BAD COURSE CONDITIONS

If you watch golf on TV every weekend, you will see beautiful golf courses in perfect condition.  The players rave about how good the greens are and how nice the course is.  For most of us, this might not be the case.  Many people may not even be aware that the “tour” courses are closed down for weeks, if not a month, prior to the event.  And most “tour” events are held in locations where monthly dues are extremely high. I recently met with a student who played a tournament on a course that was not in very good condition.  He complained that the greens were bumpy and the fairways were too thin.  If you have played golf at any level, you have experienced this.  I heard a story about the great Gary Player saying that he loved fast greens when he was playing on them; then he said he loved slow greens a few weeks later playing a tournament on slow greens.  When asked which greens he liked, fast or slow, he responded he loved any greens he played on. I told my student this story.  Of course, I also had to add in a few other comments about not complaining and understanding that sometimes golf is not fair.  At the very least, he needed to work on becoming mentally tough, allowing his competition to be the one to complain.  We are all going to show up to an event, either a fun round with friends or a national tournament, and there is a chance the course will not be in the greatest condition.  We have a choice.  We can complain and let it affect our play in a negative way, or we can get excited, knowing a lot of the players won’t be in contention because they can’t mentally handle playing poor conditions.