The Pro Zone

By Rich Parker

Oh Harry, you forgot to put the little covers on the clubs.Everybody has a barrier in the game of golf, whether it’s breaking 90, 80 or 70. The thing is, there’s such a big difference between wanting to break a certain barrier and expecting to shoot a certain score. Once you shoot 88, you’re not thinking about breaking 90 anymore. Your mind is not in the way, creating a barrier, so you play better golf. Every tournament that I’ve won, I wasn’t thinking about winning. But there were 30 tournaments that I should have won and I started counting the money, picturing the trophy…and when your mind wanders on the course, it usually leads to trouble. So much of this game is mental. You can’t get ahead of yourself. You have to play hole by hole. I tell my students, “Trust your swing.” Once you’re out on the course, have one thought, two at the most. And make sure you set goals. No one has ever perfected golf, not even Tiger Woods. I think the majority of us worry about the negatives and don’t look enough at the positives. So take some time to appreciate the good days because as much as we care about playing well, golf is only a game.

Rich Parker, head pro at Carter CC in Lebanon, NH, has won the New Hampshire Open twice, the Vermont Open, the Massachusetts Open, the Trinidad & Tobago Open (which qualified him for the World Open), and numerous other tournaments.

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