Getting Back Out There

OK so this is the last #stayathome article and it is more about getting back onto the course, something that I know I can´t wait to do and I imagine the majority of you can´t either. After a month of sitting on our backsides, dreaming of that first tee shot on what will be near perfectly presented golf courses, our bodies are going to be stiff and the golf swing will feel a little peculiar, but don´t worry about that, it is all normal.

Instead I want you to focus on presenting yourself as a new figure, a new golfer, a better golfer; freshly pressed polo shirt, clean clubs, organised golf bag and clean shoes. You have followed the steps in the series and you have put in some hard graft in front of the mirror working on your posture, you have built numerous mini-golf circuits for you and the kids and you have putted thousands of balls across a small coin, far smaller than the now incredibly large hole on the pristine first green. But more than this new found confidence in your posture and putting capabilities, you are going to approach this round of golf with a new mentality.

It is going to be one of the best rounds of golf you have ever played, you are going to breathe in the fresh air, the smell of freshly mown grass and delight in the sight of a shiny, white, brand new golf ball standing proudly on top of you tee, framed by the lush green grass. You are going to be positive; you are going to revel in every sensation, every shot. You will be grinning from ear to ear by the time you finished and the result will be a secondary thought. You are going to be a new golfer, a golfer that wants to enjoy the game for what it is.

You will leave the old you behind, the golfer that berates themselves for every single tiny little error, regrets every missed has gone. Lost to the world, for at least this one round. But I hope that it will be more of a shift from the old into the new than you think, you will have learnt that golf is a game and that games are meant to be enjoyed and that is exactly what you are going to aim to do, results I understand are important, but from experience, I know that a happy golfer is always going to be the golfer that succeeds and achieves the goals that they have set themselves. Golf is a frustrating game but if we can learn to love the frustrations and see them as a challenge rather than a negative then we will all enjoy better golf and be better golfers.