You have completed the preparation for the tournament and the tournament is approaching.
Here are some final thoughts and ideas: 1.
Practice Round.
Most players want to schedule a round so that they can get familiar with the course; it routing, green speeds, type of sand in the bunkers, and trouble areas.
I like to end up with a strategy for playing each hole.
Prior to playing your practice round, read the local rules on the back of the score card.
These rules may or may not be in effect when you play.
Often times if you ask the golf professional or course staff, they will indicate the approximate location of the tees like middle, back, or forward.
To illustrate that my thoughts on competition are really my thoughts and may not necessarily be yours, Doug Davis, who manages the Miles practice facility is an outstanding competitor.
He was one of U of M's best players and has won four GAM events.
He rarely plays practice rounds.
He prefers to compete not knowing where the problems lie because he feels it adversely influences his decision making.
2.
Equipment Check.
An important part of being ready to play is having your equipment ready to compete.
Count the number of clubs in your bag to be sure it is 14 or less.
Clean your clubs.
Replace worn cleats on your golf shoes.
Check your foul weather gear.
Decide on the golf ball you will use and have an adequate supply because in some events you cannot switch from one model of golf ball to another during the round.
Most tournaments now allow players to use range finders or GPS units.
If you do not have one of these, you will be at a disadvantage.
Decide if you will be riding or walking and take the appropriate golf bag and wear the right shoes.
Personally, I like to have a brand spanking new golf glove for a tournament.
It is important for your confidence to know that your equipment is ready for the event.
In some events, you will receive information about the specifics on how the tournament will be conducted.
There are rules options that are at the discretion of the tournament that you need to know so read this document carefully.
3.
Warm up.
To my thinking, the warm up starts when you wake up the day of the event and gets your mind and body ready for the competition.
You need to do whatever you can to stay calm and relaxed.
For me, I like to go for a short easy walk or run.
I also like to do a few Yoga relaxation exercises.
You need to think about what will make you calm and relaxed.
When you arrive at the course and start hitting balls and putting, you want to retain a calm and relaxed state.
I like to hit shots with as slow a swing as I can and with as light a grip as possible.
Competition tends to speeds things up so by practicing with a slow tempo hopefully things will be just right when the competition begins.
For most players, the first shot is an intimidating one.
During your warm up, hit a few shots that in your mind mimic your first shot.
4.
Competitive State of Mind.
These are some random thoughts about your state of mind during the competition.
As you will see, some of this will get at the core of who we really are.
This is one of the really compelling aspects of competitive golf and can be a great character builder.
For this to really get interesting, we need readers to offer up their ideas about the competitive state of mind for golf.
There is a comments section after this article for you to add your thoughts.
Style of Play.
We all have a different approach to playing the game.
Some golfers are risk takers and some are more conservative.
In competition, you need to play with the strategy that works best for you.
What sometimes happens is that a player who is naturally conservative in his or her play will get more conservative in competition, and for example, be short on all their shots and putts.
I see the opposite effect for aggressive players where they become overly risky.
I think you need to stay with what makes you play your best and not deviate from this in competition.
Play the Course.
This means your competition is the golf course not the other players.
Don't worry about what other players are doing; concentrate on how you can play your best on this particular golf course this particular day.
Anyone who has competed has suffered the consequences of thinking that they are not doing well and not trying their best only to find out that the field did not play well.
If the course is playing difficult for you, don't be surprised that it is playing difficult for everyone.
Never Give Up.
Playing golf when things are working is easy.
Playing when things are not working is tough.
Good players will figure out how to score well when things are not at their best.
If you just give up when things get tough, you will never figure out how to do this.
Plus, nobody likes quitters.
Play with Courage.
We all have our best swings and our safe swings and usually they are not the same swing.
Have the courage to attempt our best swing and shot not our safe swing.
During a good competitive round, players get uncomfortable with the prospect of a really low score and possibly feel they are not good enough to play this well.
Understand that it takes courage to shoot a really good score and be courageous.
Mind Games.
Here is a game I sometimes play when competing.
I will break the round into 6 sets of 3 holes each.
Why? This give me the ability of getting a fresh start after each three holes (instead of 9) so if I do really well or poorly after three holes I put that aside and start the next three.
Somehow for me, thinking in three hole increments works better than thinking in hole by hole (one hole) or nine hole increments.
Tiger often refers to a mind game he plays on putts.
He calls it "trusting the line" or "staying committed".
It is a mind game he plays to be able to aim a putt wide of the target and know that gravity really works and will bring the putt back on line.