Today’s article is courtesy of Brian Penn is a regular at The Grateful Golfer. He has his own golf blog called “All About Golf”. Like me, he offers his personal insight to this wonderful sport that hopefully will lower our golf scores and grows our appreciation for golf. If you are not a follower of Brian’s, I would recommend that you sign up today.

Brian recently returned from a Myrtle Beach golf trip and offers three great tips that I thought were worth sharing. His points are perfect for the amateur competitor because they are common sense and easy to achieve.

Here is what Brian shared from his article “2020 Myrtle Beach Cup“:

1. When in a match play format, don’t get distracted by your individual score. Several players asked me what I shot for the day and I told them that I didn’t know.  It was true.  If I was out of a hole, I’d put my ball in my pocket and let my partner play for our side.  I think it’s beneficial to NOT play out a ball on a hole you messed up because making a bigger mess can form negative mental pictures in your head.  When you have a bad hole pick up and forget about it.  Your gross score doesn’t matter – it’s not the game you are playing.  I get that many of the guys just want to play for practice or measure themselves, and that’s fine, but not my preference.
2. Play to your strength in match play and don’t alter your game based on the way your opponent(s) play. My strengths are accuracy off the tee and attacking with wedges.  My weaknesses are playing from fairway bunkers, and there were a lot at these venues.  I often hit a long iron or 3wd off the tee for position.  If you have strengths like mine, you’ll find that ego-based players may become frustrated playing you.  While they like to bomb tee shots, your accurate tee shots and their wayward driving often puts significant pressure on their game.
3. Around the greens, work the ground game. Courses at Myrtle Beach do not have significant greenside rough and don’t require high lofted pitch shots.  Don’t get too enamored with your lofted wedges and try chipping and pitching with more straight-faced clubs.  Putt when you can and keep the shots low whenever possible because roll is easier to judge distance on than flight.

I completely agree with Brian’s tips. They are simple and to the point. If I was to summarize his tips I would write them like this:

1. Stay focused on the match, not the score.
2. Play to your strengths during the match.
3. Adjust your game to the conditions of the golf course.

These are simple points, but so very important when in competition. Many times I have forgotten one (or all) of the tips to my demise. Whether in competition or not, these tips are stroke savers. Thanks Brian, I am grateful for your sage advice.

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!