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First Tee Jitters

Mmaynard11

Mmaynard11

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So as I was reminiscing this morning, I can across a video from the 2014 Morgan Cup. The subject was the First Tee.
This got me thinking...
How do you handle the first tee? Do you get nervous? Does it not bother you?

For me I do feel a sense of nervousness if I’m playing with a group of guys. I guess it’s been there ever since I’ve started playing golf. I don’t think it’s a bad nervous feeling.
 
Depends on who I’m playing with. If it’s people I don’t know or an event, I definitely get a bit nervous. With my friends or a regular group, it’s not really there.
 
I get nervous on first tee even if I’m playing by myself but not as nervous.

I get the most nervous when there’s a crowd of golfers waiting to tee off behind me.My biggest worry is topping the ball so naturally I tee it a bit higher on the first shot. I try not to think too much about it but to just go right up and hit my swing and get it over with And hope I hit it straight.

I can’t imagine trying to tee off on the first hole On one of the tour events like the masters. Have you seen the crowd on 18? Lol
 
Depends. First hole of a casual weekend round w/ buddies? Not at all.

First hole of our league championship this year, my hands were shaking so bad I could barely put the ball on the tee. Haha. I don’t know if that was nerves, adrenaline, or a combination of the two. There have been a few other times when I’ve experienced something similar (Whistling Straits the first time, Shadow Creek, Kapalua). I don’t know why. There’s been nothing on the line.

The only time I remember being truly nervous/jittery was the 2nd round of our city tournament a few years ago.
 
Yes I get nervous on the first tee, after that I'm generally good. Generally two choices for me, pipe one down the middle or pull hook it off the planet. :confused:
 
dazeedmonds said:
Depends on who I’m playing with. If it’s people I don’t know or an event, I definitely get a bit nervous. With my friends or a regular group, it’s not really there.
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Same for me...and it only seems to happen if I’m playing with the person for the first time and first tee.
 
Wonder why it only happens on the first hole? Does the scenario change if you have an Driver vs Iron?
 
If I am just in a foursome or less, there doesn't seem to be nerves. If there are others around watching (such as at a THP official or unofficial event or our Friday home course game), then the nerves are real.
 
If it's a foursome with friends not much nerves. If I sub in the work league maybe some nerves if I'm subbing for my boss or something. Never played in a competitive individual event, so I cant speak to that...yet.
 
If you are on the first tee at the Morgan Cup a the places it has been held recently and are not nervous with everybody around, the camera running, etc. Something is amiss or you dont realize what all is happening :)
 
I get a sense of excitement but I wouldnt really call it nervousness. I just remind myself that everyone else is more nervous than I am and it calms me down.
 
For a competition or THP event or similar, I will feel the nerves and butterflies in the stomach, esp. on a first tee. I want to bring my best. Fortunately I have come to a place of humility on outcomes with golf. It's hard. If I stripe it, I will celebrate mostly on the inside. If I hit the ugliest shot OB, I will probably laugh out loud. It's just one shot.
 
I played in a tournament in south Florida, where I didn't know anyone, on a course I had never played before. The championship length 1st tee was enclosed in trees and the canopy was fully enclosed overhead to form a chute out to the fairway. There were about 80 - 100 spectators surrounding the tee and for about 20 - 25 yards on either side out towards the fairway. If you were to shank one, you would likely hurt somebody. That 1st hole was a par 5 and dogleg right. You couldn't cut the corner, because of all the trees. A proper tee shot would be 275 - 300 yds with a slight fade.

My name was called as next on the tee and I remember internally being a nervous wreck. I teed my ball, walked back behind it and visualized the shot I wanted to make and took a couple of loose swings to free up the tension. As I aligned to the ball, I took one last deep breath and released it slowly... I remember focusing just on the ball and everything around me faded away.... I initiated my backswing with good tempo and got to the top and then released it and let it rip! (this was back when my driver swing speed was mid 120's) As the follow through pulled my head up, I saw my ball exiting the chute on a perfect trajectory, held my finish for a second or two, went to pull the tee out of the ground and couldn't find it. As I walked off the tee, some random spectator said to me... "That was the best tee shot they had seen all morning." I said: "Really?!?" Got out to my ball in the fairway, got my yardage to the pin and realized I had hit that one a bit over 300 with roll.

That was the most nerve racking tee shot I had ever hit. A mini version of what the pros go through. Much respect for their ability to handle this pressure on most of their shots during play.

Oh yeah! This tournament was back when Persimmon drivers and woods were still in play. No oversized sweet spot on these babies! Metal woods were in their infancy and I hadn't converted yet. My driver that day was a Hogan 1953 Commemorative (25th anniversary of 1953). I finished the tournament as the 1st place loser.... 2nd place. (If I could only putt more consistently well. :))


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I don’t get nervous on the first tee ever. Granted I have never played in something like the Morgan but have played with all types of people and vary numbers of people around. I think because I play so much it is just another round to me. The Morgan might be different though.


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JB said:
If you are on the first tee at the Morgan Cup a the places it has been held recently and are not nervous with everybody around, the camera running, etc. Something is amiss or you dont realize what all is happening :)
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I would say that that may not be true.

I got over nerves after tripping while going onto the ice, running out of the tunnel from the locker rooms, in front of several thousand people at a charity game.

Seeing yourself face plant on a jumbo-tron over and over to the sound of laughter is a life altering experience......

?
 
I would also say that doing Red Bull Crashed Ice......

In goalie gear......

On their hardest course ever (2017)......

In front of almost 100,000 people.......

= no nerves on the tee box

Crashed Ice

I'm the idiot in the camo Minnesota Warriors jersey trying to pretend I'm not twenty years older than the other guys.
 
I only get nervous on the first tee in a tournament or THP event. If I have the ability to warm up and hit balls first, I'm much more relaxed. After the first shot I'm good to go.
 
With the exception of a very hungover 7:50 tee time at Pebble Beach a few years back... I don’t really have trouble with first tee nerves.

I played guitar professionally for several years. After really blowing a guitar part in front of a few thousand people (and realizing that the world didn’t end), stage fright isn’t a problem anymore.

Generally on the first tee I just control my breathing - inhale for 4, hold for 4, exhale for 7 - and then go after it.
 
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I haven't found a solution. Take a deep breath, step in and swing...and be ready to laugh at the horrible result.
 
I was nervous the whole round at the Small Batch experience this year, especially the first tee.
 
Honestly I don’t get first tee jitters. Put a creek across the fairway and I’ll never get the ball off the ground. So for me it’s more about obstacles on any hole. Total mental case.
 
Always nervous on the tee whether it is with close friends I have played with most of my life or if it's in front of 20+ people I just met at a THP event like the THP Championship live on the tee.... Usually I hit one of my better tee shots on the 1st
 
Typically not, I can duff a shot on #1 (or 2,3,4....) with the best of them. It's not usually about nerves, but more my inability to consistently repeat my swing. Two events (albeit neither one were Morgan Cup level) and I got off the tee on the starting hole. That being said, nerves might have gotten in the way in Arizona with Sadlowski and Cleveland's Instagram feed watching.
 
I have adopted the mindset of the samurai, accepting the inevitable arrival of death, and not caring. So, I usually am pretty loaded before the first tee.
 
I played high school golf and had a bunch of people standing there while I teed off quite a bit. I still get some butterflies but other than that I'm pretty good and don't get too bothered.
 
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