Having re-written The Golfing Stoic, it got me thinking about an older post I wrote about my golfing goals. Whether those goals actually fit together or whether they quietly fight each other. So I decided to revisit it through a Stoic lens.

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In the original version of this post (back on my old site), I set a seriously ambitious target: qualify for a Senior Open by the time I’m 60. Why so ambitious? It came down to two things. Reading Vision 54, by Pia Nilsson and Lynn Marriot and an interesting comment Bob Rotella made in Make Your Next Shot Your Best Shot.

Vision54 is the idea that if the golf course has a par of 72, then 54 is the score you would make if you birdied every hole. Many of us have birdied every hole on our home course, so why can’t we do it in the same round? Big on ambition. Dr Bob argued that Tiger Woods wasn’t ambitious enough when he said he wanted to beat Jack Nicklaus’s record of 18 major wins and that he “should” have said he wanted to beat it by 10 or 20. Not because anyone expects that outcome, but because the size of the target changes the way you think, how you commit, and the standard you hold yourself to. Jack still holds the record.

Those ideas stuck with me. The Senior Open isn’t a prediction; it’s a deliberate stretch target. One that forces me to get serious about the things I can control: practice, fitness, better decisions, and getting comfortable under pressure… without turning every round into a progress report.

But when I re-read that original note, I spotted something telling. There were a few “even if I don’t…” clauses. A few consolation prizes. It was as if I were preparing my excuses before I’d even started.

So let’s ask the question properly:

Do goals help… or do they quietly hurt?

Where goals can go wrong

The problem isn’t ambition. The problem is attachment.

This is where the Stoic angle stops being philosophical and starts being practical. Golf is a live demonstration of what you control and what you don’t. I can control preparation, intention, decisions, effort, and response. I cannot control the bounce, the wind, the lie I get in a bunker, or whether a ball decides it’s scared of the dark and lips out at the last moment.

When a goal drags me into the uncontrollables, it can actually become demotivating and turn into emotional quicksand.

The score is information.
The story I attach to it is optional.

That’s the subtle way goals can start hurting: the ego turns every round into a verdict.

Results goals vs process goals

I still find the classic split useful:

Results goals

• Specific, measurable, time-bound

• Outcome-based

• Binary (you either do, or you don’t)

Process goals

• Action-based and repeatable

• The inputs that create the results

• Mostly controllable

• The work you can actually do on a Tuesday in February

Results goals can be an excellent compass. But day-to-day, golf rewards loyalty to the process, because the process lives almost entirely on the controllable side of the line.

Outcome as direction.
Process as daily practice.

The intermediate goals

Here’s the structure I’m using. Not to turn golf into a spreadsheet, but to stop a big target from becoming a vague, stressful idea floating above my head.

Results goal 1: cut my WHS index meaningfully (low single digits → lower)

Easy on paper, but in practice, it’s where patience and ego go to fight in the car park.

Controllable today: preparation and decisions.
Uncontrollable today: the number I walk off with.

Process goals

1. Daily mobility + strength work (flexibility, stamina, resilience)

2. Putting practice (always)

3. Regular distance calibration (carry numbers I can trust)

4. Proximity work with approach shots (where Tangent data shows the most upside)

5. Short game reps to improve scrambling

6. Chase speed carefully — without letting accuracy (or my body) collapse

7. Course management: fewer disasters

8. Self-management: better decisions under stress (remember, I’m a Stoic!)

9. Love the process (because if I don’t, what’s the point?)

The handicap is the scoreboard.
The process is the actual game.

Results goal 2: get comfortable with competitive golf

I’ve learned this the slow way: being “good at golf” and being “good at competitive golf” aren’t quite the same thing.

This also links to something else I’ve been thinking about lately: why do I actually play golf? The more I think about it, the more I believe it’s about (self)mastery rather than winning. Winning is the clean, measurable outcome. The indicator that something has improved. But it isn’t the point. And crucially, it isn’t fully in my control.

Competition matters because it’s the most honest environment I can put myself in. It strips away the comfortable narratives (good swing on the range, decent score on a quiet Tuesday) and tests what holds up when there’s something on the line. Looking at my scoring record, competition play is definitely an area that needs improvement.

Controllable today: reps under pressure, preparation, decision making.
Uncontrollable today: the leaderboard.

Process goals

• Play more competitions (there’s no shortcut here)

• Be more organised about entry deadlines (it’s not rocket science, Keith!)

• Add pressure to casual rounds by submitting general play scores (and adding in friendly competitions with partners)

• Treat results as feedback, not identity (as any good Stoic should)

Competition is where theory becomes practice — and in practice, theory doesn’t always work.

Results goal 3: reach scratch (or better)

This is the first “gate” I can’t really dodge. Without getting to scratch, or better, I’m unlikely to get into a qualifying competition in the first place. There are a huge number of excellent senior golfers out there, and whatever romantic story I tell myself about the Senior Open, the admin reality is simple: you need the number.

It’s also the point where improvement stops being vague and starts being brutally specific.

Scratch isn’t a feeling or an ego badge. It’s evidence.

Controllable today: the inputs; practice quality, physical work, smart decisions, and competing regularly.
Uncontrollable today: how quickly the number moves.

Process goals

• Repeat (and refine) everything above

• Play as many age-category Opens as possible to build competitive experience across different courses and conditions

• Keep the focus on controllables when the handicap plateaus (because it will, and maybe it already has!)

Scratch isn’t the destination. It’s the entry requirement.

Results goal 4: play in a Senior Open qualifier

This is the “put up or shut up” stage. It’s not about qualifying for the Senior Open (yet), but earning the right to tee it up in a qualifier and see what that environment actually feels like. It’s one thing to have a tidy plan on paper; it’s another to stand on the 1st tee where the standard is obvious, the margins are thin, and nobody cares about your backstory.

It’s also where the whole structure gets tested. If the earlier goals are the training, this is the exam.

Controllable today: preparation, logistics, routines, and my response when it gets uncomfortable.
Uncontrollable today: the draw, conditions, course setup, and whether the golf gods decide to smile on me.

Process goals

• Treat the build-up like a project: practice plan, fitness, recovery, schedule

• Keep competing beforehand so “nerves” aren’t a surprise guest

• Play the round in front of me, not the round I hope to have (should be the basis of how I play all my rounds)

The goal isn’t to feel ready. It’s to show up anyway.

Results goal 5: keep playing well into old age

This one sounds sentimental, but it might actually be the most serious goal of the lot.

If I’m brutally honest, the thing I’m really trying to avoid isn’t a missed cut, it’s the slow drift into “I used to…” golf. The gradual narrowing of what my body can do, what my mind tolerates, and what my game can sustain… until one day I’m basically out for a walk with occasional interruptions. My recent struggles with tendonitis have really brought this home.

I want the next two decades (at least) to be purposeful: staying strong, staying mobile, staying curious, staying competitive (in whatever form that takes). Age will take what it takes, but I don’t have to make it easy.

And here’s the slightly counter-intuitive part: if I get this one right, it buys me freedom elsewhere. If I’m still strong, still mobile, still improving, then “qualify by 60” stops being a cliff edge. It becomes a direction of travel, and I can extend the timeline without letting my ego rebrand it as “giving up”.

That doesn’t mean I’m about to go full tour-pro recovery mode either. I’m not rushing out to buy a hyperbaric chamber for the garage. But I am taking the unglamorous stuff seriously, because it’s the foundation for everything else.

I take inspiration from a former club champion at The New Golf Club. He won the scratch championship at 65 and is still playing off +2 at age 67. That’s the sort of example that really matters to me because it proves what’s possible if you keep the right habits in place.

Controllable today: strength, mobility, recovery, practice habits, and how I choose to engage with the game.
Uncontrollable today: time and biology (annoyingly consistent performers).

Process goals

• Keep the mobility and strength work as non-negotiable

• Prioritise recovery as much as practice (because I’m not 25)

• Keep competing in some form to maintain sharpness and perspective

• Protect enjoyment — if it becomes joyless, the whole thing collapses

The real win is still being able to play, and still caring enough to try.

Monitoring progress without becoming a hostage to it

Handicap is the obvious benchmark, and also a dangerous one, because it encourages the illusion that the number is fully “mine”.

It isn’t.

I can influence outcomes, but I can’t control them. And this is where the Stoic lens helps me use data properly and keeps the ego from hijacking the whole project.

Because if I’m not careful, the tracking turns into a different game entirely: not “how do I get better?”, but “am I good yet?” The ego loves that question. It turns every update into a verdict, every bad round into a crisis, and every good round into a brief hit of validation.

And that’s where you can quietly stop playing golf.

It’s still golf in the literal sense, with clubs, a ball and a scorecard, but the fun drains out of it. It becomes a self-assessment exercise disguised as a game. I’m not playing for money, but I am playing with a target in mind, and that’s where it risks becoming a negative cycle: the target drives the focus, the focus drives the pressure, and the pressure starts to squeeze out the very thing that makes you want to play this game in the first place.

So I try to keep it simple:

• Used well, stats are feedback: what should I practise next?

• Used badly, stats become ammunition for self-flagellation.

I’ve been using Tangent Golf for the last couple of years. It tracks my rounds in the background, keeps me honest and ties my performance back to specific practice recommendations. For me, that’s the point of tracking: support the process, keep me focused on controllables, and stop the ego from turning golf into an identity check.

