7 Mistakes a Round

Greetings Golfers,

Now that we’re in mid-summer … I’m hearing a lot from people struggling with their game.

Golf is usually a struggle … even for the best. No one hits every shot perfectly. Quarterbacks don’t throw every pass perfectly. Basketball players don’t make every shot. Pitchers don’t throw every pitch where they want it. Batters swing and miss. 

But … batters don’t have to play their foul balls. They get another pitch.

However, golfers have to play their foul balls. So it stays in their mind. It’s hard to think you have a fresh swing after hitting a bad shot … and having to deal with where it put you.

Too often, we think that a bad shot means that we’ve lost our swing and every shot will be bad. Panic and despair set-in.

Well … Walter Hagen didn’t let panic and despair set-in … he said:

“I expect to make 7 mistakes around, so when I hit a bad shot it’s just one of 7.”

How good is that?

How good was Walter Hagen? Well … he won 11 Majors … third behind Jack(18) and Tiger(15).

Hagen also had 45 PGA Tour wins … and was a 6-time Ryder Cup captain.

He understood how to play golf. His swing wasn’t textbook … he famously swayed … and hit a bunch of errant shots. Yet he was a great putter and course manager.

But it was his attitude that made him special. Here’s another of his sayings:
“Don’t hurry, don’t worry, you’re only here for a short visit, so be sure to smell the flowers along the way.”

We still have a lot of golf left this year … let’s try to play and think like Walter Hagen.
 

Cheers,

Tom Abts
GM/Head PGA Professional
tabts@deerrungolf.com