For most of us the reality is that we only have a limited time to devote to golf.  Family, work, weather, and daylight all limit how much golf we get to play and how much we can practice.  We rush from work, arrive minutes before our tee time, tie our shoes on our way from the car to the first tee, stick a tee in the ground and hit our opening tee shot.

Rather than feeling guilty that you can’t practice more, embrace that you are getting to play during your precious time that you have for the game.  The reality is you don’t need a better swing; you need to make fewer mistakes.

Playing great golf depends on decision making, club selection, target choice and emotional control.

When it comes to decision making always consider probability over potential.  “Can I pull this off at least 70% of the time?”  If the answer is no, chose the safer options.  This would apply to carrying hazards, long approaches, tight tee shots, and short-game hero shots.

Too many players choose the club to hit based on total distance, not carry distance.  Always try to remove the worst outcome.  Don’t play for your best strike, plan for your average shot.  Some good rules of thumb.

• Cold temperatures, wind, and soft turf reduce carry distance.
• If there is trouble short, take more club.
• If long is safe, take more club.
• If you are between clubs, take the longer one and swing smoother.

One of the keys to playing great golf isn’t making more pars and birdies, it is eliminating double bogey or worse.  Most of us can save at least 3-5 strokes a round by asking yourself, “what decision brings double bogey into play?”  Choose the option that removes double or worse such as laying up instead of a forced carry, hitting approach shots to the fat side of the green, and taking your medicine when recovering from trouble.

Finally, controlling emotions and expectations has a huge impact on how well you play and score.  How many times after getting mad on the golf course do you play better?  When we are in a state of “road rage” our decision making, and execution get worse.  At the highest level of the game the players hit a lot of bad shots, they just tend to be much better and have awareness of their negative thoughts.  When they go negative, they have developed ways to redirect their thoughts.

Embrace you time on the course, make better decisions, choose better targets, and control your emotions.   Your golf game will thank you!