Many amateur golfers think that there is some kind of trick - or magic - to being a professional golfer. They can’t imagine shooting the scores that the pros shoot, so they build up this idea in their head that the pros are doing something they as amateurs aren’t even capable of. That isn’t true at all. In reality, most professional golfers are simply highly proficient at what they do, capable of repeating good shots over and over again. Sure, they can hit the ball good distances and generate backspin, but the consistency of their performance is really what leads to the good scores. If there is any ‘magic’ involved, it comes in the form of something so simple that most amateur golfers ignore it completely - decision making. Simply put, pros make better decisions than amateurs. When you are playing for your paycheck each week, there is no room for error due to poor choices. The game is hard enough - making bad decisions can make it impossible. While professional golfers generally hit better shots than amateurs do, the real difference between the two is the decisions they make from the first tee to the last green. Following are five ways you can quickly stop making amateur decisions and start thinking like a pro. Don’t reach for your driver all day. There are great times to hit your driver, and times where you should opt for a fairway metal or long iron. Pro golfers understand that the game is about position, not distance. Placing your ball in a safe position to play an approach shot into the green is far more important than raw distance off the tee. Stay under the hole. Whenever possible, you want to be playing uphill. Why? You have more control over the golf ball when playing uphill, especially on short shots. As you pick targets throughout the round, keep in mind the desire to position the ball below the hole. Avoid a repeat shot. A repeat shot is when you have to try the same shot twice in a row - such as leaving your ball in a bunker after hitting a sand shot that doesn’t get out of the trap. These are strokes that you can’t get back, so make sure to do everything you can to avoid having to hit the same shot twice in a row. Play more break. There is a reason the low side of the hole is called the ‘amateur side’. Most amateurs don’t play enough break on their putts, and they watch them miss on the low side time after time all day long. When reading your putts, add a couple inches to the line you think is right - and you will be amazed at the results. Don’t get ahead of yourself. Thinking about shots that are still to come on the course is a great way to make bad decisions on the shot you are currently playing. Staying in the moment is vitally important on the golf course, so focus all of your mental energy on the shot that is currently in front of you.

Through the years, I have played with golfers of all different skill levels, ranging from complete beginners to accomplished professionals who have competed in major championships. Over that experience, there is something interesting I have learned - many amateur golfers don’t think that course management matters to them. Nearly every good golfer I played with understood the importance of course management, and how crucial it is to make good decisions from shot to shot. However, less accomplished players seemed to think it was good enough to just grab a club and swing away - and the results were usually in line with how much thought went into the shot. Course management is important for each and every golfer. While a professional golfer will have more shots at their disposal, and will be able to rely on their shots more consistently, it is still vital to every golf to think their choices through carefully before hitting a shot. Just like a football team wouldn’t head out onto the field without a game plan, you should never head onto the course without a plan of attack. Following are just a few of the many reasons why you should take course management more seriously - Eliminate a variable. No matter what your handicap is, there are certainly plenty of shots throughout a round that you wish would have gone better. The important thing is to understand what poor shots are due to bad execution, and which are due to bad decision making. When you pay attention to course management, you will have a specific reason for each shot - so you should be making good decisions most of the time. That way, when you hit a bad shot, you can look quickly to the execution of your swing knowing that the decision making was sound. Learn more about your game. As you put more and more thought into your shot selection on the course, you will start to learn things about your game that you might not have known otherwise. For example, if you notice that you continue to fail to execute a specific shot with a certain club, you can start avoiding that situation or just stop trying to hit that shot. Those patterns are only going to make themselves known when you put time and effort into course management. Lower your scores! Isn’t this the point in the first place? Believe it or not, and many amateurs don’t believe it, good course management can lower your scores in your very next round. Pick the right clubs, use solid strategy, and you will see your scores start to fall even without making a single change to your swing.

I have been lucky enough in my life to have played in many, many golf tournaments. For me, playing in tournaments provided great motivation to practice my game for countless hours all in search of better finishes. The feeling of pressure and competition that you get when playing in a tournament is one of the best experiences in all of golf. For me, the routine of playing in a tournament is second nature at this point. Things like how to warm up, how to handle the nerves, and how to prepare for each round are just part of the process. However, if you are someone who is yet to experience your first tournament, all of those steps might seem intimidating and a little overwhelming. This article offers a few pieces of advice based on my experience that I hope will help you overcome the jitters and enjoy your first tournament. Give Yourself Time The first thing you want to make sure you do when playing in a tournament is to give yourself plenty of time before you are due on the first tee. A good rule of thumb is to take whatever amount of warm up time you normally use for a round of golf, and add twenty minutes to it. So, if you usually arrive a half hour prior to teeing off, try showing up for the tournament 50 minutes ahead of your tee time. This will give you a chance to check in for the tournament, and to complete your warm up without feeling rushed. The extra time also can help you shake off the hitters and get comfortable with your surroundings. Stick with What Works Are you a golfer who likes to hit a lot of range balls before you tee off? Maybe you only like to hit a few shots with a couple clubs and you feel ready to go? Whatever your routine, stick to it as closely as possible. Doing something different just because it is a tournament round is a recipe for throwing your game off. I advise arriving a little earlier as mentioned above just to have a little breathing room before you tee off, but try keeping everything else as consistent as possible. It’s Just Golf There is no denying that you will feel more pressure during a tournament round than you do during a regular round - and there is nothing wrong with that. However, it is still just golf at the end of the day. The golf course will look the same as it does on any other day, and you can still play well as long as you remain focused and shake off the nerves. While you want to play well, don’t make the round bigger than it is - take it one shot at a time and enjoy the competition. I hope you are able to enter a tournament near you sometime soon and test your skills under pressure. It doesn’t matter what kind of tournament or what the stakes might be - even a small event can make you feel the pressure and require you to step up to the challenge. Good luck!

