July 22, 2024 7:27 am

I always drilled into my daughters the old adage of the 5 P’s, Perfect Preparation Prevents Poor Performance. They used to hate me saying it, but in golf, like most sports, it unfortunately is very true. If you plan your round, you will perform better.

Now, I know you don’t have the time like the professionals and their caddies do to walk a course and make copious notes. To work out the best lines to greens, the best angle to approach flags and the best side of the green to aim to miss if you are going to. But with today’s technology you can still get a head start.

Plan your round

Check the golf course website. You may find flyover videos of the holes, or at least, the pro’s tips on playing the hole. Obviously, if you have played the course before, this is much easier. Take a quiet 5 minutes, sit down somewhere uninterrupted. Go through in your mind, not only the shape of the hole, but the way you want to play it. Picture yourself driving the ball into the best part of the fairway. Follow that with the ideal approach to the green. I would suggest leaving the putting out at this point, just focus on getting to the green. As with all aspects of the mental game, just imagining yourself shooting level par is not suddenly going to make it happen. But you might surprise yourself how a little preparation can make for a more relaxed golfer on the course. 

Categorised in: Golf lessons, Tip of the month