
The next time you challenge your friends in a round of golf, try and play a simpler and more enjoyable game. Grab your iron instead of driver from the tee sometimes, putt from outside the green, and last but not least – enjoy the game.