The mental side (because it always shows up anyway)

Improvement from “decent” to “really good” isn’t linear. Early gains can come quickly, then you hit the phase where every fraction costs more. Progress slows, expectations don’t, and that’s where frustration sneaks in.

A reader picked up on this when I wrote my 2025 golf year-in-review and asked how I reconcile plateaus with progress. It’s a good question! On a plateau, it can feel like nothing is happening, even when the work is being done. The swing might be better, the decisions might be better, the preparation might be better… and the scores still refuse to cooperate for a while.

And that’s before the head gets involved.

The most useful thing I’ve learned from leaning into Stoic ideas is this: most rounds don’t unravel because of one bad swing; they unravel because I keep replaying it while I’m standing over the next ball. Golf punishes rumination and rewards attention.

The mistake isn’t the mistake. It’s the reaction.

The shot is in the past.
The response is still mine.

This is also where big goals can quietly do damage. They shrink the “space” between what happens and how I respond. Suddenly, every shot feels connected to something larger: the handicap, the plan, the identity. That’s when you stop playing the shot in front of you and start playing the story in your head.

One thing I’ve noticed recently is how much more open professional golfers have become about their own struggles with the mental game. That’s reassuring. Not because it offers a magic fix, but because it normalises it. If players at the highest level still wrestle with confidence, attention, expectation, and emotional control, then it’s clearly not a “me problem”. It’s golf. Actually, it’s life!

Voltaire unintentionally summed up golf well when he said:

“Madness is to think of too many things in succession too fast, or of one thing too exclusively.” — Voltaire

The practical answer (for me) isn’t mystical. It’s noticing when the mind has left the present, and bringing it back, again and again. One swing. One decision. One reset.

Could these goals still be unhelpful?

Absolutely.

There’s a version of this where I get obsessed with outcomes, lose enjoyment, and turn golf into a joyless project. I’ve been on that road a couple of times. You can chase improvement so hard you stop noticing you’re meant to be enjoying the chase.

So the difference-maker isn’t the size of the goal. It’s the relationship I have with it.

If the Senior Open becomes an identity thing, a way to prove something, or a way to keep score of my own worth, then it’s already missed the point. And ironically, that mindset is usually the quickest route to playing worse, not better.

But if it stays what it’s meant to be, a stretch target that points me towards better habits, then it remains useful. Aim for Mars and be happy to hit the Moon. That’s the Rotella idea from the introduction in a nutshell: the lofty goal isn’t about predicting the future; it’s about organising the present.

It keeps me honest about the work: practise with intent, look after my body, play more competitive golf, make smarter decisions, and (hardest of all) respond better when things don’t go my way.

In that sense, it’s less “I must do this by 60” and more “this is the standard I’m trying to live up to”.

The goal is the direction.
The process is the point.

And I take a bit of inspiration from how elite players approach it. Not the outcomes, the mindset. They reassess, commit, do the work, accept the cost, and repeat. No drama, no mythology. Just process. As Hogan said, “the secret is in the dirt”.

Final thought

I’m naturally conservative, and I’m not especially drawn to declaring ambitions on the internet. But a goal only stays alive if you treat it like it matters, and if you’re honest about the ways it can quietly go wrong.

I recently read a line in a Substack post by Charlie Garcia that struck a chord:

“Even people who understand the madness, who can describe it in meticulous detail, who warn against it, are not immune.”

That’s basically the warning label for this entire post. I can talk about process goals, Stoicism, controlling the controllables, and not letting ego take the wheel… and still find myself getting tense over a number on a card. Knowing the trap doesn’t mean you never step in it.

So here it is: I’m aiming high, but trying to hold the ambition lightly. If the Senior Open target helps me practise better, move better, compete more, and enjoy the game for longer, it’s doing its job. If it starts squeezing the fun out of golf, I’ve drifted from “playing” to “proving”.

If you’ve ever wrestled with that tension, goals as fuel vs goals as pressure, I’d genuinely like to hear what’s worked for you.

If you enjoyed this post, then please subscribe to The Club House for more posts on golf, gear, practice, and the mental side of the game.

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And if you know someone who lives in the tension between “chasing better” and “actually enjoying golf”, feel free to share it. If that describes you, then please leave a comment below!

From TheClubHouse:
I learned Stoicism through life, not on the golf course. Work, family, health challenges and everyday chaos taught me to understand what I can control and to accept what I cannot — nothing more so than learning to deal with our daughter’s leukaemia. Golf, though, strips philosophy to its bones, exposing how ego, patience, and impulse collide on every hole. This piece explores the challenge of living Stoic principles where they’re easiest to forget.

Adapted from a post first published on ThoughtsFromTheTrain.Com in Sept ‘23

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Golf has a habit of exposing things.

Weak grips.
Poor alignment.
Character flaws you were hoping had retired quietly.

You can spend hours on the range working on your swing, only to discover — somewhere around the 6th hole — that the real issue isn’t mechanical at all.

It’s emotional.
Or philosophical.
Or both.

Stoicism entered my life long before I ever set foot on a golf course. It arrived through the quiet demands of work, family, health challenges, and the unpredictable turns of daily life, teaching me to distinguish what I can control from what I cannot.

Only later did I try to bring those same principles onto the golf course. That’s when things got interesting.

What Stoicism actually asks of you

Stoicism is often misunderstood as emotional suppression — stiff upper lip, no feelings, quietly furious.

In truth, it’s far more practical than that.

Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor and accidental self-help author, kept returning to one simple distinction:

Some things are within your control.
Most things aren’t.

Wisdom, according to the Stoics, lies in knowing the difference — and not wasting energy pretending otherwise.

On the golf course, this distinction is obvious.

You control:

• your preparation

• your decisions

• your commitment

You don’t control:

• the wind

• the bounce

• the way the your ball suddenly appears allergic to the hole

And yet golfers behave as if frustration might influence the laws of physics.

The course doesn’t owe you cooperation.
It only owes you honesty.

A Stoic golfer still wants to play well.
They just refuse to confuse effort with entitlement.

When Stoicism works in life… but not on the golf course

I can apply Stoic principles fairly well in my non-golf life.

Family challenges.
Work pressure.
Health struggles.
The things that genuinely matter.

I’m usually able to pause, separate what I can control from what I cannot, and respond with something close to calm.

Then I step onto a golf course
and lose my composure
over a small white ball refusing to behave.

It’s an odd contradiction.

In life, where the stakes are real, I’m measured.
In golf — where none of it truly matters — I’m suddenly attached to outcomes I know are outside my control.

Golf doesn’t test my philosophy.
It tests my ego.

The course bypasses intellect and goes straight for identity.

It’s not just about scoring.
It’s about what I think my score says about me.

My competence.
My progress.
My self-image.

In life, I’m often willing to accept imperfection.
On the course, I still want proof.

Ego doesn’t want control.
It wants reassurance.

And golf, being golf, offers none.

So the struggle isn’t understanding Stoicism.
It’s applying it when the ego feels threatened.

When a bad shot feels like a personal insult
rather than a neutral event.

Maybe that’s the real practice.
Not mastery.
Just awareness.

Every round is a negotiation
between patience and pride.

Bad shots are inevitable.

Bad reactions aren’t.

Every round has a moment.

A swing that feels wrong
the instant it leaves the clubface.

The real test isn’t the shot itself.
It’s what happens next.

Most rounds don’t unravel because of one mistake.

They unravel because the golfer keeps replaying it
while standing over the next ball,
dragging ego and frustration from hole to hole.

Stoicism offers an alternative:

Pause.
Acknowledge what happened.
Take the lesson — if there is one.
Let the rest go.

No emotional trial.
No internal abuse disguised as “high standards.”

Golf punishes memory.
It rewards attention.

This isn’t about pretending you don’t care.

It’s about caring enough
not to sabotage yourself.

And this is where the ego quietly reappears —
because the ego loves to replay mistakes,
as if self-criticism might retroactively improve them.

It won’t.

Forrest Gump, an accidental Stoic

Somewhere between Roman philosophy and modern golf
lies an unlikely guide: Forrest Gump.

“Life is like a box of chocolates” sounds simple.
Almost throwaway.

But it carries a deeply Stoic truth:

You don’t know what’s coming next.
Resisting that fact only makes things harder.

Forrest doesn’t overthink.
He responds.

He accepts circumstances
and acts within them.

Shot by shot.
Step by step.

That mindset translates beautifully to golf.

You don’t know if the putt will lip out.
You don’t know if the drive will catch the bunker edge.

You do know that worrying about either won’t help.

Uncertainty isn’t the problem.
Wanting certainty is.

Golf doesn’t reward prediction.
It rewards commitment to the present moment.

Which the ego struggles with —
because the ego prefers guarantees.

Final thoughts on the walk to the next tee

Golf doesn’t demand emotional numbness.
It demands emotional discipline.

Stoicism isn’t about detachment from the game — it’s about clarity within it. Learning where to invest energy, and where to let it go.

I realise, reading this back, that I’ve been circling this idea for a long time in my writing — trying to understand how the way I live off the course shows up when I’m on it. Rewriting this piece hasn’t taught me anything new so much as it’s made something clearer: that the real work isn’t learning the principles, but noticing where and why I struggle to live them.

Golf just happens to be very good at pointing that out.

Between stimulus and response there is space.

