Golf Essentials (for Weekend Warriors)

When I go to Germany every summer, the days are very long. The sun rises around 4:00 am and sets around 10:30 pm. Golf courses over there have come up with a very creative (and simple) solution for bringing in revenue during those odd hours of the day when nobody is working. 

The first thing I noticed in Germany, is that they deploy an incredible amount of trust in people. Basically, if you want to play golf really early or really late, you can just come and walk on the golf course. No carts of course. 

They've got a lock box where you fill out an envelope and leave your green fee for the staff to retrieve when business opens. 

Funny, you would think the place would be overrun with freeloading walk-ons, but it's not. The culture that exists is one of pride in their club, and nobody would ever want to risk being branded a thief or a cheat. 

It works. 

I'm not saying this strategy would work everywhere, but it's absolutely a plan that some clubs should consider seriously. 

Many of the so-called barriers that we try to reach in golf are simply arbitrary numbers. I get that it sounds cool to say that you shot 69 instead of 70, but at the end of the day, it's just 1 shot. 

Winning golf tournaments and the scores you shoot themselves are results. Both, in many ways are out of our control. I suggest focusing as hard as you can on the things that you can control...like executing the proper shots at the right time. 

The results will take care of themselves. 

More Players the Better

Stymies is a vicious competitive putting game that is best played with as many people as you can wrangle up. Find 10 people and you'll have a blast.  

It's a total strokes game played on the practice putting green...usually with some fun people that don't mind beating each other up a little bit. 

How you Play:

1. Draw straws to determine who goes first - it's super important to keep the order

2. After the first hole, use golf's honor system to set order of play - low score on previous hole leads off

3. Player with the honor chooses the hole

4. All players putt in order, leaving their ball in place

5. If a ball strikes another ball, the player who putted incurs a 1-stroke penalty

6. The player farthest from the hole ALWAYS goes first.

7. No finishing out whatsoever - including 1" putts - in fact, the point is to get in everyone's way if you don't hole out. 

8. Low score wins

We used to play this game for $1 per stroke...which can get pretty hefty.

Go with what you feel comfortable with, but I highly suggest some value per stroke to keep everyone engaged the entire time on every shot...otherwise, people get silly when they know they've lost. 

Good luck!

I'm down for a friendly wager playing golf with some friends, but is there a point where it goes too far? The USGA rules on amateur status say there is. 

I've got some experience at a country club where gambling was pretty heavy and it definitely impacted how people treated their handicaps and participation in member tournaments. 

I'd love to hear your take on the subject. Hit me up and share your thoughts...

I suspect that there are many more people out there facing the yips than we realize. I hope that this deep dive discussion brings value for you, and brings ideas and solutions that will help you climb back to a place of confidence and enjoyment of the game. 

The yips is a putting affliction that strikes without notice. Those who have never had them can't ever empathize with the challenges golfers face when hands are trembling and flinching at impact. 

It can be devastating. In fact, I almost quit golf because of them. 

In this episode, my good friend Robert and I share our feelings and the challenges that we've both faced. I give him some tips and exercises to build his confidence back up so that he can hit the spring golf season running.