Days In The Rough Are (Not) Here to Stay

Brush yourself off and start again.

A perfect Sunday for golf; at least that is what it was supposed to be. Heading out to a new course with a couple of friends to enjoy the sun and 18 holes. The sun was out, but it was blowing hard and there were no cute golf skirts being worn. Leggings and long sleeves for sure. Still, we were all excited to be out. I wish I could say that the excitement lasted the whole round.

My first tee shot had good distance, but faded right and landed in the trees; this could basically be a foreshadowing of the rest of the round. I will spare you all of the ugly details, but let’s just say that while I did have some solid shots in both my long and short game, my round overall was one of my worst in the last two years. The back 9 was probably my worst 9 since I started playing at a decent level. To say I was frustrated was a bit of an understatement, and I definitely fell into the trap of trying so hard to fix it that I made it worse. The course we played is tough, but my score was much more indicative of my headspace on the back nine than it was of the course’s difficulty. In fact, I felt pretty good about a lot of the holes, and I know that if I had played at the level that I am capable of I would be able to hold my own on that course. Now knowing that and executing on it are different, and the reality is that I had a very bad day on the golf course. The one area of improvement that I saw in myself was that while I wasn’t really having fun with my game, I was still enjoying the time with my friends and fiancé. The days spent on the golf course, even when I am playing like crap, are still days to be grateful for, and they definitely beat the days spent behind a desk.

There is another amateur golfer who I follow who also had an iffy day on the course last weekend, and she posted about feeling down about how her round went. I messaged her back saying head up and leave the bad shots on the course. As I typed it, I knew that this is something that I still struggle with, but it was also a good reminder for both of us that we are still playing, and we will be back to spend more time on the fairway and green than in the rough.

Until next time,

Fore!

Katherine

This story originally appeared on https://thebirdsandthetees.wordpress.com