There is something fundamentaly wrong with me

[KeefG]

I've had a sleep on this now and really thought about the differences in when I play alone and when I play with others....and it does all boil down to trying to be better than I am when in attendance of others.

My course management when i'm alone is top drawer in that I really do play the percentage all the time, i wont take on the glory 230yd approach with a 3w as a 2nd shot on par 5, but i will take out a 7 iron and lay up leaving myself a nice easy 3rd....or the 170yd approach from thick rough behind a tree, play out sideways instead of going for it....the glory shot will usually end up in the crap or a bunker!

One of the lads from work I normally play with is off 14 and I desperately want to be better than him, so when I see him taking these shots on and occasionaly making them, I think I have to do the same....playing the man & not the course

Dont get me wrong, I know I have the ability to take these shots on and occasionaly, maybe 3 in 10, will come off, but I believe my fundamental flaw is just that, my mental approach to the game and the fact that my course management gets blown out of the water by macho bull**** and the desire to be a better golfer than I actually am!

 

[CrapHacker]

With that in mind, what I've done ( sometimes ) is take out the competitive aspect. If I'm on a mid length par 5 ( for example ) where I'm not going to get up in two, but if my oppo hits a monster drive, he might.

Rather than take a driver and be tempted to belt the bejesus out of it, take a 3 wood, knowing you'll be miles behind, so the game is played to my plan, not his.

If that makes any sense.

 

[KeefG]

It does, but off the tee i'm just as long as him anyway, where he is better than me is his all round irons. I just need to teach myself that if I play the course, i can match him anyway! The last 2 times we've played on my local track he's shot an 89 & 93, my last 3 scores round there alone easily beat him.

I think all this stems from my brother teaching me golf, and me & my brother are very competitive and i always used to try and do what he did, even playing off 28 i would take on impossible shots to try and better my brother, and its now etched into my psyche that this is how i'm meant to play golf.

Dear god.....I feel some therapy sessions coming on! lol

 

[CrapHacker]

It does, but off the tee i'm just as long as him anyway, where he is better than me is his all round irons. I just need to teach myself that if I play the course, i can match him anyway! The last 2 times we've played on my local track he's shot an 89 & 93, my last 3 scores round there alone easily beat him.

I think all this stems from my brother teaching me golf, and me & my brother are very competitive and i always used to try and do what he did, even playing off 28 i would take on impossible shots to try and better my brother, and its now etched into my psyche that this is how i'm meant to play golf.

Dear god.....I feel some therapy sessions coming on! lol

I think you've just set yourself up for a nice round

 

[KeefG]

I talk a good game lol

I've cracked it, in theory!!

 

[JustOne]

I remember when my wife (then my girlfriend) first came to watch me play golf...had entered a big competition at Celtic Manor (of all places) and she fancied coming down for the week-end and said she would caddie for me.
I had been playing really well on the run up to the day, and was playing with my best golfing mate, who I always had a right "ding dong" match with and usually play my best golf when I am playing with or against him. The pressure was on, I was determined to show my girlfriend how well I could play, and soooooo wanted to beat my mate around this tough track. Result? I played like an absolute drain. I don't just mean bad, I mean fecking awful. So bad in fact that on 3 or 4 holes on the back 9 I couldn't even be arsed to complete them. The game was over by about the 12th hole, I finished plum last in the competition where there were about 50 players...did I feel a right knob....
Following morning I went out again with my mate, but the missus stayed away, I think she went shopping!
Played out of my boots and beat my mate 4&3.
I don't normally feel pressure, I'm up for a scrap and will have a go at most players and usually make a good fist of it. But the added pressure of trying to impress my wife got to me. She very rarely comes out with me now!

And the moral of the story is..
It doesn't matter how badly you play - someone will still marry you!

Nice post Smiffy, shamefully it brings a few 'bad round memories' gushing back... um, thanks for that hehe

 

[stevek1969]

I'm the same i've never beaten my brother yet the last time we played, he hadn't played for 6 months and still went round in 75 it just gets right into my head that i cant beat him ,i can play well for weeks until i play him then he queries how i got my handicap ( he said i bought it from ebay )