BOGEYBREAKERS ^TM

Get Ready. Get Set.  GO – Mentally and Physically

(Learning how to apply the secret-to-golf to YOUR game)

If you are the kind of golfer who puts golf out of your mind as soon as you leave the 19th hole after your weekly round, not to be recalled mentally or physically until the first tee of your next round, The Colonel Bogey Way may not be for you.  If you are the kind of golfer who is only interested in hitting a few 250 yard drives each round and has no interest in a respectable score, The Colonel Bogey Way may not be for you.  But, if you are a typical weekend golfer (you may think of yourself as a duffer) who is tired of embarrassing yourself week after week, year after year, scoring in the 95-120 range, you are on the brink of the most enjoyable golf of your life because you now know the secret-to-golf.

You do not have to go to the driving range several times a week but you do have to spend some time getting yourself mentally “ready” and physically “set” before you are able to “go” out and show the patience and confidence needed to break 100 and eventually 90, consistently.  This is where persistence comes in.  As in every other sport, the professional golfer spends time getting warmed up both mentally and physically.  You should do the same.  No doubt you do if you play other amateur sports.  So don’t expect a miracle to happen in your next round.  In fact, if your season is year round, the Colonel does not recommend that you read all six lessons at once. Try to play a round or two between lessons.  If you have been stuck in the same scoring rut for many years (one of the Colonel’s successes had not broken 90 in over 30 years playing golf but broke 80 twice within his first year playing the Colonel’s way) give yourself at least three weeks playing the Colonel’s way.

Once you have adjusted both your mental and physical approach to the game and gained the confidence needed to become a golfer rather than a duffer who breaks 100 consistently and who is capable of breaking 90, you will find that you can play a respectable game of golf even when time doesn’t allow you any practice (mental or physical) between rounds.  But, while you are making that transition, you are going to have to do some “work” between your weekly rounds.  It won’t be hard work.  In fact, if you are a real golf enthusiast it will be fun.

Now, before I tell you how to get ready mentally and physically for your next round, I’d like to give you a few facts.

The Facts

The average weekend golfer who scores in the 100-120 range usually butchers the first three holes.  I know this from my own duffer days, from reviewing a lot of scorecards, and from observing and talking to a lot of golfers who score in this range.

The typical scorecard of a golfer who shoots a round of 100 will look like this:

First three holes – 19 strokes.  [Average on 1st three holes, 6.3 strokes per hole.]
Last 15 holes – 81 strokes.  [Average on last 15 holes, 5.4 strokes per hole.]

It follows that the average weekend golfer who does not break 100 regularly has just about ruined any chance to do so by the time he/she is ready to tee up on the fourth hole.

The reasons are fairly simple.  The once-a-week golfer is almost always tense on the first tee.  They have the biggest audience they will have all day, they have little confidence, and they don’t want to be embarrassed.  So they try just a little too hard and dub a shot off the tee.  Now, if the first hole is typical, it is probably a par 4 in the 330 to 370 yard range with little real trouble (few first holes are as sadistic as No. 1 at my old home course where there was a fairly sizable pond in front of the first tee.  But even that hole could be played to an easy bogey or at worst a double bogey by the average weekend golfer).  So our duffers dub their first shot 90 yards off the tee and are about 270 yards from the green.  Naturally, trying to make up the lost distance, they frequently dub another shot while still in view of the crowd at the first tee.  Humiliated twice, they are not likely to improve much for the rest of that hole.

Now let’s go back to the tee and start over again.  How do you get yourself mentally “ready”?  By exercising patience.  Here’s how.  First, think about that first hole before your next round.  Typically, you are faced with a routine par 4 of about 360 yards, fairly wide fairway and little trouble.  Why is it such a problem?  If average weekend golfers are honest, they will admit that the reason they have trouble with the hole is because they are thinking “PAR.”  They are convinced that this is one hole they are capable of reaching in two and two-putting for a par and that is just what they are trying to do.  Thus, they press their tee shot and even when they dub it miserably, they go for maximum distance on their second shot without ever asking themselves why?  What good will a big hit do when they are still 270 yards from the green?  So the first thing you have to do to get yourself ready mentally is to recognize “PAR” for what it is.

