By: Tim Graves, PGA

This past week I received an email from Chris Anderson (Graves Golf Alumnus / Level 5 Member) about a recent tournament he played in. After the original email, I asked him to expand about his “pep talk”. And received a GREAT email I suggest all read.

Original email from Chris:

Two weeks ago I finished second in my tournament! I shot 42-37 for 79! I teed off on #1 and as you can see, the front nine did not go well. I couldn’t hit a fairway to save my life lol. I gave myself a pep talk at the turn, used some of the techniques we learned at the AAI School, and was five shots better on the back nine! This included two birdies ( one on the 18th hole).

Follow Up email from Chris (About the “Pep Talk”):

Good Afternoon Tim,

Here is a rundown of the pep talk I gave myself at the turn:

As I walked off the 9th green I was pretty steamed and frustrated to say the least. Especially since I had a great warm up. I felt great, was chalk-full of confidence, and was ready to go. I couldn’t wait to get to the first tee and let it fly. On the front nine, I couldn’t hit a fairway to save my life. I had a couple lip outs and I missed a really short putt. I shot six over par (42) for the first nine holes of the tournament.

As we made our way from the 9th green to the 10th tee box we stopped to grab a drink, use the bathroom etc. I jumped out of the cart and walked into the clubhouse so I could get away from everyone and be alone. I was thinking/saying to myself, “What the heck is going on?” I was frustrated and genuinely bewildered at the same time. After a few minutes of feeling sorry for myself and having a pity party (reality wasn’t matching the vision I had in my mind) I collected myself and thought, “Ok, new 9. New life! You’ve been here before, so there’s no need to panic.” There’s lots of birdies out there. Plenty of opportunities. You got all your bad shots out of the way, so now you can turn and burn. Attack the back 9!

As I stepped to the 10th tee box I adopted a new strategy. The course was very narrow and each fairway was treelined, guarded by bunkers, and lots of fescue just was waiting to gobble up your golf ball. I decided to take the driver out of play and do whatever I had to do to get the ball in the fairway off the tee. I even thought about hitting a 6 iron off the tee. I decided to hit my trusty 7 wood off each tee. 200 to 210 yards. Not particularly far but always straight. I did the math in my head and accepted that I would have to hit 7,8, maybe a 9 iron into each green. Perfect. No sweat. My first and foremost priority was to get the ball in the fairway. Plot my way around the course one shot at a time. Time to rock n’ roll! 

It was a chilly day so I employed the tactic we talked about a month or two prior. On my approach shots, I clubbed up and played to the center of the green yardage (unless the pin was way in the back). We’re not playing hero golf, chasing pins, and forcing anything. Nice boring, uneventful golf. We’re certainly not following a bad shot with a stupid shot (LOL Thanks Tim). I told myself before every shot, “This is going to be my best shot of the day!” As I turned things around and started to hit my stride I kept telling myself, “keep going. Just keep going. Don’t give up. Anything can happen out here. (side note, I do not look at the leaderboard during tournaments)

I birdied both par 5’s on the back and shot one over par 37 for a total of 79! Five shots better than my front nine score! I walked into the scoring area to turn my scorecard in and was completely shocked to see I was tied with another guy for the clubhouse lead! There was one guy still out there with a few holes left to play who was playing quite well. We had to wait and see how it would all pan out. I thought to myself, worst case scenario, this gentleman holds on a wins. Best case scenario, I’m in a playoff with a chance to win a golf tournament I thought I was completely out of as I walked off the 9th green. 

As Paul Monahan has stated repeatedly, “You’re never out of the fight and anything can happen.” There is so much truth and wisdom to that.

Well, the gentleman I mentioned previously held on and won the tournament by a single shot. I finished 2nd but I gained priceless knowledge, insight, and I learned something about myself that is worth way more than the trophy I would have won that day. That trophy would have represented a specific moment in time. One particular date. The lessons I learned that day I will be able to take with me for the rest of my life.  

THANK YOU CHRIS!

Would love to hear your comments about Chris’ Pep Talk.

Please email me at timg@gravesgolf.com with comments.