Sometimes that space is a breath.
Sometimes it’s a walk to the next ball.
Sometimes it’s the quiet recognition that my ego has taken the wheel again.

If Stoicism is about progress rather than perfection, then this — noticing, resetting, walking on — is the practice.

Tomorrow’s round will offer another chance.

It always does.

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From Backroom Extra to Premium Space

For years, the fitting room felt like an afterthought: it was just a basic hitting net, a floor-mounted Trackman launch monitor, and a screen. Back then, you were effectively in a glorified stock room, surrounded by shoes and other items, trying to get any kind of fitting done. It hadn’t been touched for years

“I was in a backroom, dodging boxes of shoes, hoping my shots would register on the Trackman.”

Everything started to change when Adam Legg joined the team in 2021. His expertise and meticulous approach to club fitting were never quite reflected by the haphazard nature of his surroundings. Now, thanks to a complete refurbishment, the space has been transformed into a modern, premium, fitting studio, reflecting Auchterlonies’ reputation and their commitment to providing top‑class service to customers

“It’s clear this is more than just an upgrade—it’s a statement about the value placed on custom fitting.”

Top‑Tier Technology at Work

The star of the studio is the Trackman iO system, one of the first ceiling-mounted installations in the UK. It frees up space, adapts automatically for left- or right-handed golfers. It also eliminates the risk of accidentally knocking over the floor-mounted unit and delaying the session while it gets recalibrated.

“I don’t know how many times I stepped back after a shot and bumped the old floor-mounted unit.”

Compared with the previous setup, the new simulator screen and high-speed data processing make the experience feel sharper and more immersive. Wall-mounted monitors, combined with the improved projector image, provide instant feedback on impact quality, perfect for validating what your swing actually feels like. No more wondering where on the face you hit the ball; it’s right in front of you.

Comfortable and Practical

Details matter. Updated flooring and mats make longer sessions easier on the body—a small but important comfort, especially if you’re nursing an injury. Another practical bonus: no need for the special RCT practice balls. Adam keeps popular brands on hand, but this also gives you the freedom to use your own balls.

Putter Fittings Too

The bay is fitted with SAM Puttlab and Adam is able to fit a wide range of putters, including all of the big names such as Odyssey, Ping, Tailormade and Scotty Cameron. Auchterlonies are also the main fitter in the area for L.A.B. Golf.

A Fitting Experience That Delivers

I put the new setup to the test with a fairway wood fitting. Despite trying a few options with Adam last season, I’ve been chopping and changing between two self-fitted clubs, and I’ve never been completely comfortable with either. Time to decide!

Adam’s universal shaft system allows him to mix and match a much broader range of head and shaft combinations than standard manufacturer kits allow. We tested several head and shaft options, ultimately finding that a TaylorMade Qi35 Core with a Ventus Red shaft delivered the best combination of launch, spin, and dispersion. It was easier to launch and more consistent than my previous set-ups.

Indoor Studio: Pros and Cons

Having the fitting studio indoors can be a mixed blessing. On the upside, you can be fitted in comfort all year round. On the downside, you can’t see the actual flight of the ball. Having worked with Adam for several years, I trust his process and don’t have any issues with indoor fitting. Some golfers can also feel claustrophobic or anxious about hitting something when they swing. To address this, Auchterlonies raised the ceiling height and expanded the hitting area, creating a much more open, comfortable space. One of the best features of indoor fitting is using premium balls rather than range balls. You want the fitting data to reflect your choice of ball.

“Having the studio indoors is a bit of a mixed blessing… but the new space makes all the difference.”

Final Thoughts

The revamped club fitting studio at Auchterlonies isn’t just a nicer place to hit golf balls—it’s a best-in-class facility that reflects a serious commitment to helping golfers play better. The investment shows, and the experience delivers results you can trust

.

If you’re thinking about new clubs this season, a fitting here is well worth your time—and Adam’s the man to see.

Book a session: adam@auchterlonies.com

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Most golf books fall into one of two camps.

They either promise to rebuild your swing in 30 days, or they disappear so far down the technical rabbit hole that you forget why you picked up a club in the first place. How to Play Your Best Golf by Nick O’Hern sits comfortably outside both of those camps — and that’s exactly why it’s worth reading and why I enjoyed it so much.

This is a book about scoring, not swinging. That distinction matters, but it is one that I’ve so often forgotten. Just check all the training aids in my garage!

“You don’t need a perfect swing to play good golf.”

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This is actually Nick’s second book. His first was “Tour Mentality: Inside the Mind of a Tour Pro” published back in 2016. I’ve not read that one, but I’ll be checking it out soon to see if it’s as well-written as this one.

Why Nick O’Hearn’s Perspective Works

Nick O’Hearn isn’t writing from theory or hindsight. He’s writing as a former tour professional who made an excellent living competing against the best players in the world. Lots of top 10 finishes, a handful of PGA Tour wins, a reputation as one of the purest ball strikers of his era, and real experience of tournament pressure all give the book instant credibility. He reached a career-high ranking of 16th in the world and defeated Tiger Woods at the World Matchplay, not once, but twice. He remains the only person ever to do that.

What stood out to me, though, is that he never leans on that résumé. There’s no ego in the writing; in fact, he talks more about other golfers he played with on tour than he does about himself. He doesn’t talk at you either — he talks to you, like someone who understands what it’s like to grind around a golf course when things aren’t quite clicking.

Having never been the longest hitter on tour, his comments about length are insightful and go against a lot of what we get fed on TV and YouTube. There’s much to learn from his attitude towards approach play, short game, putting and course management. How to get the most out of our abilities and shave some easy shots off our scores. Given that my Tangent data shows I’ve got the most to gain by improving my approach play, that’s an area of the book I’m paying particular attention to.

“This feels less like instruction and more like experience being shared.”

Simple, Clear, and Easy to Dip Into

The writing style is one of the book’s biggest strengths.

It’s clear, calm, and refreshingly easy to read. Chapters are short, ideas are well organised, the formatting makes it easy to take notes on the pages as you are reading, and you can jump around depending on what part of your game needs attention. This isn’t a book you feel guilty about not finishing in order (although that’s how I prefer to read books) — it’s one you can come back to when your golf starts drifting, and you are looking for some practical pointers to get back on track.

Having read through the book once, I’m likely to read it again and take more notes for things to try during practice and on the course. Given the work I need to do on appraoch play I’m going to take his recommended drills and give them a try too. The way the book is laid out means you can read a chapter before a round, revisit a section after a bad score, or skim for reminders when you feel like you’re making the game harder than it needs to be.

“This is a book you use, not one you study once and put back on the shelf.”

Less Swing, More Sense

If you’re looking for detailed swing mechanics, this isn’t the book for you — and that’s a compliment. It’s not devoid of technical input, but it’s put into a more practical context of course management and shot selection. How to play from sloping lies. How to cope with poor lies. Bunker tactics. Using the wind. Using fairway slope when deciding on your tee shot. Dealing with the weather. Ignoring the pin. Practical ideas and tips for practice sessions. As you might expect, I particularly enjoyed the sections on putting and the short game.

O’Hearn spends very little time on how the club should move and far more time on:

• course management

• decision-making

• understanding your tendencies so you play to your strengths and personality

• choosing the right shot at the right time

• accepting the outcome

The underlying message is simple but powerful: you don’t need a perfect swing to play good golf.

Instead of chasing technical fixes, the book encourages you to play smarter with the game you already have. That alone will resonate with anyone who’s ever striped it on the range and then wondered where it all went wrong on the course. It certainly resonates with me as it’s something I committed to doing last season and let slip as the year went on, chasing technique over just getting the ball in the hole in the fewest shots. I finished the year playing golf “swing” rather than just playing golf!

“Most shots are lost through decisions, not technique.”

Practical Advice That Actually Applies

What I liked most is how practical the advice feels. Nick has been there and this advice all comes from his experience.

There’s nothing abstract here. The scenarios are familiar: missing fairways, being out of position, choosing when to attack and when to accept par (or bogey). O’Hearn repeatedly comes back to the idea that golf is about managing mistakes, not eliminating them.

I found myself recognising my own habits throughout this book — especially the temptation to take on shots that look good in theory but rarely work out in practice. Time for me to go back to the personality section again and also read through some of my previously published posts!

“Better golf often comes from doing less, not more.”

Final Thoughts

How to Play Your Best Golf isn’t flashy or revolutionary. It doesn’t promise miracles. What it offers instead is clear, honest guidance on how to score better, written by someone who has done it at the highest level. It’s also worth mentioning that the physical production quality of the book is also superb. It’s only out in hardback at the moment, but it is a joy to hold and turn the pages. It is as robust and high quality as the advice it contains. You will also find some excellent golf photography in it too. I just wish there were some notes to tell you about the subjects!

If you’re tired of swing thoughts, overwhelmed by technical instruction, or just want to play calmer, smarter golf, this is a book well worth your time. I’m sure I will read it several times over.

Sometimes improving isn’t about changing everything — it’s about making better decisions more often and learning to play your own game. This book is a good reminder of that.

Before You Go

If you found this useful:

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• Leave a comment — I’d love to hear which golf books have actually helped your game

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📘 You can buy How to Play Your Best Golf by Nick O’Hearn on Amazon here

This year wasn’t just about writing more. It was about understanding who was reading, why you stayed, and what actually resonated.