The Webster New International Dictionary (2nd edition) says that “par” is the number of strokes required for a hole or round “played perfectly. . . .”  And what is “BOGEY”?  The same dictionary says that “bogey” is “a given score or number of strokes, for each hole or a course, against which players compete; so-called because assumed to be the score of an imaginary first-rate player called Col. Bogey.”  So unless you are a scratch golfer or one of those people who “sets perfection as your minimum standard” you shouldn’t even be thinking par.

What happened?  Well, Player B, after his dubbed drive, hit a fair second shot down the middle – reached the green in 3 and sank a 20-foot putt.  Players C and D each played safe second shots short of the green – pitched on and two-putted for “routine” bogeys.  Player A hit his second shot hole high in a sand trap, sculled his third over the green into another trap – got on in four – and then three-putted.  Yet on the tee, Player A’s seemingly perfect tee shot may well have rattled Player B and contributed to his dub.  But Player B didn’t let himself stay rattled and played smart (not brilliant) second and third shots.  He knew (i.e., he was confident), even after a dubbed drive, that he could still get his bogey and while he wasn’t expecting a par, his smart play at least kept the possibility of a par alive.  And who do you think was in the best mental shape for the rest of that round?  So remember, it’s not how you start a hole (or a round) that counts, it’s how you finish.

Now back to you.  Before you play your next round, think about the first three holes on your course.  Think about how you normally score on those holes.  Then make up your mind that you will try the patient and persistent approach (The Colonel Bogey Way) we are going to suggest.  This will get you mentally ready.

Next, get yourself physically set.  Don’t step to the first tee with your club feeling strange in your hand.  If you can, hit a few balls before your starting time.  Don’t try to kill them – just make contact.

If you can’t hit a few balls, then at least grab a club and go off some place where you can relax and swing it a few times to get loosened up.  During the week, take your clubs to the backyard and swing a few times, even if you can’t hit a ball.  The idea is that you want to be as comfortable and relaxed as possible when you step up to that first tee.

Your First Shot of Your Weekly Round

Now you are ready to stand up to that first tee shot of your weekly round (we assume a par 4 hole).

1. Relax
2. Think Bogey

All you want to do is meet the ball.  So take a club (even if it is an iron) that gives you confidence; a club you feel really comfortable with that will give you a chance of getting 120-150 yards off the tee and fairly straight.  Your goal is to meet, not kill, the ball on your first two shots, so that you will be hitting to the green from 100 yards or less on your third shot. This can probably be accomplished easily with a 3,4,5 or 6 iron or 5 wood second shot.  All you have to do is meet the ball.  Don’t try for maximum distance on either your first or your second shot.  Just try to put yourself in a position to have a reasonable chance to get on the green in three.  You will be surprised how much it will do for your confidence and your ability to be patient just to meet the ball solidly on your first shot.

One way of helping yourself to make good contact is to make sure that you take a slow backswing.  We’ll deal with this in more detail in later sessions but for now remember the old story about the golfer who traveled halfway across the country to take a lesson from Bobby Jones.  Jones reportedly asked the man to take a practice swing and after seeing it said “you might try hitting it on your backswing.”

Now, that third shot.  Your goal is to be on the green in three.  Don’t try to put that third shot on the stick.  If you press here, you will likely dub it and ruin what you’ve gained by being patient and smart on your first two shots.  If you are successful, you should be comfortably on the green in three.  Then concentrate on getting down in two for a bogey and a decent start.  If you play your first hole this way, the chances are you’ll get your bogey.  If so, be happy.  Your goal was a bogey – you got it!  Now, even if you miss a shot along the way or end up three putting, you should be no worse than a double bogey – Okay – you can live with a double bogey.  You can live with quite a few double bogeys a round and still have a decent score.

