Lessons from Nationals

Placed T-3 in my flight at the GCAT Nationals. My goal was top 10, so I achieved that goal, although I truly believe I could have won it if I had been able to get comfortable with my swing. It wasn't until the last day that I started to feel comfortable and could hit the ball where I wanted. My putting wasn't too great the last two days either, so I definitely left some strokes there too.

Anyway I wanted to document what I learned from playing in the four day event, especially while it's fresh in my head.

1. Clear the mind. I think part of my problem the first 3 days was that I was having trouble clearing my mind of distractions and focusing on the moment. I'd be standing over the ball for many shots or putts and have what I consider a scrambled mind - I wouldn't be thinking about any one thing in particular, but I was thinking about 10 things at once. The last day when I scored very well I was able to focus on what I was doing at that moment and only that one thing.
2. Think through the situation of every shot. Know the lie, know the risk/reward, know the shot shape you need to hit, know what the green is really doing, know the weather. For the most part I executed very well through the week - I got in trouble typically because I didn't consider one aspect of the situation I was in. The best example is an 84 yard pitch shot I had with a downhill lie on the 15th hole of the last day. I focused on the swing I needed to make and forgot about the downhill lie I needed to compensate for - the result was a chunk on a relatively easy pitch. That led to an awkward 40 yd pitch to a small green, a bunker shot, and 2 putts for double bogey. That double bogey was the difference between sole 2nd and T-3.
3. Light putter grip. I caught myself with a tight putter grip numerous times throughout the week. That may be one of the reasons I struggled with my putting so much, including missing many short birdie putts.
4. Short game (chipping and pitching) can make or break your round. Everyone "knows" this, but I lived it. At TPC Sawgrass Stadium I spent most of my 2nd shots on par 4's and 5's punching out of trees (or worse) and back into the fairway, meaning I had to try to get close to the pin on the green and make my putt to save par. Most of the time I was able to save par, and that saved my round. Also if I didn't get on the green in regulation, most of the time I was able to get up and down.
5. Golf is not a game of perfect. That's actually a book title, but it's so true. As mentioned in #4, "most of the time" I was able to be successful in recovering from bad situations. You have to accept that bad situations are going to happen, and then you have to accept that you aren't always (100% of the time) going to execute the way you intend. But the idea has to be to put yourself into a position where you have a chance. In fact, all week that's how I would make decisions - "what is going to get me into a position to have a better chance for the next shot or to score?"
6. High probability choices. Since golf is not a game of perfect, you have to play a game of probability. You may have also heard this as "play your game" or "stay within yourself". Really what that means is you have to make decisions and pick shots that give you the best chance at being successful for the next shot (or score). And this may vary from day to day depending on how well you're swinging or putting. I know I had a slightly different swing each of the four days of the tournament, with some clubs working better for me than others, and I made decisions according to the state of my game at that moment. Targeting pins is not always the smart thing to do. Play your tendencies - if you're having a tendency to pull or hook the ball left that day, then don't aim right at a pin tucked on the left side of the green - go middle and if it hooks you're in better shape, while if it doesn't you're safe. If hitting a Driver meant that water or bunkers (or both) come into play while hitting a 5 wood meant I got another 30 yards of fairway to play with even though it put me back 40 yards, I went 5 wood. That extra 40 yards might be the difference between a GW approach and a 7-iron approach, but it also meant I took away the opportunity for the Big Number, which leads me to...
7. Stay away from the Big Number. I know a number of guys who took a big number on just one hole the entire tournament, but that one hole kept them out of contention. By Big Number I mean worse than double bogey - not that double bogey is all that great either, but in this particular tournament's situation with the windy conditions and course setups it wasn't a number that was going to destroy your chances at contending. However, taking a 10 on a par 4 or a par 3 certainly digs a deeper hole to climb out of.  Now generally speaking I try to limit my mistakes to no worse than bogey. I've reached a point where I hate bogeys, but I know they're going to happen. I really hate double bogeys, but for this particular tournament I knew that they would likely happen too just with the environment we were playing in. The trick was to keep things from getting out of control and to minimize the number of double bogeys that would happen. As I get better I'm sure that mentality will shift into minimizing bogeys, regardless of the environment conditions I'm playing in (it IS my mentality for weekend rounds).
8. Shot shaping is crucial (and fun). Fades, draws, high shots, lows, punches, traps, etc. All important to know how to do. The wind this week was brutal. 20-25 mph sustained winds, and a lot of people suffered because they didn't adjust. Hitting a cut into a right-left wind can help keep the ball straighter, just like hitting a draw into a left-right wind. Keeping it under the tree line is useful to minimize the affect of wind. Trapping the ball when you want to spin it back off a slope and have it suck down to the pin is a helpful skill to have (did this to 2 feet on Stadium #18). Plus, it's fun to execute these shots, and when you know you can't perfectly control the ball when you're trying to put some kind of spin or height to the shot it takes some of the pressure of executing a perfectly straight shot out of the equation. "I tried to cut the ball to that right pin location and it didn't cut? So I'm in the center of the green, no problem" or "I tried to cut the ball to that right pin location and it landed 2 feet from the flag. That was fun to watch." When I practice I mess around with shot shaping all the time - it's fun, and as I've found in tournaments, very useful. I did realize I need to learn how to hit a low Driver/3w. That's one area that did hurt me a bit.