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Growth wasn’t explosive — but it was meaningful

I didn’t experience viral spikes or overnight success in 2025 (although a couple of posts did surprise me). What I did see was something better: steady, consistent readership growth.

• More returning readers.

• More interaction with readers in the comments section on Substack and on social media platforms.

• More reposting by readers. It’s great when readers share content they liked.

• More people subscribing and stating that a post genuinely helped or entertained them. However, converting clicks and readers into subscribers remains a key challenge.

That kind of growth feels earned, and, if I can keep producing the right content, hopefully it’s sustainable too. I’ve no aspirations to become St Andrews answer to Golf Monthly, but I do have some plans and ideas that I hope can take off.

As a platform, getting data out of Substack isn’t easy and is a key frustration. WIX offer a whole host of blog analytics, making assessing performance much easier.

What performed best (and what surprised me)

Looking back, a few clear patterns emerged:

• Honest reviews were appreciated
  Posts where I talked openly about flaws, trade-offs, or personal preferences consistently drew more engagement than overly technical breakdowns. While I am often able to borrow review equipment from Auchterlonies, I have no site sponsorship or manufacturer relationships, so you can be assured of my independence.

• Personal context mattered
  Articles that explained why something worked for me — not just what it was — kept readers reading longer. That personalisation has often helped spark conversation in the comments sections.

• Meaningful data
  Adding data has helped marry my “feel” with “real” numbers. The update on how AimPoint helped my putting would have been nothing without the Tangent data to back it up.

• Fewer posts, better depth
  Whilst I’ve reviewed a few putters that could best be described as “special interest” items, some have surprised me with their popularity (BGT Paradox). The longer, more thoughtful pieces (AimPoint anyone) didn’t always get the most clicks, but hopefully they built trust. And trust is what brings people back.

• Equipment reviews outperformed other posts

  Golfers love equipment. Luckily, I love testing equipment and writing about it!

Looking at the top posts for the year, I’ve aggregated the performance across both blog platforms, as not everything has been migrated to Substack yet.

1. L.A.B DF3 Update - theory v practice - written in 2024 but thousands of views again in 2025

2. 2025 Scotty Cameron Catalina and Fastback 1.5 review - only just behind, don’t underestimate the power of Scotty Cameron

3. Taylormade Spider 5K ZT review - has seen a strong uptick in early 2026

4. In-depth Review of the BGT Paradox Putters - funky putters and a well received post

5. Tangent Golf App - 250 Round Review - there’s lots of GPS apps out there but I have tied my colours to the Tangent mast for the last 2 years.

Three of the top five posts were zero-torque putter reviews, which tells you a lot about where the market attention is right now. That trend is showing no sign of slowing down any time soon and I hope to have a few more ZT putter reviews coming soon.

The posts readers stuck with

Some of the strongest-performing pieces weren’t necessarily the ones I expected. The common thread?

They felt:

• Useful (hopefully)

• Opinionated (the best review was a negative one)

• Written for golfers, not algorithms (doesn’t help them get found though)

What I learned about the audience

Having started blogging with www.thoughtsfromthetrain.com, this year helped clarify who my blogs are for and saw me launch www.theclubhouse.blog on Substack. While the original blog will stick with more personal content, The Club House is for:

• The average golfer who can’t afford to waste time or money

• Golfers who love testing new kit, enjoy the details, but don’t obsess over them

• Readers who value experience over marketing language

• People who want honest takes, not buying advice disguised as reviews

• Golf nerds like me!

The blog name is a play on words. The primary focus will be as a House for my Club reviews (mainly putters). But like all good clubhouses, there will be space for general golf chat too. I’d love for there to be more reader interaction in the comments section and that is something Substack is better for than WIX was. There is a lot of content still to be migrated to the new platform and I am currently trying to decide the best way to do that - copy them over or use URL redirects. If you have any insights then please comment below.

What didn’t work (and that’s okay)

Not every post landed, but even if they only helped one reader, then I still count that as a success.

• Book reviews - hopefully I can sort some of the wheat from the chaff

• More personal posts - these are some of the most enjoyable posts to write, but I know they’re not for everyone

• Lesson reviews - they perform better when they focus on reviewing kit like Smart2More or Sportsbox AI rather than talking about things I’m working on

Writing publicly forces you to learn faster — sometimes uncomfortably so.

Looking ahead to 2026

Next year, the focus is simple:

• Keep improving

• Go deeper, not wider - expect more putter reviews

• Quality over quantity

• Keep the tone human and personal

If you’ve read one post or every post this year, thank you. Your time is the only metric that really matters. If you have any suggestions about what you would like to see more of (or less of) in 2026. Please feel free to leave a comment below.

Here’s to good golf, good health, fun and enjoyment in 2026.

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Maybe it was due to my injuries, but looking back now, I know that I struggled to walk my talk in 2025 and spent too much time chasing scores and a handicap number rather than simply letting those things happen. Despite that, it was still a year where I remember conversations, shots, and frustrations just as clearly as the numbers (maybe even more so).

The Headline Numbers (For Context, Not Judgement)

Let’s start with the cold facts:

• Rounds played: 138 recorded in Tangent, plus 20 or more that were not recorded. Pretty good for a year interrupted by tendonitis, then a back injury and a hernia.

• Handicap (start → end): 3.9 - 4.1 (but got down to 2.7 along the way)

• Best score: Counting - Jubilee 73, non-counting Duke’s 71

• Most played course: Duke’s Golf Course (now renamed as the Craigtoun Course)

On paper, it was a plateau year, but I think it masks significant progress, especially in the second half of the year. The most important progress is not with my swing!

The High Points (Why I Keep Playing)

Every season has moments that remind you why golf gets under your skin.

• Best round of the year: Contenders would include the 73 on the Jubilee in competition, the 71 on the Duke’s and playing the Carnoustie Championship under competition pressure. But the best round of my year has to be my first-ever round at Muirfield. What an amazing day out that was. Playing with members, we had to play foursomes, but the day was possibly even more special for that. We had perfect weather, the company was great, and the lunch afterwards lived up to its legendary reputation. Adding to the experience, my partner and I also played some excellent golf, finishing just a few shots over par!

• Best single shot: Driving the green on the 12th hole of The Old Course, St Andrews and then holing the putt for an Eagle 2. What made it even better was that it was in a competition round, the Thistle Autumn Meeting. After holing the putt, the competition was called off due to a thunderstorm. It was like a golfing “mike- drop” moment, holing the putt, putting my waterproofs on and walking off the course!

• Best stretch of form: Early in the season, around the time of the Craws Nest Tassie at Carnoustie, before I had to stop playing at the end of May. This is when I got down to my lowest handicap index of 2.7 and was full of optimism (and ibuprofen) for the rest of the season.

These were the days when my decisions felt clear, and my swing felt repeatable and effortless. Time seemed to slow down, and I was aware of everything around me. There was a different connection to the course and the game. Something I’ve tried to talk about before in my Transendental Golf post (HERE).

The Struggles (The Honest Part)

It wouldn’t be an honest review without this section.

The low point came on August 17th at The Duke’s. I was returning from injury, and the competition that day was being played from the 7000-yard blue tees. It got in my head from the first tee. The course felt just a little too long, every miss was punished, and confidence leaked away hole by hole. Nothing catastrophic happened — no snap hooks or shanks — which somehow made it worse. Just enough bad swings, poor decisions, and tentative shots to turn the round into a grind.

That day exposed a few things (can’t hide from the Tangent data):

• Where I lost strokes: Approach play and putting were terrible. The former was probably understandable, as I had a lot of long irons, hybrids or even woods for my approach shots. I think the poor putting performance was down to having basically given up by the time I reached most greens!

• Bad habits that crept in: My mental game was poor. I hadn’t realised we were off the blue tees instead of the normal white ones (6500 yards), and that was down to poor preparation. I let the length intimidate me from the start and didn’t let myself accept that the tougher course meant I was getting more shots. My ego got in the way, and I let it control my mindset and mood.

• What I tried to force instead of accept: Basically, I tried to hit the ball as hard as I could on every shot and made some terrible course management decisions!

Walking off the 18th, the frustration wasn’t about the score. It was about knowing I hadn’t played smart when my best swing wasn’t there. I went out again a few days later with my friend Ian, played from the same blues and shot 76 just by making better decisions and playing smarter golf!

If 2025 taught me anything, it’s that I need to start listening to my own advice and start walking my talk. Get rid of the swing thoughts, the blaming, the excuses and the moaning and JUST PLAY GOLF! After all, it’s just a game, and it should be fun!

What Needs to Change?

This was a year of injury and frustration that has required a subtle rebuild of my swing to improve my mechanics and prevent future issues. Despite my swing being good enough to get me down to 2.7 earlier in the season, little errors ultimately put too much strain on my elbows and back, resulting in injury.

• Technical work: Coming back from injury, I joined Liam Robinson’s Tour Golf Network and started working on his drills. I also purchased a Hack Motion sensor to provide feedback on progress. When my hernia repair allows, I plan to work on these technical aspects of my swing ahead of the season starting again. Now that I better understand the issues in my swing that may have contributed to my elbow tendonitis, I hope to build a swing that prevents future recurrence.

• Practice approach: I believe I spent too much time playing in 2025 and not enough time doing structured/meaningful practice, despite having great practice facilities at my disposal. In 2026, plan to use my Tangent data to focus my practice on the areas that most need improvement.