The First Three Holes

In fact if your first hole (or any other hole) does not meet my description of a typical starting hole, you may need to make an adjustment and play for a safe double bogey right from the start.  On my current home course the two nines were recently switched so that our first two holes are two of the most difficult holes on the course.  Both are over 420 yard par 4’s from the white tees, both have elevated tees and elevated greens, and both holes have lateral water.  Our best players find it difficult to par these two holes so for the rest of us a bogey is an excellent hole and we do not get upset even if we start with two double bogeys.

ON THE FIRST THREE HOLES your goal is to do no worse than a double bogey on any hole.  If any part of your “playing for a bogey” game plan goes wrong, adjust it and play for a double bogey (patience again).  Never press to get back the shot you’ve lost – that’s how you get seven’s, eight’s, and worse.  Sometimes by being patient and playing smart you will get back a “lost shot” – when you do, be happy, but don’t expect it to happen every time.

IF YOU ARE A TYPICAL WEEKEND GOLFER, SCORING IN THE 100-120 RANGE, I WOULD BE SAFE BETTING THAT IF YOU PLAY YOUR FIRST THREE HOLES WITH NOTHING WORSE THAN A DOUBLE BOGEY, YOU WILL TAKE THREE OR MORE STROKES OFF YOUR PREVIOUS AVERAGE FOR THOSE THREE HOLES.

Now, if you can do it for one hole, you can do it for the next one and the next one.  And if you do it for three holes, you can do it for 18.  And if you can be on 14 greens putting for a par and 4 greens putting for a bogey, you almost have to break 100 even if you don’t have any one putt greens and do have several three putts.  Figure it out –

Let’s Look At The Numbers

On a typical par 72 course, suppose you hit 14 greens in one over regulation – two-putted 10 and three-putted four:

10 bogeys = 10 over par
4 double bogeys = 8 over par.

Suppose you hit the other four greens in two over regulation – two-putted three and three-putted one:

3 double bogeys = 6 over par
1 triple bogey = 3 over par
Par = 72
Your score  = 99

Go back and look at it again.  You can break 100 without hitting one green in regulation.  With five three-putt holes and no pars!  And not a single one-putt hole!  Now I don’t care how much of a duffer you have been in the past – even you must be capable of playing to such a game plan.

And if you do play as described, you will probably get a few one putt greens (putting is not my strength but even I sink a few that aren’t “gimmies”).

Since you will be approaching the green from a short distance most of the time, you shouldn’t get many three-putts.  Go back and look at the example again.  Take away a couple of three putts, add one or two one putts, and already you are in the mid 90’s.

Your Game Plan

This is where you really start to learn the importance of patience and persistence on the golf course.  From now on you must plan to play your golf course as 18 separate holes.  Each hole has its own game plan and each hole is unrelated to the other 17.  When your ball is sitting on the tee, neither it, nor any club in your bag, nor your muscles, are aware of what you did on the previous hole.  They don’t know and they don’t care because it is not relevant.  Only your brain carries this knowledge, so only it can get you in trouble by thinking about a bad hole or a missed putt or whatever you did wrong.

Once you tee up for the next hole, you start all over again.  It is a different hole, with different problems, and requires a different game plan.  (Concentrate on getting this feeling of a new beginning on each hole.)

Do you, like most duffers, think in terms of a “good” or “bad” nine?  Once you have a bad streak, you give up until that nine is finished.  DON’T DO IT.  Start fresh on each tee.  Your brain has enough to do, so don’t clutter it up with thoughts about the past – good or bad.

