One Shot At a Time

[chisag]

... What a boring cliche'. But oh so accurate. Great stuff from this weeks LPGA winner:

 

• Jutanugarn employed an interesting approach..."So show up this week, I just tell myself I'm not going to expect anything. I'm going to really focus on the things under my control and make sure I'm going to have good commitment every shot....When I'm thinking about winning, I never win."

 

 

... My 28 sons best friend has never broken 100. Passionate about golf but like many, does not practice, just plays golf once a week. Saturday he birdied a par 3 and was in position to shoot under 100 for the first time. But he looked at his scorecard and realized he "only" needed a double bogie or better to shoot 99. He hit a decent tee shot and followed that with a semi decent iron shot 20yds short of the green that almost faded into the water on the difficult 18th hole. "Man was I lucky, now all I have to get down in 4 and I break 100!"  He hit a poor pitch leaving it just short of the green. Then hit a mediocre chip 15 feet past the hole. "All I need is a 2 putt" and let out a big breath of air. He got a little too aggressive and rolled it 3 feet past the hole with a considerable break from right to left. "I gotta make this!" ... and of course he was not even close, not playing enough break and leaving it a good 10" short of the hole. 

... The amount of pressure he put on himself on that last hole was palpable. I am surprised he shot a triple bogie under that much pressure. I told him after the round that there is really only one way to play golf. "You can't do anything about the holes you have already played. There is nothing you can do about the holes you are going to play. And there is also nothing you can do about the hole you are playing. All you can control is the shot you are hitting right now. If you play this game one shot at a time, you give yourself the best chance of playing your best golf". It sounds simple but we all know it takes discipline and focus. For those of you that have heard this cliche' but never really took it to heart, try it your next round and play 18 one stroke at a time. You might surprise yourself with a very low score. 

[StrokerAce]

Truer words have never been spoken.

 

Might I add having a "plan of attack" for a hole?

Look at the layout, decide where you want your shot to land, where you want to hit your next shot and so forth until you get onto (or near) the green....and then, after you have your plan, one shot at a time.  Sometimes plans work out and sometimes they don't.... but without a plan you plan to fail.

[GolfJunkie302]

So true. I confess to looking ahead and it never helps. This is definitely something I could work on; Probably all of us, actually.

 

Sent from my SM-T580 using Tapatalk

[jb0330]

I live by this. I was playing in a scramble with a new bunches of guys about 2 weeks ago and one of them asked me how do you hit a bad pitch shot like you just did and walk over and blast it down the fairway. I looked at him and said this game would kill me if I stressed about every bad shot I hit. Short term memory is your best friend.

 

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[cksurfdude]

Great, great advice - of course! - and one I'm working hard on (ironic as those last few words may seem....).

 

Decide .. Aim .. Focus .. Execute.

 

Walk to ball. Repeat.

[00sportsman]

Easier said than done for a lot of us, but there's no doubt it's the way to go. I'm pretty good at letting go of bad shots, but super guilty of looking ahead.

 

Sent from my XT1585 using MyGolfSpy mobile app

[StrokerAce]

Great, great advice - of course! - and one I'm working hard on (ironic as those last few words may seem....).

 

Decide .. Aim .. Focus .. Execute.

 

Walk to ball. Repeat.

Trust.

 

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

[cksurfdude]

Trust.

 

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

Ha I wish .. not there quite yet, as in fully trusting my swing.... So yeah I've learned to let go of bad shots! But each outing I'm getting a little closer...

[Kenny B]

... What a boring cliche'. But oh so accurate. Great stuff from this weeks LPGA winner:

 

 

• Jutanugarn employed an interesting approach..."So show up this week, I just tell myself I'm not going to expect anything. I'm going to really focus on the things under my control and make sure I'm going to have good commitment every shot....When I'm thinking about winning, I never win."

 

 

... My 28 sons best friend has never broken 100. Passionate about golf but like many, does not practice, just plays golf once a week. Saturday he birdied a par 3 and was in position to shoot under 100 for the first time. But he looked at his scorecard and realized he "only" needed a double bogie or better to shoot 99. He hit a decent tee shot and followed that with a semi decent iron shot 20yds short of the green that almost faded into the water on the difficult 18th hole. "Man was I lucky, now all I have to get down in 4 and I break 100!"  He hit a poor pitch leaving it just short of the green. Then hit a mediocre chip 15 feet past the hole. "All I need is a 2 putt" and let out a big breath of air. He got a little too aggressive and rolled it 3 feet past the hole with a considerable break from right to left. "I gotta make this!" ... and of course he was not even close, not playing enough break and leaving it a good 10" short of the hole. 

 

... The amount of pressure he put on himself on that last hole was palpable. I am surprised he shot a triple bogie under that much pressure. I told him after the round that there is really only one way to play golf. "You can't do anything about the holes you have already played. There is nothing you can do about the holes you are going to play. And there is also nothing you can do about the hole you are playing. All you can control is the shot you are hitting right now. If you play this game one shot at a time, you give yourself the best chance of playing your best golf". It sounds simple but we all know it takes discipline and focus. For those of you that have heard this cliche' but never really took it to heart, try it your next round and play 18 one stroke at a time. You might surprise yourself with a very low score. 

Why he didn't break 100??  He looked at the scorecard.  

[Rickp]

So true. I confess to looking ahead and it never helps. This is definitely something I could work on; Probably all of us, actually.

 

Sent from my SM-T580 using Tapatalk

Yes, we all do. At least we do.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[chisag]

... Here is a good example of one shot at a time although it is combined with a double senior moment. I was re-shafting my UDi 3 iron with an Even Flow Blue hy shaft and it was a light fit so I put it aside to epoxy with others. Got busy with other stuff and when I got back to installing Recoil Prototypes in my 4-pw P790's I forgot to epoxy the 3 iron. 

1st senior moment: 2nd hole is a perfect 3 iron for me and a 210-220yd tee shot leaves me around 100 for an approach shot. Teed up a ball and put a good swing on the ball that only traveled about 190 although the head traveled about 30 yds LOL. Put the head back on and put it in my bag to epoxy that night.
2nd senior moment:  Hit a big drive into a heavy wind right in my face on #7 the #1 handicap hole. 440 uphill and into the wind and I was left with 199yds so a lower trajectory cheat the wind 3 iron was the perfect shot. Put a really good swing on it and this time the head went 40 yds LOL. 

... I was so in the moment and playing one shot at a time I completely forgot that UDi 3 iron head was not epoxied. Or as my 28 yr old son said shaking his head "Getting old dad. Maybe I should drive home just to be safe". 

[Canucklehead]

I started to not add up my score until the end and keep it folded in half so I can't see what I did the first 9. The only time I don't want mental math to kick in it does, and usually on about 16 or so. The worst part is I'm usually within a stroke, so the head games start going

 

Sent from my E6853 using Tapatalk

[MeanMachine22]

I was playing East Lake a few years back and I have to proclaim that this is one of those great golf experiences. No carts, only caddies who are very knowledgeable. My strategy was to let him tell me what distance to play the shot. I didn't want to hear actual yardage, wind, uphill, downhill, etc. True reliance on the caddie's expertise. It worked great for 8 holes. As a 10 handicap, I only worried about the number. Caddy was perfect and played my game until 9 tee. He says “ if you par 9, you'll break par on the front”. I truly had no idea where I stood. I had no thoughts on any golf swings, other than line, and the same for putts. So, I slice it into the trees on the right, make double, and proceed to limp home from there. That one comment totally got me off track and I couldn't rebound. I learned a huge lesson that day, and am better for it, but those 1st 8 holes on East Lake were one of my personal gems.