  

  I lose strokes Driving primarily down to distance relative to scratch players. But I have to remember that I’m 57 and be careful about the impact on my body that chasing distance could have. The area with the most scope for improvement is Approach play. Drilling into that data further, I can see the culprits are Distance and Mistakes, effectively a combination of course management and strike.

  

• Mental game: I think this is my biggest area for improvement. Self-belief, expectation management, patience and course management. I’ve talked about it in so many of my blog posts, I need to start believing in myself and walk my talk.

The biggest improvement wasn’t technical. It was learning when not to force things, and accepting that some days are about managing misses rather than chasing perfect swings. But I was prone to losing sight of that!

Equipment Reflections

Gear always plays a supporting role, but 2025 had a few standouts.

• Best club in the bag: 3 hybrid. This has been such a versatile club for me this year. It’s great from the fairway and first cut of rough as well as off the tee.

• Biggest surprise in equipment: Changing my putter to the SeeMore Mini Giant FGP (now swapped to the smaller Nashville mFGP). I used my summer injury layoff to test and review a lot of putters, which was a lot of fun. I wasn’t really looking to change putters, just review them, but I couldn’t deny how well I putted with the SeeMore, so it stayed in the bag.

• Biggest golfing surprise: AimPoint! I know there is a lot of hate out there for AimPoint and it has become a bit of a lightning rod for many, but it has allowed me to putt with so much more freedom. Despite good putting stats, I never believed I was a good putter and always suffered from self-doubt on the greens. Not any more! I would recommend AimPoint to anyone (review HERE, progress report HERE).

  

  At +0.9 for 2025, my Strokes Gained Putting improved by +0.2 from my 2024 performance, all of which I believe is down to the improvement from AimPoint and putting with more confidence and self-belief.

• What didn’t last: Despite my excellent driver fitting experience at SGGT (HERE), I ended up switching out the GT3 head for the more forgiving GT2 head partway through the year and didn’t look back. Reviewing the video (HERE), I thought both heads performed very similarly, but went for forgiveness over distance. My Strokes Gained Driving was slightly worse at -0.4 for 2024, compared to -0.3 for 2024. Drilling into that, it’s primarlily distance, but confidence has definitely played a part too.

• Other changes: After reviewing driving irons (HERE) I decided to switch my 5 hybrid back to a 5i. I used a slightly lighter version of the shaft in my irons and experimented with a thicker grip. It’s been a good change. After some experimentation thanks to Auchterlonies, I also upgraded my wedges (HERE).

Some clubs earned trust. Others reminded me that marketing doesn’t lower scores — decisions and practice do.

Courses & Experiences That Stayed With Me

Golf is rarely just about the golf.

• Favourite course played: Carnoustie Championship (but Muirfield ran it really close). The more I play Carnoustie, the more I love it and want to play it again. It really does test every aspect of your game. I’m lucky to have played it several times with my friend Eben, and I also had the experience of playing the Craws Nest Tassie there this year.

• Best playing partners: I played the Speyside 54 Open as a single again this year and was drawn with 4 different players from Kemnay Golf Club. I played with the same pair on days one and three, and a different pair on day two. They were brilliant fun to play with, and despite being pairs, they made me very welcome in their groups. Due to someone unfortunately taking ill, I received a short-notice invitation to join a group golfing holiday in Turkey. I only knew one member of the group before the trip, but they made me incredibly welcome, and it has been great playing and catching up with them again since we returned. Then there are my regular playing partners in St Andrews, your company, friendship and banter make time on the links all the more enjoyable.

• Most memorable round (part 1): As above, there are many contenders, but it has to be playing The PGA Centenary Course at Gleneagles back in early October. This was a great fun match between the Keiths and the Ducks. It’s a long time since I’ve played the Centenary, and I produced some of my best golf of the year to finish +3 for the round and secure a strong win for the Keiths. It was one of those days characterised by great company, lots of laughs, spectacular views and some great golf. The Ducks will be looking for their revenge in Spring 26.

• Most memorable round (part 2): Panmuir and a near-death experience! I received a late invitation to make up a 4-ball at Panmure. As my friend Eben says, you don’t need to be the first to be asked, just the first to say yes. I was playing with two of my friends and an acquaintance of theirs, let’s call him Dave from Denver (not his real name, but he was American). During the round, Dave told me about his recent heart attack and experience of having been in a medically induced coma. Reports of near-death experiences have always fascinated me. I listened intently and asked questions respectfully. The conversation was deeply personal and emotional. His belief in what he experienced was unwavering, and his determination to live life to the fullest was inspirational. At the end of the round, I thanked him for sharing his experience, and we went our separate ways, but I will always be touched by his story.

These are the moments that stay with you longer than any stat. You never know what you will find on the golf course.

What 2025 Taught Me About Myself Through Golf

If I had to summarise the year in a few lessons:

• Consistency beats brilliance. There are no quick fixes in golf, and I spent too much time looking for love in the wrong places. YouTube tips, game improvement gadgets etc. (I do like my HackMotion sensor though!)

• KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid! Simple plans survive pressure. The more swing thoughts and technical issues I have in my head, the worse I play. There were too many rounds where they spiralled out of control because I didn’t follow my routines. Routines build confidence and block out noise. I need to recommit and build better routines in 2026. I think the point about AimPoint above is that it gives me a simple, repeatable routine on the green, allowing me to putt with freedom and confidence. I need to take that mindset into the rest of my game. Focus on the process and don’t obsess about the outcome.

• Enjoyment and improvement aren’t opposites. Golf is a game that should be played for fun. I’m not good enough to get angry at myself, and at times this year, I was not the playing partner that I want to be. That was disappointing. I double my commitment to mindful golf, gratitude, and being a good playing partner. My injuries have taught me that I should never take golf (or my health) for granted. I appreciate every time I get to play!

Golf was hard at times in 2025, but ultimately, I believe it rewards honesty and has taught me several lessons.

Looking Ahead to 2026 (Quiet Confidence)

Next year isn’t about reinvention. It’s about refinement.

• Primary goal: Get healthy and get through the season injury-free! The hernia should hopefully be a straightforward procedure, but it’s the elbow tendinitis that is proving much more problematic. Hopefully, more physiotherapy, working with the HackMotion sensor, and some good coaching can ease the pain.

• Secondary, long-term goal: Get to scratch (or better) and play in a Senior Open Qualifier event. That will definitely require a commitment to the Primary goal!

• One technical thing to improve: Approach play.

• One mental thing to improve: Mindfulness.

• One thing to keep: A sense of humour.

If 2025 was about better understanding myself and my game, 2026 is about trusting it and letting it flow. It’s time to walk my talk.

If you played a round with me this year — good, bad, or ugly — thanks for being part of it.

If you liked this post, please subscribe to the blog and leave a comment in the section below.

For more information about Tangent, please follow the link HERE

I first came across Tangent in late 2023 after buying an Apple Ultra Watch and searching for a GPS app. Having reached 250 recorded rounds, it felt like a good time to write an update.

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Why Tangent?

First, let me be clear that I am in no way sponsored by Tangent. I pay full price for the app and have no affiliation with them other than being a happy user. I was an early adopter, and my decision to go with Tangent over the other (more established) products available on the App Store came down to my interaction with Dallas and learning about his vision for the App. It’s developed by a golfer, for golfers and goes well beyond a standard “front, middle, back” GPS app. I was particularly interested in how it would use my playing data to identify areas for practice. With a desire to improve my own golf, I thought Tangent looked like an excellent tool that would provide me not just GPS information, but also data-rich insights into my own game.

Dallas promised future improvements to the app, and he has certainly delivered on that promise. The app continues to be regularly updated with enhanced functionality and features. I would love it if they find a way to use the sensors in the watch to add a swing analysis feature. I would also love to use it for full-swing tempo training and maybe metronome features for putting. For example, could the watch provide some of the data that a Blast Motion Sensor provides? Maybe that’s going too far.

How have I used it?

During a round

This post is not intended as a Tangent tutorial; the app itself has an excellent section dedicated to that. Everything you need to know about using the app can be found there. Everything from initial setup to creating your own custom skin or adding creator content can be found in there.

As a walking golfer, I primarily use the Apple Watch when playing, then review and edit the round on my phone when I’m finished. The watch interface is simple and unobtrusive to use. It keeps data entry to a minimum when playing and prevents too much unnecessary distraction. I use the watch primarily for front/middle/back distances (having learned that pin seeking is not the way to lower scores) as well as course management, such as distance to hazards. The other big thing I use the watch for is putting performance, where I use the more detailed entry method and pace out my putt distances for Strokes Gained analysis. That sounds cumbersome, but it really isn’t. You have to walk to the hole to take the pin out or get to your next putt, so count your steps when you do that.

After a round

Post round, I will use the phone app to review the round and ensure it has recorded my club selections correctly. If I want to add any extra data, such as lie, mental score, impact or shot trajectory etc. I can do that now. I usually do this on a “by exception” basis and only record the information if it is different from “normal”. Was I in a divot? Was I struggling to make my club/shot selection? You can also do this when using the watch, but only if you are not holding up play in the process.

The main screen I look at is the high-level “Strokes Gained Summary” that is contained in the “Today’s Performance” report.

