Are You a Happy Golfer?

Jeff Fisher
Director of Instruction
Fisher Bryan Golf Academy at Longbow Golf Club
Mesa, AZ
jfisher@obsports.com

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There is a very small percentage of golfers in the world who are lucky enough and skilled enough to make their living playing golf. For the rest of the golfing public golf is recreation, so I wonder why so many golfers allow themselves to be so unhappy at their chosen recreation. I believe that maybe the best advice I can give to the golfing public as it pertains to playing better golf is to take greater steps towards making yourselves into happy golfers!

Now, this is no easy task because most golfers are determined to hold themselves to the same bar as those lucky few who play for a living. They bemoan their inability to crash 300 yard drives down the center of the fairway and rifle laser-like irons at tucked pins or drop putts from unimaginable distances on a regular basis. Herein lies the source of their discontent. 

If your number one goal as a recreational golfer was to enjoy the game more, what steps would you take? Would you widen the parameters of success that you set for yourself to make it more likely to put a smile on your face? Would you set goals that were more realistic and attainable so that more fun could be had?

The formulas for shooting lower scores are really not all that exacting. If you want to break 100 then eliminate triple bogeys. If you want to break 90 then eliminate double bogeys. If your goal is to break 80 then likely you need to eliminate a few of your bogeys that come from bad decisions and get away from blow up holes. 

Nowhere do these goals call into necessity birdies and eagles. Nor do they need a display of shot making equal to the best players on earth. 

To be clear, I am not in the least telling golfers not to strive to play better. I absolutely want golfers to shoot lower scores, because after all, lower scores are more fun! But my point is that by setting goals and parameters of success that are more akin with your ability, practice habits and current state of your game you will learn to enjoy the game more, play without the burden of unrealistic expectations and in the end, excel beyond what you probably thought possible in the beginning. In short, take the shortest route to making yourself into a happy golfer! 

Jeff Fisher is Director of Instruction at the Fisher Bryan Golf Academy at Longbow Golf Club. Jeff can be reached at 480.414.9330 or jeff@fisherbryangolf.com.