Happy Posting Season, For Those That Celebrate

Today is the first day of posting season in Oregon. Frankly, with our weather, it doesn’t feel like it. Between 10 inches of snow, heavy rain, and low temperatures, I do not have high expectations of course conditions.

I will play Sunday, weather permitting, and I am trying to keep my expectations in check.  

1) I know my score is going to go up before it goes down: It happens every year, I am taking lessons, and I can’t expect that I am going to go out there and play like I was at the end of the year. I know those sound-like excuses, but I don’t want to set myself up to be discouraged mentally. I need to keep thinking about the process not the result.

2) While I have a goal I want to hit, that number can’t stress me out: We all have goals, but I need to think about what is going to get me to that goal, not the goal itself. Throughout the year, I need to keep checking in on where there are opportunities to lower my score. (We know chipping is the number one area right now.)

3) It still needs to be fun: At times last year, I got really hung up on score, and I think it unnecessarily added pressure to my game. I felt like I was working on many things and deserved to be lower, leading me to tense up and playing worse. It wasn’t until the end of the year where that went away.

Also, I will start my strokes gained experiment for March, so wish me luck with that.

Do you celebrate posting season?