I’ve been guilty of taking golf too seriously at times. I get a bit self absorbed in what’s going on and think my golf score can be life and death. Usually when I’m in this state of mind I don’t play so well and leave the course feeling tired and bothered.
Last week I had a game after work. It was a great night and there weren’t many people around. I decided to play a game that I call cross country.
Cross country is lots of fun, instead of playing the golf course in the normal way, choose for example to play from the first tee to the third green. The fun part is working out the ideal route. You may have to go over trees, over bunkers and across the wrong fairway. Because there is no set par for these made up holes you are less likely to worry about score. Instead, you are hitting the ball and using your imagination to find the best way to play each hole.
When I first started playing golf, my friends and I would play from one part of the golf course to the other. We had dams to go around, large trees and other people to avoid. The best part was that we would each choose a different way to play the designated hole. We would start off and then meet each other on the green, maybe 700 metres away. We would count up the shots, declare a winner for the hole and then choose another cross country hole.
Be careful and avoid other golfers that may be using the golf course in the ‘right way’. And try and choose a time that is quiet.
If this seems a bit extreme you can play golf with one club, say a five iron. This requires you hit all your shots with the five iron. Putting, chipping and bunker shots. Again, par is thrown out the window while you try and manufacture different shots to get the job done. This one club golf forces you to come up with extreme shots forcing you to learn and develop your scores. Try it, I’m sure you’ll get something positive out of it.
If you feel you are playing golf too seriously (playing with your head), take a different approach and see if you can incorporate a more fun and playful attitude to to your golf game.
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