Part V: Managing Yourself And Your Game
Lesson #100: Shake It Off

We all love golf, but it doesn't always love us back. No one knows better than I the strange fates that can befall you - I'll never completely banish the ghosts of Larry Mize, Bob Tway, Robert Gamez, and David Frost, or the miracle shots they pulled off to beat me. On the other hand, I can assure you that I have stored those guys and those moments very deep in the back of my mind.

What I've learned over the past several years is that there are certain things about golf you can't control. You lose more often than you win - and if you're a weekend player, you probably make more bad shots than good ones.

Shake them off. Step aside for a moment, take a deep breath, close your eyes, and do your damnedest to forget what has happened. There's no room on the golf course for anger or self-pity. The sooner you regain your composure and determination, the sooner your best shots will return.

And when things become blackest, remember the words of 1946 U.S. Open Champion Lloyd Mangrum: 'It's not your life, It's not your wife, it's only a game.'

Illustration by Jim McQueen

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