One of the best feelings in golf is setting a new personal best score. It doesn’t really matter if you do it in a tournament, a round with your friends, or just a round when you went out by yourself after work. Whatever the circumstances may be, posting your all-time low round is a feeling that you will remember for a long time. For me, that number is 65. I have shot 65 just once in my life, and I remember it clearly. While I played in many great tournaments through the years, my 65 came during a casual round with nothing on the line – yet I remember it like it was yesterday. Perhaps I’ll find a way to post a 64 one day, but 65 is my magic number until that day. What is your career best round? Are you stuck on 80 and wish you could make your way into the 70’s? Maybe you have never quite gotten below 100, and feel the pressure every time you have a chance. No matter what the number is for you, the mental challenges that golfers face when trying to lower their career best are always the same. Following are three quick tips to help you break down the barrier and successfully post your new best round – #1 – Don’t Do the Math The worst thing you can do is get out the scorecard early in the round and start doing the math on what you need to do to break your record. You don’t want to be thinking about that number on every shot that you hit – rather, your attention needs to be focused on the shot at hand as you make your way around the course. All you can do is your best on each shot. #2 – Don’t Limit Yourself Imagine that your best ever round is an 80, and you are hoping to one day break into the 70’s. That doesn’t mean you have to shoot a 79…you could go ahead and shoot a 75, or better, and breakthrough in style. Don’t put mental limits on yourself or your scoring ability based on the past. Do your best for all 18 holes and you might be surprised at what is possible. #3 – Don’t Panic It is easy to get nervous and panic a little bit when you start to get close to the end of the round and you still have a chance at your new record. The best way to successfully set your new record is to do exactly what you have been doing all round long. It doesn’t take anything superhuman to set a new scoring record – it just takes consistency. Keep a calm head and make good decisions all the way through to the last shot. If you are able to maintain focus and patience, that new record could be well within reach.

Somewhere along the line, golf became all about numbers. Golfers are constantly talking about their scores, their handicaps, and the ratings and slopes of courses. However, fundamentally, golf has never had anything to do with numbers. For the first part of golf’s history there were no such things as pars, birdies, and bogeys. Therefore, you could not be above or below par. There was no magical 72 to judge yourself against. The game was all about getting the ball in the hole in the fewest strokes possible. Unfortunately, the magical 72 has become a part of golf psychology today. But there’s a way to remedy this unfortunate event. Golfers should never ever worry about the par of the hole. If you find yourself on an unusually long par 4 (one that you’re unsure you can hit in regulation), play it like a par 5. Let the bogey feel like a par. Do the same things on short par 5s. Play them like par 4s and you’ll get birdie. If there’s a par 3 that requires only a pitch, play it like a par 2 since it’s only a pitch and putt. After you’ve mastered this technique, start working on forgetting about your score during the round. A lot of times, when golfers have great rounds they start thinking, “If I par out I’ll shoot my best round ever.” This thought is very unhealthy because it doesn’t set new goals. The player should be thinking about knocking the ball in the hole as soon as possible, not about just saving par.

It's time for quality instruction anytime and anywhere in the world.

A golfers handicap is very important and typically only amateur players are focused on it. Professionals reach a level that they play for money, not the every day golfer events like club tournaments and scrambles. By definition, a golfers net score is determined by subtracting the player’s handicap from the gross score (the number of strokes actually taken). The net scores of all the competing golfers are compared and the person with the lowest score wins. The handicap is the numerical measure of a golfer’s potential playing ability based on the tees played at each golf course. The handicap is used to calculate each players ability to get them on the same level. The higher the handicap, the worse the player is. The lower, the better. Golf clubs and the national golf associations are the administers of handicaps. To learn more, check the USGA website at http://www.usga.org

Gripping the club correctly is crucial to hitting good golf shots. Where your hands are, will directly affect the clubface. If you are a right-handed golfer the following applies to you, Lefties do the opposite hands. 1. Grip the club with the 3 lower fingers of your left hand, then close your hand with the meaty part of your palm on the grip. Place the left thumb down the grip. You should see TWO knuckles on your left hand. 2. Put your right hand on and form a ‘V’ with your thumb and pointer finger. Wrap your middle 3 fingers on the grip-à For an OVERLAPPING grip; place your right pinky finger over the left pointer and middle finger. *see picture. 3. Grip pressure should be very light as it would be if you were holding a baby bird. If you squeeze the grip too much, you will kill the bird aka your golf shot. 4. Don’t hold the club across the palm- Hold the club with your fingers. 5. Practice makes perfect practice. I’ve been playing golf for a long time and I will say that my grip would change once in a while. I would have to continue working on it to make it consistently the same. The grip is the most important part of the beginning of your swing and should be studied in order to create a solid foundation. Grip it and rip it!