Springtime, the beginning of a new golf season; ask yourself what would it take for you to have the best season of your life? A better swing, lower scores, or longer drives? If you did all those things, next winter would you look back and say "wow I had a great year," or would you say "I would have had a great year if?"

It's rather amusing how we golfers are never satisfied with our games. No matter how well we play or what we achieve, it could always be better. We can have a career round and still complain of a bad shot or missed putt. The result is we never truly experience a prolonged state of joy on the course because we always think there is something more. And so we relegate our happiness to some distant future when we think all will be perfect. Guess what? Your future is here right now and there is no perfection. Somebody once said "life is what happens when we are busy making other plans." Are you so busy planning on being better in the future that you're not allowing yourself to have fun now?

As you start a new golf season, why not make up your mind to have the best round of your life every time you tee it up? That's what I said, the best round of your life every single time you play. This is not an impossible task and it does not involve shooting your lowest score or hitting perfect shots. It does call for remembering all the reasons you love the game and giving yourself permission to enjoy those reasons regardless of that slice or missed 3 footer. I'll let you in on a little secret: nobody ever died from missing a putt or dumping it in the water. So keep it in perspective, golf is a game, not a life threatening experience!

Here are some suggestions that might help. About your golf swing: instead of agonizing over it, why not delight in the complexity of that swing? It is not your enemy but a friend that needs constant love and attention. Nurture little pieces of it as you go along. Don't abuse it by constantly screaming at it, or paralyze it by doing too many things at one time. And instead of complaining about how difficult and frustrating golf is, consider this: golf is really a very simple game. Hit the ball - go find it, hit it again until you get it in the hole. That's all there is to it. Just treat every hole like a new adventure, a mystery present that you unwrap as the hole unfolds. Sometimes you find treasure, others; you get the booby prize.

Most important, give yourself a break. Golf is just a process of exploration and change. Like life, the journey is far more important than the destination. Do the best you can and realize that some days your best effort produces your lowest scores. Others are spent chanting "that's the maximum I can take on this hole." Put your heart and soul into making a triple bogey as much as you do in making a birdie. When a friend tells me they are having a rotten day I say, "well make it the best rotten day of your life!" So go on, laugh about it, you might as well have fun in the process!

As this new season begins, decide to totally immerse yourself in experiencing all the things you love about the game, the good, the bad, and the ugly. You never know, next winter you might look back and hear yourself say, "Wow, I just had the best season of my life!" Good luck, you can do it. Now go play and have fun.

© Melissa Whitmire and Triad Golf Today - March/April 1998