72. It is well worth remembering that if getting chewed up actually helped our cause, anyone who has played for at least 5 years would be extremely proficient by now

For none golfers, here is an insight into the wonderful and weird world that is the game of golf. I remember reading about one golf writer who upon witnessing Mum, Dad, Grandma and several children playing on the "Arnold Palmer" putting green on an day trip to the seaside, was overcome with both awe and amazement.  There was Grandma, adorned with hat, long overcoat and handbag, shuffling round the green, and holing putts from everywhere. The grandkids were running round screeching and fighting but the old dear never batted an eyelid. The irony of it all was captured later when having got back home, he put on the T.V. and watched the best players in the world at the US Open writhing in torment when they missed from 3 feet on perfectly prepared putting surfaces and in a theatre of "Cathedral Calm." However, sometimes even "Cathedral Calm" is too rowdy. One well known former Open champion, it is said, could be put off on the green by the noise of butterflies alighting on flowers in an adjacent meadow. What a crazy game.

It has been documented many times that the best players seem to "play as if it means nothing, when it means everything." There can be no doubt that the answer to the majority of our golfing afflictions is entwined within this quote. There is certainly no doubt that knocking a little white ball into the hole meant absolutely nothing to Granny at the seaside which is why she was able to do it. However if the receiving of her pension next week depended on the holing of putts, it would put a different perspective on the old dears short game.

All of us have experienced the ease of hitting a second ball down a fairway after the first went sideward out of bounds. Likewise, how many times in matchplay have we knocked a 3 foot putt into the hole on our second attempt after trying desperately hard and feebly missing the first effort? "It's easy second time" is a line often used in a golfer’s vocabulary. Yes, it is easy second time because it doesn't matter but we are unfortunately rendered useless first time because it does.

How do we begin to remedy the problem?  Well, one way is to get things into a healthy perspective. It is a fact that many a tormented golfer who unfortunately have had to battle life threatening experiences come back and view the game and its problems from a far healthier perspective. Missing a putt no longer seems to matter that much anymore.

Thankfully, you don't have to rely upon the trials and tribulations of life to do it for you; you can change your perspectives today. Remember, golf is not a life or death game even though some tabloid newspapers do dress up headlines for big matchplay events with Gladiatorial overtones. The Ryder Cup matches at Kiawah Island many years back was hailed as "The War on the Shore." Some American players even wore military camouflaged visors. Talk about putting pressure on. It certainly got to Mark Calcaveccia that year who put 2 balls in the water at the short 17th on his way to halving with Monty having been 4 up with 4 to play.

Try to play a little more carefree; stop trying so hard and smell the flowers along the way. Put the game into a proper perspective and not only might it make it easier to accept missed putts, it just might make it easier to hole more putts as well. Finally, it is well worth remembering that if getting chewed up actually helped our cause, anyone who has played for at least 5 years would be extremely proficient by now.