Michigan Slice
This Guy Cant dance...
I hope to keep this relatively short. (going to be impossible)
A couple days ago, I filled in for a league, on a course I've never played, and I didn't know a soul there.
Furthermore, my play would help decide if the team would finish in the money or fall out of the money.
We will call this aptly the league round.
Yesterday, I woke early and traveled a couple hours to play with a THP'er, and a couple other guys that I know and would consider to be great people.
We all know each other, get along, and the only pressure was to follow up the previous days round.
We will call this the friend round.
My league round started off by me not finding out where to pay for my round,as it is a small resort. Once I did, I could not provide any information, the only thing I DID know was I was to be there and fill in at 4:00PM.
I did not know anyone, so I asked what tees is the league playing and went to the 10th tee and waited.
Once I found out who I was playing with and against, I sat in the cart quietly waiting our turn on the tee.
Small talk was made and my partner for the round was really cool, the guys we were playing against were a$$hats! especially the one I was playing against, This guy thought he knew everything, was pompous, and just an overall DB.
There was a sign on the teebox saying no sunflower seeds on the greens, which I thought was odd, but this guy had a mouth packed with them like he was a squirrel. was he the reason why?
Finally, we tee off. I hit the fairway on 10, and I am the shortest hitter of the bunch but the only one on the fairway.
The DB drives to my ball and asked if he thought I could hit it up to his ball or should he wait here? now this guy is a long hitter, he was probably a good 70 yards in front of me. I smirked, and proceeded to top the next shot about 10 yards, he said something, and I freaking did it again... he stated "I knew I could have gone up to my ball" and laughed. I was getting seriously pissed! I finished that hole with a triple.
This guy was also spitting his shells on the green in my path, said that they might guide my ball to the hole...
On the next teebox I was asked by my partner what I normally shoot per nine, and I told him I would expect to be around 47-49 based on never playing the course. The DB places bets on me at this point,with his partner. He bets that I am 47 by the 7th hole, his partner bets I hit 47 on the 8th. They bet the nights beers on me.
I miss the next fairway, then miss the green short, then chip on to 14', then sink the par putt.
Next hole, I miss fairway just right, put my approach on the green, but 30+' away, then sink the birdie!
I was playing with purpose and attitude, my game (other than the par 3's which I had doubles on both) was focused on beating this guy, on every shot.
He by the way shot par on the first 2 holes.
I ended up beating him 44 to 45. I helped the team finish 1st overall in the league. I was shooting well, and my partner asked if I wanted to continue playing,so we did. I also shot 44 on that nine for a round of 88, which for me was an awesome score.
And I get a text from Bullfrog with an invite to play the following morning, I wanted to keep a good thing going so I accepted!
I met these guys for the friends round, and came out gunning!! Par on the first hole, and bogey on a tough par 3.
I also never played this course, so I decided I would play away from trouble, play target golf, and play to my most comfortable numbers.
Then... We met the maintenance crew...
This was my first time playing the first tee time that I can remember. The maintenance guys were EVERYWHERE! and they would be mowing in front of you, starting and stopping engines, they would be in the bunkers, and around the greens, they would make you wait, and they would just hang out.
Now, I will say, although I do like to mess with beer cart girls, I don't like playing golf with them around for some reason, and I can now say confidently that this goes with Maintenance workers. It's like they were stalking us on every hole!! they were behind us, in front of us, in between us, they were everywhere!
I never got into a groove after the 2nd hole and my round suffered. Everyone there was supportive, they were great, I hit some really good shots, just never strung them together.
This was supposed to be my comfortable round!! I was with friends! What the sam hell happened?
I emailed my instructor kind of distraught, and asked for an availability for a lesson.
So I went in this morning at 7:00AM.
We talked about my recent game, I told him of the league match and he gave me a high five! Then.... I told him about the friends round.
We dissected my thoughts and experiences during both rounds, course conditions, weather, everything you can imagine.
We talked candidly about my game, I was told some good things and bad things from my instructors position.
We talked about how I fueled my frustrations towards a goal positively during the league round and let the distractions and frustrations derail my game on the friends match.
We talked about being comfortable and not being rushed over every shot. If you don't think you can make a good shot, DON'T!
We talked about how I need to position my focus into making the best shot I can, and limit the damage from my mistakes, also to make my misses useable.
My ball flight is not always going to be perfect, but will I be able to benefit somehow from that stroke, or is it going to help derail what I am trying to do?
My lesson covered ball striking, he gave me tips and fixes to some of my common misses. We focused on covering the ball, watching the ball launch from the clubface, and also setup.
I feel I am ready to continue with my improvement to better golf.
I wrote this to maybe get yourself thinking about how you handle self expectations, how you handle frustrations, and how you handle success.
I am ready I think to handle all of the above better.