Sad to say, I must, in fairness, warn you that you can get into trouble just as easily thinking about past good holes as bad ones.  I have heard many a tale of woe that goes something like this:

“Usually I have 18-21 strokes on the first three par four holes and even if I settled down after that, I wouldn’t break 100.  So I went out and tried to do exactly what you said and I had two bogeys and a par and only 14 strokes after three holes.  But then I went to pot, played the last 15 holes 4-6 strokes worse than normal and still ended up in my usual 100-105 range.  What happened?”  Well, I have enough experience now – my own and others – that I know what happened even if the average golfer finds it hard to admit.  Chances are the 100-105 player who finds him/herself putting for pars on three holes in a row; who one-putts once for a par and two-putts twice for bogeys – will almost immediately revert to thinking “PAR GOLF.”   They think, “WOW!! I could have made all three putts and I would be even par instead of two over par.”  Therefore, they unconsciously abandon their “bogey golf” game plan.  They start playing for pars and pretty soon they pick up a couple of triple bogeys or worse and the benefits of their patience and persistence on the first three holes is wasted.

Don’t let yourself fall into that trap.  On each tee – THINK BOGEY.  Plan how you can play the hole for an easy bogey.  (In future lessons I will give you more specific help with you game plan for each hole.)  If it is a particularly long or tough hole for you, or if you are now scoring in the 120+ range, your game plan should be to plan for an easy double bogey – plan it that way and play it that way.  Should you get a bogey, wonderful – but try to plan for a safe double bogey.  But if you do worse than a double bogey and occasionally you will, put it behind, forget it, and move on.  Remember some of the best pros in the world score 9’s and 10’s occasionally.  (In the 1999 Byron Nelson Classic, Tiger Woods had a triple bogey on Saturday and a double bogey on Sunday on the same hole.  In the 2001 British Open Tiger had to take unplayable lies two days in a row.)  But pros or top amateurs rarely beat themselves up after a really bad hole the way the average duffer does.  If you can’t learn to put a bad hole behind you immediately, you may never shed the duffer label.

Don’t Fool Yourself Even If You Have A Good Streak

For a while you may need to remind yourself that you are an average weekend golfer – that for you:

(1) A bogey is a very good hole.
(2) A double bogey is a fair hole.
(3) A par is a great hole.
(4) A birdie is a brilliant hole.
(5) A triple bogey or worse is usually a dumb hole.

In other words, a par for you is equivalent to a birdie for a pro.  He likes birdies – you can like pars but you shouldn’t expect them on every hole any more than a pro expects to birdie every hole.

Maybe I should elaborate on this thought a little, because you may well be thinking – “You’re wrong, the touring pro does think birdie on virtually every hole.”

Well, we are both right.  Look again at what I said and what I guessed your reaction would be.  They sound alike but they are not.

I said the average professional does not “expect to birdie every hole.”  That doesn’t mean that they don’t try to put themselves in a position to have a chance at a birdie on every hole – and in that sense you are right that they are, to some extent, thinking birdie.  So your game plan is really much the same as theirs, but one stroke or two strokes removed.  For most holes you want to be in a position to putt for a par or for a bogey.  But I don’t have to tell you not to expect to one-putt every hole.  You shouldn’t be thinking of par as your goal.  Your goal is a two-putt “routine” bogey or a two-putt double bogey.

One final thought for this lesson.  Even if you try to play every hole and every shot as we’ve discussed, you still can expect to get occasional triple bogeys (and even worse) – you don’t have to like them, but at least expect them.

Then, when they happen, they won’t unsettle you and you can still go on to the next hole and play it according to the proper game plan for that hole.

Final Words

Okay, you have enough to think about before and during your next round:

1.  Patience, Patience, Patience.
2.  Relax-Slow Backswing
3.  Think Bogey (Or Double Bogey, When Appropriate)
4.  Play 18 Separate Holes
5.  Have A Game Plan For Each Hole
6. Your goal is to build confidence. Patience and persistence will get you there.

GOOD LUCK
&
GOOD GOLFING!!

Colonel Bogey