This provides me with a quick overview of how I performed today and gives an objective balance to my subjective views from the round. I might be coming off thinking about the putt I missed on 7, or the poor approach shot on 15, but this report provides a reality check. My ambition is to get to scratch or better, so I look at my analysis relative to a 0 handicap, but you can easily change that in settings.

From the high-level chart, I can drill down into areas that need improvement, such as my approach play. Why am I missing? What do I need to work on?

Helping with practice

I have to admit, like most golfers, I don’t practice enough. Not only has the Tangent app helped me identify the areas I need to practice, but it also suggests drills that I should try. This gives structure to practice, and it is easy to log the results from those practice sessions, too. Better practice and improved personal fitness are my main priorities for winter 25/26 in preparation for next season.

The app also has a built-in AI caddy function that learns how far you hit each club and can make club selection suggestions. Obviously, the more rounds you have recorded, the better this function becomes. Also, like slope on a rangefinder, you can’t use that function in tournaments, so you need to select the appropriate option when starting a round. But it’s a great feature for rounds when you can use it.

Previewing a new course

The app includes an “Explore” option, as seen on the bottom left above. I found this very useful recently when I was playing new courses and didn’t have a stroke saver handy. It allows you to walk through the course using the AI caddy to suggest what clubs you should use. You can also move the screen around to look at more aggressive or conservative options.

Helping with recent reviews, lessons and fittings

Being able to share my Tangent data with my instructor has proven very helpful for targeting areas to work on in lessons. It gives some objectivity to the process and also allows the instructor to monitor progress. This is demonstrated in my recent review of AimPoint (link) where I was able to show my putting performance before and after learning the process.

I have also used Tangent data for club fittings, where it helped the fitter understand my dominant miss and what I might be looking for from new clubs. The ability to customise your bag also allows you to compare clubs over time.

Conclusion

I am a big fan of Tangent and plan to remain a subscriber for the foreseeable future. I like all of the data that it provides for my game, and I am excited (if that’s not too strong a word) to see what additional features Dallas and the team decide to add. The team have been fast to respond to any bugs or issues that arise, and despite having been an early adopter, I have experienced very few issues in two years.

Tangent is far more than just a golf GPS app, and my advice would be that you take a free trial subscription and have a look around for yourself. Playing with it is the best way to find out what it provides. I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.

Recently, I was listening to an episode of the excellent podcast “The Golfing Mind” by Robin Sieger, where he was talking about getting into “The Zone”. If you have Spotify, you can find it by following this link. The podcast reminded me of a blog post I wrote in October 2024, and I have republished it here as a “Thoughts” post for The Club House. I hope you enjoy it.

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I started thinking about this long before I ever considered writing a blog. For me, good golf transcends the physical and is almost spiritual. My best golf has been like an out-of-body experience. My mind has been quiet and I've felt connected to something greater than me. It's almost as if an otherworldly force has been guiding me. I've got Old Tom Morris controlling my body and Seve whispering tactics and motivations in my ear. When get into that state, everything is easy and otherworldly. The shots just happen and never feel forced. It might only last a few holes, but occasionally it's there for the whole round. Whenever it occurs I want to stay in that place forever. Calm, confident and grateful. At peace with the world. At one with golf!

It's not like I suddenly had Rory McIlroy's long game and Luke Donald's short game, but I was getting more out of my own game and I was in "the zone". Having experienced it a few times, I'm left wondering how to get back to that mindset more often.

Get connected - smell the divot!

I think you need a combination of expectation management, perspective, awareness, patience and gratitude. As my golf skills have improved, there have been times when I've allowed my expectations to get too high and subsequently been annoyed or disappointed with myself when I didn't achieve those new standards. Rather than enjoy and remember the good shots, I've focussed on the bad ones and subjected myself to some pretty poor self-talk. I've been a long way from that transcendent state on those days!

I've skirted around the subject before and while I know it's evolutionary biology and our natural survival instinct to focus on mistakes, it certainly doesn't help with golf! The Stoic philosopher Epictetus said, "When we give things outside our control too much importance, then frustration is certain. If we focus more on what truly depends on us, then there isn't much that can make us angry".

Yes, I want to improve. Yes, I want to shoot lower scores. But more importantly, I want to enjoy myself when playing. Golf is my hobby. I play it for leisure and I pay for the privilege. The clues are in the words "game" and "playing". It shouldn't feel like a chore and it certainly shouldn't feel like work! But I am getting better at this. As daft as it may sound, occasionally smelling the divot before replacing it has helped me with awareness and gratitude when playing.

As well as the Epictetus quote above, Stoicism has taught me about momento mori, or the reminder that time is a gift. It's another recurring blog theme and why I have the skull and crossbones stamp for my golf balls. Every second spent is gone forever and we can not get it back. One day we will run out of time, so how do we want to spend it? If you've not read "Scratch Attitude" by Kent Osborne, I urge you to do so. He would advocate asking yourself "If this was the last round of golf you ever get to play, then how would you like to remember it". Do you want to remember the company you had, the fresh air, the great drive on 6, the birdie on 14, the views, the smell of the divot? Or do you want to dwell on the missed putts and poor shots? I know what I have chosen to do!

The transcendent golfer

With that in mind, I've taken Kent's advice and started a golf journal. I've called it The Transcendent Golfer's Journal (but any ordinary notebook will do!). Before I leave the house to play golf I plan to ask myself three questions:

• What am I grateful for today?

• What do I love about golf/life?

• If this was my last round of golf/day on earth, how would I want to experience it?

When I return home I intend to add some additional information about the round:

• What did I enjoy most about my round today?

• My (2 or 3) best holes

• My best par 3's

• My best shots

  • Drive

  • Fairway wood/hybrid

  • Irons

  • Short game

  • Putts

It's not about paralysis by analysis, it's about connecting with how I felt and hopefully getting back to that transcendental state more often. While the Tangent app helps me identify where I can improve technically, this is about improving my attitude and mentality to become a better golfer, rather than just getting better at golf.

It should take no more than 5 or 10 minutes to write and it's about focusing on and reinforcing the positives from the round. Like Pia Nilsson and Vision54, did I pay attention to the intention I left the house with? Was I present? Did I remain aware of my surroundings? How did I feel when I hit a good shot? I've tried using a daily gratitude journal before, but I let the discipline slip when the book finished! This one comes with a different motivation, so hopefully it will be easier to keep it up.

Finally, watching the recent Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and listening to the celebrities and professionals being interviewed was a great reminder that golf is about so much more than just hitting a ball. It truly transcends the physical if you let it.

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This friendly competition has been running for 17 years now, and while there is a trophy at stake, it is much more about the bragging rights, friendship, fellowship and hospitality of all the players involved. It was a privilege to be asked along as a new member of the team. The weekend perfectly captured how golf brings people together from all different backgrounds. The common language of golf, tales of holes won and lost, shots both good and bad, breaks down all barriers.

It was great to spend time in the company of my playing partner Neil, and our opponents, DJ, Mark, Mike and Conner (all of whom will be looking for revenge next year). I'm happy to say that Neil and I came away undefeated and that the NGC won the trophy back for the first time in 4 years. Making the weekend even more special, two of the home team players achieved their first-ever hole-in-one. Stevie got his on the 9th of the New and Dave on the 5th of the Jubilee. Another member, Andrew, also holed out from a bunker, not once but twice, to really sicken his opponent!

The weekend made me think about all of the friendships, old and new, that I have made through golf, the courses I've played, the people I've met and the conversations I've had. Sometimes I wonder if I would have any friends at all if it weren't for golf. My closest friends all have a golfing connection. In fact, sometimes it's the only connection, but it's enough!

I don't know why these friendships have endured better than others. Maybe it's a bond that comes from the mutual suffering caused by trying to conquer this game. Maybe it's the fact that you are more "present" when playing and are generally free from the distractions of modern life. Golf should be an escape from the rest of your life and I've lost count of the number of rounds I've ruined by checking my phone and subsequently getting distracted. Other than putting the world to rights in the pub, I can't think of anywhere else I've had such wide-ranging conversations, especially with strangers. Most of the chat is usually about golf and shared experiences, but quite often it goes well beyond what you might expect. Men are often bad at talking about what's bothering them so maybe the golf course is a "safe space" where they feel comfortable opening up. I'm reminded of some of the great interviews that Peter Allis did on "Pro-Celebrity Golf" and more recently by Iona Stephen over on her YouTube channel "On the road with Iona". Unlike them though, what's discussed on the course with me, stays on the course!

I look forward to getting to know my new Irish friends better over the years ahead.

Golf - it's not just about the score!

What a thoroughly enjoyable read this was. It details John's quest to improve from shooting 100+ to playing a level par round of golf within a year, while also balancing his job and family life too. It's nicely written, with warm humour and a lovely flow, which makes it very easy to read. I got it as a Christmas present and had it finished before New Year - I've got chocolate that's taken me longer!

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A compelling story

I found John's story compelling and thought there were some interesting comparisons to my improvement journey and golfing challenge. We've even read many of the same books from authors such as Bob Rotella, Timmothy Gallwey and my recently reviewed Ben Hogan (he read that one a LOT). With added input from his coach, the focus (like Hogan) was on fundamentals, fundamentals and more fundamentals. Every time he struggled, the coach brought him back to the basics of grip, stance and swing as he had inevitably slipped back into old habits.

