4. Think about how your behavior on the course is affecting your playing companions. No one wants to be on the golf course for four plus hours with someone that is constantly slamming clubs, cursing and being an a**. The gist of all of this is to change your attitude. You are an amateur, you don’t hit 500 balls every day and your livelihood does not depend on you breaking par, or even 90. Lighten up, get a life, look around. Most golf courses are pristine gardens of Eden. Stop and smell the roses, ragweed, or pine needles, whatever is available. Enjoy the company of your playing partners and try to be someone that you would like to be playing alongside. Side note: If playing with small children, remember they are learning from watching your behavior. Don’t throw a tantrum, or a club, when you miss that three-foot birdie putt. The sun will still come up tomorrow. Golf should be healthy exercise, a walk through a green oasis and provide a calm interlude from life’s travails. It shouldn’t require a doctor’s visit to renew your blood pressure prescription. I enjoy the hours spent on a golf course much more today. Even though, I still give myself the occasional mental lashing after missed birdies, or pars, I get over it much more quickly, plus I don’t want to be that guy, who is talked about in 19th hole as a bad playing companion. Hope this helps you have more FUN on the course and maybe I’ll see you on the Back 9.
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