[Uzezqelj]

When I stand on any first tee of any course, in my mind it's always me against par.

If I haven't played for a while or if I'm playing infrequently and my chops just aren't "there", then I won't beat myself up all that much if I shoot, say, an 84 or something like that. On the other hand, if all aspects of my game are on cruise control and my skills are very sharp, that same 84 will result in quite a bit of acrimony.

But no matter where my game is, it's always me against the course and I tend to block out everything else and try to get into a zone. And as I've said before, when I'm in the zone, I wouldn't notice a missile attack, so the idea of how my game looks or the way I appear to others never enters my mind.

That's why I don't understand why many people will choose, say, a layup over a "go for it" based solely upon how they're playing at the moment. I've had days where I couldn't put two pars together on a bet, but regardless of that, if I feel that waiting for a green to clear is in my best interest for what I'm trying to accomplish, then I'll wait because I know what I can do no matter that others may think (based upon how I'm playing at the time) that I have "no business" doing so.
In other words, if I acquiesce and choose the layup over the shot I really wanted to hit, then I'm letting others play my game for me and I don't believe in that.

That's hard to do on public courses, but it's something I try to stick with as much as I can.


-JP