I hope you were able to stay with me through this, and I hope it might help you.
A couple days ago, I filled in for a league, on a course I've never played, and I didn't know a soul there.
Furthermore, my play would help decide if the team would finish in the money or fall out of the money.
We will call this aptly the league round.
Yesterday, I woke early and traveled a couple hours to play with a THP'er, and a couple other guys that I know and would consider to be great people.
We all know each other, get along, and the only pressure was to follow up the previous days round.
We will call this the friend round.
My league round started off by me not finding out where to pay for my round,as it is a small resort. Once I did, I could not provide any information, the only thing I DID know was I was to be there and fill in at 4:00PM.
I did not know anyone, so I asked what tees is the league playing and went to the 10th tee and waited.
Once I found out who I was playing with and against, I sat in the cart quietly waiting our turn on the tee.
Small talk was made and my partner for the round was really cool, the guys we were playing against were a$$hats! especially the one I was playing against, This guy thought he knew everything, was pompous, and just an overall DB.
There was a sign on the teebox saying no sunflower seeds on the greens, which I thought was odd, but this guy had a mouth packed with them like he was a squirrel. was he the reason why?
Finally, we tee off. I hit the fairway on 10, and I am the shortest hitter of the bunch but the only one on the fairway.
The DB drives to my ball and asked if he thought I could hit it up to his ball or should he wait here? now this guy is a long hitter, he was probably a good 70 yards in front of me. I smirked, and proceeded to top the next shot about 10 yards, he said something, and I freaking did it again... he stated "I knew I could have gone up to my ball" and laughed. I was getting seriously pissed! I finished that hole with a triple.
This guy was also spitting his shells on the green in my path, said that they might guide my ball to the hole...
On the next teebox I was asked by my partner what I normally shoot per nine, and I told him I would expect to be around 47-49 based on never playing the course. The DB places bets on me at this point,with his partner. He bets that I am 47 by the 7th hole, his partner bets I hit 47 on the 8th. They bet the nights beers on me.
I miss the next fairway, then miss the green short, then chip on to 14', then sink the par putt.
Next hole, I miss fairway just right, put my approach on the green, but 30+' away, then sink the birdie!
I was playing with purpose and attitude, my game (other than the par 3's which I had doubles on both) was focused on beating this guy, on every shot.
He by the way shot par on the first 2 holes.
I ended up beating him 44 to 45. I helped the team finish 1st overall in the league. I was shooting well, and my partner asked if I wanted to continue playing,so we did. I also shot 44 on that nine for a round of 88, which for me was an awesome score.
And I get a text from Bullfrog with an invite to play the following morning, I wanted to keep a good thing going so I accepted!
I met these guys for the friends round, and came out gunning!! Par on the first hole, and bogey on a tough par 3.
I also never played this course, so I decided I would play away from trouble, play target golf, and play to my most comfortable numbers.
Then... We met the maintenance crew...
This was my first time playing the first tee time that I can remember. The maintenance guys were EVERYWHERE! and they would be mowing in front of you, starting and stopping engines, they would be in the bunkers, and around the greens, they would make you wait, and they would just hang out.
Now, I will say, although I do like to mess with beer cart girls, I don't like playing golf with them around for some reason, and I can now say confidently that this goes with Maintenance workers. It's like they were stalking us on every hole!! they were behind us, in front of us, in between us, they were everywhere!
I never got into a groove after the 2nd hole and my round suffered. Everyone there was supportive, they were great, I hit some really good shots, just never strung them together.
This was supposed to be my comfortable round!! I was with friends! What the sam hell happened?
I emailed my instructor kind of distraught, and asked for an availability for a lesson.
So I went in this morning at 7:00AM.
We talked about my recent game, I told him of the league match and he gave me a high five! Then.... I told him about the friends round.
We dissected my thoughts and experiences during both rounds, course conditions, weather, everything you can imagine.
We talked candidly about my game, I was told some good things and bad things from my instructors position.
We talked about how I fueled my frustrations towards a goal positively during the league round and let the distractions and frustrations derail my game on the friends match.
We talked about being comfortable and not being rushed over every shot. If you don't think you can make a good shot, DON'T!
We talked about how I need to position my focus into making the best shot I can, and limit the damage from my mistakes, also to make my misses useable.
My ball flight is not always going to be perfect, but will I be able to benefit somehow from that stroke, or is it going to help derail what I am trying to do?
My lesson covered ball striking, he gave me tips and fixes to some of my common misses. We focused on covering the ball, watching the ball launch from the clubface, and also setup.
I feel I am ready to continue with my improvement to better golf.
I wrote this to maybe get yourself thinking about how you handle self expectations, how you handle frustrations, and how you handle success.
I am ready I think to handle all of the above better.
I hope you were able to stay with me through this, and I hope it might help you.