After fundamentals, the next message that came across loud and clear was the requirement to practice, practice and then practice some more if you want to improve. This would be music to Jared Kenwothy's ears. He also stresses the importance of not ignoring the areas you don't enjoy so much. John developed some good practice disciplines but he was guilty of not taking much time over putting until later in the challenge, assuming it would just take care of itself. The requirement for dedicated (and intelligent) practice is something that awaits me if I want to have any chance of achieving my aspiration. John has some good tips about practice routines and this is something I'll be exploring with Mike Lander at my next lesson too. It's time to get organised!

Golf presents most players with some significant mental challenges too and John was not immune. I could relate to many of the comments about good ball striking, but poor scoring. I felt his pain when he talked about self-sabotage and the times when his shoulders slumped and he felt like giving up. This is something I also need to work harder on and I've already been trying some of the things he mentions in the book. For my own situation, retaining perspective and gratitude are important as I do not want to lose my enjoyment of the game. While we've both set ourselves a big challenge, I'm reminded of the gambling advice of "When the fun stops, stop".

John chose an incredible challenge, and I'll not spoil the book by telling you the outcome. The result is less important than the journey. He learnt so much about himself, his motivations and his relationships (both professional and personal). The book talks about so many of the things I love about golf and also many of its frustrations. I think any golfer will be able to relate.

What happened to John next?

The book was first published in 2009, and I'd love to know what John's relationship with golf is like now. Has he kept playing? Has he gone on to further challenges? He's written one follow-up golf tips e-book and three business books, but I can't find anything else. It was amazing/crazy/mad to take on a challenge like this over 12 months and the book highlights the pressure it caused. It makes me relieved that I've given myself over 5 years to reach my goal.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book. It's well written, humorous and relatable for any aspiring golfer.

published in 1957, could this be the best golf instruction book ever written? Hogan believed that everyone could build a solid swing and play good golf. This book covers everything the amateur golfer needs to know about the golf swing in simple, easy-to-understand steps. Hogan believed everything followed a chain action from grip to setup to backswing to downswing. He doesn't claim that you will hit every shot perfectly, just that you'll give yourself the best chance if you have a solid grasp of these fundamentals. Now, that may be a total over-simplification, but I think this a book that all aspiring golfers should read.

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These works originally appeared as a set of articles in Sports Illustrated and then later published as this book. Ben Hogan was the Tiger Woods of his day. Still the only golfer to win the Masters, U.S. Open and Open Championship in the same year, and he did it in 1953! He was a real workman of a golfer who was always looking to learn more about the golf swing. Remember he did this when there was no technology to help him. No slow-motion video capture, force plates, 3-D motion capture, Trackman, Foresight, GPS devices, Lasers etc etc. It all came down to trial and error and observation. It reminds me of a conversation with my decorator friend Andy when I asked him the secret of applying gloss paint. "20 years of experience" he replied.

This book was written towards the end of Hogan's career and brings you all of his experience. It is beautifully illustrated with hand-drawn pictures that really help bring the text to life. I bought this book second-hand, over 15 years ago, read it, put it back on my bookshelf and promptly forgot about it as I replaced it with more "modern" texts (that just must have been more relevant!). It was only during my lessons with Mike it clicked that some of the things he was asking me to try were familiar.

Sandy helped me improve my grip. Mike was working first on the backswing, using a "tour striker" ball to get my arms working the way Hogan advocates. Then, with the downswing, he had me imagine that I was skimming a stone, which is also similar to the Hogan recommendation of throwing a pitch or passing a basketball. The swing plane concept was first introduced to me many years ago by my friend Henry Wong when having lessons with him at Wellsgreen.

When I think about the lessons I've had over the years, almost everything they taught me about the full swing is covered in this book. While it doesn't go into detail about bunker shots, short game, putting, or course management etc, it does give an excellent introduction to building a strong, repeatable swing. Hogan argues that every other shot follows from that. If it were that simple, then there wouldn't be a library full of golf instruction books! But if you've got a solid and repeatable swing, then you are a long way down the road to good golf.

Other books go into much more detail and I would also recommend reading Jon Sherman, Adam Young, Bob Rotella, Tim Gallwey and others. But I'm really glad I looked this book out again and reread it. There are things I've let slip that will now be incorporated into future practice routines - regular appraisal of the basics, taking a notebook to jot down what I've been doing etc. I rank this book very highly in terms of the best golf books I've read and would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone looking to better understand the fundamentals of the golf swing.

Having just finished "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck”, the introductory chapters to this book are quite a contrast. Dr Bob actively encourages you to set extreme goals and to almost foster a sense of entitlement. He doesn't want you to settle for "good enough" but wants you to become the "best you possibly can" so you don't die thinking "What if?". I'm not talking about "I'd like to get to scratch" type goals here, I'm talking about Elon Musk, "I want to colonise Mars" type goals. It's like Tony Robbins giving a motivational TED Talk. For example, he says Tiger Woods was not ambitious enough when he said he wanted to beat the record of 18 Major wins set by Jack Nicklaus. Dr Bob thinks he should have said he wanted to beat it by 10 or 20 wins, as that might have driven him to have at least matched the record by now. It made me think of an interview I read with Bob MacIntyre about where his career goes from here. His "life goal" was to play in the Ryder Cup, and now that he's achieved it, he has to set new goals and decide what he's prepared to do to achieve them.

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That last point is the important one. What are you prepared to do to achieve your own (lofty) goals? Do you have the work ethic, belief, self-discipline, patience, and persistence that's required? Do your dreams and ideas drive a passion and provide a reason to be excited and motivated? I think about a random conversation I had on the golf course with Alexander Schack about his wife's love of Dressage and her ambition to make the US Olympic team. That's dreaming big! That's awesome! Others might think you're crazy or delusional, but embrace the challenge, love the difficulty, don't get put off by the setbacks and fight through with patience and diligence. He quotes Michael Jordan as saying, "You have to expect great things of yourself before you can do them".

In typical Dr Bob style, he uses stories about people he has worked with over the years and the great things they have achieved. All brilliant hindsight examples of success, but it would also be interesting to hear from others who didn't achieve their Mars colonisation goals. Are they happy with what they did achieve? Do they think they came up short? I think what Dr Bob was getting at here was that if, looking back post-event, you would be happy having reached the moon, then you've got to have aimed for Mars first in order to have had the drive to get to the moon. In other words, not achieving the big dream can still produce a good result.

For me, the moonshot goal would be saying that I want to qualify for the Senior Open by age 60 (54 now). In order to achieve that I will need to get to scratch (at worst) to enter the qualifying competitions. Is aiming for the Senior Open the thing that will give me the desire to practice and drive my game forward? Would such an ambition clash with, or complement, my "Golfing with Gratitude" mindset? Like many things in life, I guess it's about enjoying the process rather than admiring the view. If I enjoy the process and it gives me the motivation to generally keep fit, play more and get outdoors, then that's all good. Process over outcome.

The book then moves from goal setting to his views on practice and improvement. It's like a "greatest hits" compilation of all his other books, and it's actually all the better for that. A book like "Putting Out of Your Mind" is essentially condensed into one chapter. After the classic self-help, dream big, you can be whatever you want to be style of the first part of the book, the rest is refreshingly practical and down to earth. It reminds me of my Stoicism and Gratitude posts and many of the things I've learned and talked about since starting my thoughtsfromthetrain.com blog. It also complements what I've read from others, such as Mark Manson, Practical Golf, Jared Kenworthy, the Stoics, and many more.

A very brief summary would be "Golf is hard”, and you will only improve through hard work and determination. This book is not about technical swing advice. If you want that, then buy "The Practice Manual" by Adam Young. This book is more about your mental attitude and other aspects of practice. There's a great quote from Bob Torrance that "A big heart and a great mind are more important than technical perfection". Dr Bob provides his insight into how and what he thinks you should focus on in practice. Re Bob Torrance, I’ve always liked the two phrases “Perfection is the enemy of good” and “Comparison is the thief of joy”. I think they are very applicable to golf.

Without repeating the whole book, there were certain things that stuck out for me and that will impact how I practice and play. Even in the half-dozen rounds I've played since reading this, I have definitely experienced a change in attitude. Like most good advice, most of it is just plain old common sense! There's the stoic stuff like mental fortitude and strength of mind, controlling your reactions, not dwelling on bad shots etc. Then it’s golf 101, like keep reviewing the basic fundamentals of grip, alignment and posture. There's an interesting section on using statistics. He wants you to use them to help identify areas for practice and improvement, but not to get paralysed by them. He's got a contrary view on the use of Strokes Gained and a strong preference that amateurs should focus on accuracy off the tee rather than distance. He's got strong, but understandable, reasons behind this and goes against what I've read from Jon Sherman, Mark Broadie and others.

His recipe for improvement would be:

1. Really understand your preferred playing style (conservative or aggressive) and stick to it.

2. Focus on accuracy off the tee rather than raw distance. If possible, practice your driving on the toughest holes on your course, as it will be more challenging than any range session. The important aspect of driving is how it impacts your GIR stats.

3. GIR - the top players average 12.5-13. Focus on improving your GIR and minimise the impact of your misses.

4. Improve your scrambling percentage from 15-20 yards short of the green. Avoid the lob shot unless there's no alternative. Experiment and figure out how to get the ball as close to the hole as possible. Get comfortable with bunker play.

