5 ways to save a crap round before it’s too late

We’ve all been there. Here are the five C’s of fixing a rough round before it gets out of hand.

Contact!

When things go full foozle and just making decent contact would lift your spirits, think about “the last thing that worked for you,” says Top 100 Teacher Lou Guzzi. He recalls a competitive round when he was striking it poorly and randomly decided to try the old Gary Player walk-through-impact swing he sometimes used as a drill. Just like that, Guzzi couldn’t stop hitting it pure.

Context!

Michael Corleone might have only ever set foot on a golf course to bury a body, but he knew one key thing about surviving a hack attack — it’s not personal. “The game is experiential,” says Bhrett McCabe, PhD. “Everyone has a bad day at some point. Don’t take it personally. The game doesn’t hate you. If you’re playing poorly, try to enjoy working through the puzzle, and see how good you can be on your worst day. It will help you in the future.”

Concise!

Stop with the longshots on long shots: Instead of continuing to try (and fail) to knock fairway-wood and hybrid approaches onto the greens, start laying up to a distance you love. “If the shot you’re most comfortable with any day is from 70 yards, then on a bad day lay up to 70 yards whenever you can,” says Guzzi. “You can sharpen your short game, and you’ll at least get satisfaction from a few solid strikes.”

Contentedness!

Trevor Immelman has said Harold Varner III has the best attitude on Tour. Varner proved it by staying chill even as he shot 81 in the final group on Sunday at the 2019 PGA Championship, falling from T2 to T36. “This is easy,” Varner told GOLF a few days later. “Life’s really hard. I’ve seen people struggle. I get to play golf every day. I didn’t have much growing up, so I appreciate what I have. If you come from nothing and you get something, you cherish it more. I hadn’t even thought about it [shooting 81] until you just asked me.” To sum up: Relax and enjoy the day.

Cointreau!

You may as well focus on the 19th hole. Ask the bartender to mix the following in a highball glass over crushed ice: large shot of lemon-flavored vodka, small shot of Cointreau, little bit of cranberry juice, solid squeeze of half a lemon or lime, as preferred. It’s a Cosmo without the fancy glass — and the misery of your round will soon give way to a peaceful, easy feeling.

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