Feb 12, 2019
I’m not sure a day goes by during the season that I don’t hear about someone’s “golf money”. Golf money is the secret stash in your wallet that your wife doesn’t know about. Golf money is the promise of equity that you made to yourself when your wife bought that handbag that costs the same as a bedroom set. “If she gets that handbag, then I get some golf”…sound familiar. Golf money can be a fixed number, or it can simply be an existential concept. Math is constantly circling in the brain of someone holding golf money. How do I get everything I want? I want to go on that guys trip in June, and I want that new driver, I want to play league, I want to play in those fall scrambles, I want …..you get the point. Years ago, this pool of golf money often determined how much you would play in a season. If you had $500 and you thought you might play 15 times that summer, you felt the need to find places that costed $33 each time. They weren’t the best places, at the best times, but at least you were playing. Fast forward to today, your life has changed a lot. You still have that same $500 bucks your wife doesn’t know about, but there is no way your playing 15 times, you’ll be lucky to play 8 or 9 times. Suddenly the idea of finding the cheapest places and spreading your golf money the furthest doesn’t seem very appealing. You adopt this new concept: “I never get to play, so when I do play, I’m playing somewhere good”. We are that place. I guess Whistling Straits is also that place, but that’s the place when you start playing once a season. I like our position. I like that you will use your golf money here. It’s no longer about the quantity, it’s all about the quality. And we are certainly that!
March 2019
Today I received an email, “please remove me from your email list, I’m ill and I will never golf again”. Depressing thought isn’t it. Can you imagine the day where it hits you; the idea that you will never golf again. Personally, I might want to keep receiving emails. I might want to stay close to golf. Golf has been my friend, my comfort all my life. Imagine nor more long tee shots, the anticipation of playing a new course, an unlikely made putt, a sunset round with your best friend, a flirty interaction with the bev cart girl, the excitement of a new driver, an invitation to a tournament, the smell of fresh cut grass in the morning, the friendly smile of your local club pro, or a juicy burger after a 7 mile walk. As a “golfer”, you have no idea how great your life is compared to a “non-golfer”. In golf, you have this activity that is fun, yet a puzzle. It’s hard to conquer, yet easy to be frustrated. You can dream about it all day, and swear you will never play again all night. Think of the time you spend thinking about your life as it relates to golf. Other than a few bad shots, and a few crappy courses where you really overpaid for what you got; hasn’t golf been mostly positive? Now, imagine sending an email that says “I don’t want to hear about golf anymore, I don’t want to think about golf anymore, I will never golf again”. How do you simply turn your back on golf? I understand that in your final days, it seems a little weird to be thinking about golf. However, there is a good chance, that in your final days, there is nothing more comforting, more peaceful, or more perfect than thinking about your golf filled life. I love golf, and I can’t wait to share it with you.
Feb 6, 2019
Over the winter, I read a very nice article about “putting attitude” from Dr. Bob Winters. His claim to golf fame is helping tour players and amateurs with the mental side of the game. He broke bad putting down into 3 mental mistakes, and I’ve been guilty of all of them. Sometimes I’m guilty of all three simultaneously. Let me summarize his article. Bad Attitude 1): Hit and Pray putters are “hoping the ball goes in the hole, or they are hoping they don’t three putt”. These people react very poorly to the outcome of missed putts. They begin trying to focus on how “not to miss” instead of how to make putts. Bad Attitude 2): Robotic Putters are so obsessed with achieving the perfect putting motion that they lose focus on making the putt. Robotic putters are never satisfied with outcomes because they believe their mechanics can always be better. Robotic putters “believe”: if they make a perfect stroke, the ball will always find the hole. Bad Attitude 3): Worry Putters worry about missing, hitting it too hard or soft, if they are playing enough break, if their stroke is good, or what others will think if they miss. While we all believe we can recover from a bad drive, Worry Putters believe they can never recover from a miss. Are you guilty of any of these thoughts? Here Are Dr. Bob’s cures: 1) Hit and Pray Putters need a good pre-shot routine, and they need a strategy for making the putt, as opposed to thoughts on how they might miss. 2) Robotic Putters need to realize the ball doesn’t know how good your mechanics are, it simply reacts to the concussive force at impact. Robotic putters simply need to use human genius to roll the ball a consistent distance. If they can do that and accept there are outside factors out of your control, putting should improve. 3) Dr. Bob’s cure for Worry Putters is simply to vague. He says, develop a mental blueprint for the putt, claiming this will eliminate the other variables. My solution is simpler: remind yourself no one cares. They don’t care what you put on Facebook, they don’t care that you got a new car, they don’t care how many goals your daughter scored, they don’t care that you found inspiration from a new book, they certainly don’t care if you miss a putt from two feet. Now you are well on your way to making more putts!
Articles From The
Wandering Mind of
Nick Stephens, PGA
Feb 19, 2019
Jan 30, 2019
Golf Money...
Want To Have Our Incredible Monthly Newsletters Emailed Directly To You?
Past Newsletters, Enjoy!
When You Know It's Over...
Royal St. Patrick's Golf Links
920-532-4300 in Wrightstown, Wisconin
They Stopped Going In...
Below are the "Links" to our most recent Newsletters that are emailed to our loyal listeners. If you think you may have missed one of our emails, or you remember it being so good you want to read it again...this is where you will find it. Enjoy!
Tales From The Tall Grass