For everything that went right in Round Four,  three things went wrong in Round Five.

Go Figure!

But hey,  that’s golf.  Right?

Today was one of those days on the course where everything fell apart.

Just to recap…

A lot of our golf balls disappeared under the fall leaves.  We got lost on the course somewhere between holes 6 and 9.  I couldn’t get my ball to go straight for the life of me.  And my putting was dismal.

Seriously,  check out my putt on the ninth hole.  That ball should have been in there….

But it wasn’t.

So, how do you hold yourself together on the golf course when everything about your game is falling apart?

I just started playing this year,  so I don’t have much experience around the psychology of golf,  but I did get some great advice from Matt.   He’s consistently reminding me that I need to,   “Play for the next shot,  not the last one.” 

This makes a lot of sense and it’s how I want to approach my game as I continue to learn.

Matt insists that the more I focus on trying to fix my last swing,  the more distracted I get from executing the next one correctly.

 “In golf,  you always want to play for the next shot,  not the last one.”

Getting caught up in the mindset of  ‘fixing my horrible swing’  takes the fun out of the game for me.  It also opens the door for bad habits to creep into my golf game.  I don’t want that.

So,  the best way I found to deal with a bad day on the course is to simply concentrate on the basics of my swing set-up while focusing on enjoying a day out with my golfing companions.

This keeps my attitude pleasant and my love of golf intact.

Sometimes on the course,  it’s important to take a step back from the preformance part of the game and focus on the little things that make playing golf fun to begin with.

Today,   Matt and I were on a beautiful golf course at the peak of October foliage in New England.  The air was crisp,  the club house hot chocolate was delicious,  and we had fun spending time together.

I’m quickly learning that for me, golf isn’t just about hitting a stellar drive off the tee or making an incredible putt to end the round under par.  Don’t get me wrong,  those things are great and I love when they happen.  However, when they don’t,  I still want to be able to savor a day spent relaxing outside with good company on beautiful golf courses.

So,  as much as we may have struggled out there  –  it was still an overall great day on the course.   Just check out the views in this video.  Fall days in New England don’t get much better or prettier than this …  despite what the golfing might look like!