It’s no mystery that golf is a frustrating game. I lost in a playoff at MGAWC23. I struggled most of last year with consistency before getting things buttoned up. I ended day one at MGAWC24 in a tie for 4th before fading on day two and not even ending up in the money.
One of the main reasons I love golf so much is that it isn’t easy for me. Football, basketball, baseball, skiing, were all sports I picked up quickly and excelled at. It took me 10 years before I could consistently keep my scores in the 90s and it took a career change with a more flexible schedule to allow me to play enough golf to routinely score in the 80s. I still post my fair share of 90s and the occasional 100+, but I have reached the point where a score above 90 is a bad day.
My goal for quite some time has to break 80. It has eluded me more times than I can count. Solid rounds have been derailed by a few shitty shots and I finished at 80 or a few shots above. I was starting to lose the fire to play golf. I didn’t suffer mental burnouts playing other sports because I was able to improve and never felt like I had plateaued. My golf game felt like I was going in reverse
I took a trip to Bandon and finally checked the last of the 5 off my list. But the sunny 55 degree late November weather spoke to me more than the golf. I don’t know if I hit a wall, but I definitely was feeling meh towards golf. I put my clubs in timeout after the trip and convinced myself that I might take a break in 2025.
I got out for my first round in late February and my swing was hot garbage. My thought to take a step back was feeling validated. I hit the range a few weeks later. Ear buds in, tuned out the noise and just swung the clubs. No worries about a score. Just hit shots and don’t think. That session brought me back a bit and I re-upped my MGA membership and decided to work my way out of the funk.
Fast forward to last Monday. My daughter had been begging to go golfing with me. I checked the tee sheet and the course across the street from my house was wide open so I figured there’d be no better time to take her and not have to worry about her 9 year oldness bothering anyone else in the group. On a beautiful 75 degree windless day, with my mini as my caddie I finally broke 80. I can’t remember a round where I had birdied back to back holes. I did it 3 times that day. I nearly holed out for eagle twice from 80 – 100 yards out. I just played golf. Picked my lines, picked my clubs, hit my shots. My love of golf is definitely back after that round. A difficult game was simple that day.
That’s the approach I’m taking with me this year. Just play golf.
