By Steve Botuchis on 8/14/2009 10:44 AM

Remember you handicap reflects your potential. It reflects your score on your best days. Mathematically you only have a chance of shooting to it once in four rounds. So instead of beating yourself up when you get a couple of bogeys, adjust your goal to shooting your handicap. If you are a 14 handicap playing a par 72 course shooting an 86 would be your adjusted par. Adopting this attitude changes the courses par to better reflect your ability. This should help reduce anxiety and help you manage your game. With this attitude if you are five over par after nine holes you’re really still nine under par for the day. How cool is that!

By Steve Botuchis on 8/4/2009 1:40 PM

In a recent Golf.com poll 69% of the respondents said they were unsatisfied with the state of their golf game and only 20% said their overall game was ideal. Obviously there are a lot of frustrated unhappy golfers on the course. Although you might think shooting low scores will make you happy, it ain’t necessarily so. I’ve seen many a low handicap golfer shoot a great score and look like they just lost their best friend. All they can think about is the mistakes made on the course, the successes are ignored. Yet research shows that if you learn to be happy you’ll start to shoot lower scores.