5. Scoring clubs (8-LW). Buy the Dave Peltz "Short Game Bible" and work on full and 3/4 shots of varying trajectories. The objective is to improve shot predictability and hence improve confidence to go for tighter targets with the scoring clubs. It can be boring, but make sure you dial in the scoring clubs. Then be aggressive.

6. Putting. Make it part of your regular practice routine, even for just 10 mins. Dr Bob advocates attitude over technique. Let your natural instincts take over. Think about the putt before you step in, and once you get over the ball, make sure you hit it quickly with rhythm, flow and no hesitation. Don't be upset when you miss, and don't be afraid of three-putting. Love one-putting and making birdies more than you hate three-putting. Believe your first instinct and don't invent a break that doesn't exist. Downplay the importance of the shot and visualise the ball going in the hole.

7. Practice rounds. If possible, play best-ball with 2 or 3 balls and get comfortable with shooting low scores. Also, play worst-ball with 2 or 3 balls and improve your scrambling under pressure.

8. Course management - do your homework, have a strategy and stick to it. Four Foundations of Golf is a great book for this, although Dr Bob would leave the driver in the bag more often than Jon.

I found the concluding chapters really interesting. The first was about "Late Bloomers" and what they can still achieve. The final one was about "Maintaining Perspective", in life and golf. For those who read my blog regularly, you'll know these have been recurring themes for me.

It's been a long time since I read anything by Dr Bob Rotella, and I'm happy that I came across this book. The first few chapters made me cringe in places with their bullishness (although others may love that), but the rest more than compensated. While much of the book is geared towards the elite amateur or professional, there is great practical advice that we can all benefit from. I know I'm going to focus my playing and practice differently as a result of reading this.

Now, where’s that Senior Open entry form……

Not much golf this week while feeling a little under the weather, so it was great when this little book popped through my letter box. I've listened to a couple of podcasts where Gary has been interviewed about this and his other "Lost Art" books. The comments really struck a chord and harked back to a simpler time when I first took up golf and wasn't inundated with instruction from multiple "experts". As kids back in the late 70's and early 80's we had to learn by playing and just figure out what worked (or didn't). Club and putter design was generally simpler back then too and we had to make do with the kit we had. There was no chopping and changing to the next great thing.

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There are loads of books out there about putting, so what's so special about this one? Well, it doesn't get bogged down in technical stuff for a start. It reminds me a bit of "The Inner Game of Golf" by Tim Gallwey where he talks about the body knowing what to do if you can remove the internal obstacles presented by your mind. The big thing in this book is about changing your internal narrative regarding putting. It ties in with the things I'm trying to work on elsewhere with my game. Better breathing, mindful walking, how I talk to myself when I'm playing etc. all of which are as applicable to life as they are to golf. There are useful exercises in here to help you get in a more relaxed state while playing and putting, how to be more aware of your surroundings as you walk to the green and how that can help you read the putt. This is presented in the context of putting but goes to the heart of the whole game.

The book is interlaced with sections of expert insights on things like Trackman and putter design which help bring another perspective. There's quite a lot of information about putting statistics that should help you be less harsh on yourself and your own putting performance. That similar to some of the information in "The Four Foundations" by Jon Sherman. There are also a couple of sections that some might find controversial. The first is about the use of lines, both on the ball and on the putter and the other is about pace vs line. They are both really interesting but you need to make up your own mind about them. I've had a love, hate relationship with lines so found this bit particularly interesting. I wish it had mentioned the influence of eye dominance though. The section on pace has some interesting takeaway exercises too and I know I could see some real benefits from this.

Overall, I really enjoyed this short book and I'd love to go across to Archerfield for a personal lesson at some point (need to save up for that!). I'll definitely check out the other books in the "Lost Art of.." series too. I've gone through the exercise it recommends regarding perception and narrative and I will take away the practice tasks and work on them. What the thinker thinks, the prover proves. Here's to better, less complicated putting in 2023.

Jon Sherman has written a really excellent book here. A book that's written by an actual golfer, about improving at golf and some of the things that have helped him along the way. There's nothing revelatory in it, and you may have read a lot of similar things in other books, but it brings it all together into one easy-to-access volume.

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Chapters are short and all have excellent bullet-point summaries that help reinforce what you've just read. It flows well and is easy to read.

The four foundations laid out here are Managing Expectations; Strategy; Practice and The Mental Game.

What do I take away from the book?

I found the first two sections to be really excellent, and I have already started implementing them into my golf. Excluding practice for a moment, there are so many things here that strike a chord with me. My personality off the course could rightly be said to be quite different from my personality on the course. In my personal life, my best friend likes to call me Captain Sensible or Two Condoms Keith for my generally cautious approach to most things. Yet I often seem to leave that persona in the car when I get to the course, and a very different one can appear. More Captain Chaos than Captain Sensible (how did I get to a handicap of 5)? One who likes to self-flagellate and criticise himself in a way that I would never allow another person to talk to me. I've been more effective at tackling him since I retired (hmm, coincidence?), and my "Golfing with Gratitude" post explains a bit about the change in mindset towards golf over recent months.

This book really helps with that too. I loved all of the examples in the Managing Expectations section that should help me (and you) to control the voice of the devil whispering in my ear. Probably due to my finance background, I like to see things backed up in facts and figures and have always liked the expression "numbers don't lie, people do".

The Strategy section gives excellent examples of course management, something we are all basically expected to know instinctively. Smarter target selection is now a core part of how I intend to play my golf in future. Especially when I marry that with the playing information I've got from ShotScope and GolfDataLab. This is where Captain Sensible needs to come into his own again and remind me of my personal limitations before trying to draw a high 3 wood over the trees on 16 at Ladybank when I've been hitting a fade all day. My new quest is to bore my partners into submission by playing sensible golf. The downside is that I've now got the "Happy Talk" song stuck in my head, and it won't go away.

I'll be working on better pre and post-shot routines, and I've already been doing some post-round journaling to change the internal narrative so I focus more on the good shots that are too easily forgotten in the flagellation sessions!

The description of Grit really struck a chord too. The rounds I have gotten the most pleasure from are probably not the ones where I had the lowest scores, but the ones where I've managed to get over a couple of poor holes and still posted a decent score. The Practice section is the most "difficult" to read, but we all know that practice isn't always easy, and we need to persevere. One of the other books on my reading list is "The Practice Manual" by Adam Young, so this is a good introduction to that.

Conclusion

There is a lot to like about this book, and I highly recommend it. We will all take different things from it, but most importantly, there are things there for us all to take, regardless of our level of golf. There is so much about the psychology of golf that is common with the psychology of life.

From now on I plan to course manage the cr*p out of my rounds and play the most boring/sensible/awesome golf I can. Golf without self-criticism but with self-love (Gregor, no dirty comments please) and an appreciation for the fact I'm out there with good company, enjoying the challenge and doing something I love to do.

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In early 2018, I read the inspirational story of the professional golfer, Jigger Thomson. Jigger, now standing at an impressive 6'9", obtained his European Tour card at Q-School in 2017 at the age of 21. You should search YouTube for an interview he gave about that event to understand just how much of a challenge Q-School really is. If that’s not remarkable enough on its own, the thing that brought him to our attention was that he also had leukaemia at the age of 7. The story was quite an inspiration for my daughter, so we decided that we would like to try to contact Jigger.

That wasn’t particularly straightforward, as we didn't really know where to start. Stewart Whiteford, who runs Wellsgreen driving range, is the brother of former European Tour player Peter, so I started there, but with no luck. I tried my club pro, but no luck there either. Fortunately, I also had a fitting appointment booked with SGGT and asked Scott Gourlay if he had any ideas. SGGT has many connections with current tour players, and a few weeks later, Scott got back in touch to say he had contact details for Jigger. So we composed a short email to Jigger to introduce ourselves and say how inspirational we found his story. Bearing in mind he was only 22 at the time and busy on tour, we never really expected to hear anything back, so it was a real delight when he did reply. Not only that, but he made the extra effort and sent some gifts through too.

We followed his first year on tour (2018) with great interest and were totally gutted when he just missed out on winning the Made in Denmark tournament that September. What a life-changing result that would have been. The following he was due to play in the Dunhill Championship in St Andrews and we agreed to meet at that if he had time. What better place than Janettas Gelateria on South Street. Jigger (and his then fiancé Olivia) were fantastic. There was no awkwardness, we had a great catch-up and agreed to keep in touch in future.

And keep in touch we have done. We continue to follow Jigger every time he’s playing and quite regularly exchange WhatsApp messages and photo updates. While golf has recently taken a lower priority for my daughter, now that we are living in St Andrews there’s more opportunity to pick it up again as the facilities and opportunities for kids to get into golf are excellent. Hopefully, my wife and both daughters will all give it a go. That would be a dream fourball. Covid lockdowns obviously had a massive impact on golf over the next couple of years, but it was great to be able to catch up with Jigger and (now wife) Olivia again last July when they came to stay with us during the Hero Championship at the Fairmont. It was our pleasure to host them in our new home.

We will always continue to follow Jigger’s progress, wish him all the very best of success and hope to have many more chances to catch up in future.

EDIT Sept ‘25: Jigger has had a tough time since this was originally written, relapsing in 2024 and undergoing further intensive treatment. Fortunately, that has been successful, and we all wish him a speedy and full recovery. His fight and determination remain inspirational.