Golf is so difficult - and I'm not helping myself with an issue I'm surely not alone with

It’s a hard enough game but even more so when you are getting in your own way too often

Even in my 61st year on this planet and swinging a golf club for the vast majority of that time, I still find playing the game so bloody frustrating.

I’d set out this year determined to adopt a new attitude, particularly when playing in competitions, something I’ve made no secret that, unlike many others, I have never really liked.

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My main enjoyment when it comes to playing is being out on the course with my mates and particularly so in a fourball when there’s a match taking place but, at the same time, it’s just a bit of fun with lots of banter flying around.

Getting the ball in the hole in medals is one of the biggest challenges for club golfersplaceholder image
Getting the ball in the hole in medals is one of the biggest challenges for club golfers | Andrew Redington/Getty Images

I’ve grown to accept, though, that to get better you need to be able to get the ball in the hole for a full round and that is my main mission for 2025 in terms of the playing side of the sport.

Completely by chance after coming across an old Mizuno driver and 3-wood in the back of my locker, I made a couple of equipment changes at the start of the year and felt pleased about the initial impact.

With the driver, I wasn’t spraying it around as much as I had been with the weapon that had been in my bag for the past couple of years while I was also really pleased with the 3-wood, especially off the tee. It had been discarded because I got to the stage where I felt I just couldn’t hit off the deck, but, though still fearing a top, I’ve actually started to take that shot on again rather than relying on a 4-iron all the time and even the odd bash at a 3-iron.

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It was time to try something different with putting

I also made another change for this year, which was deciding it was time to try something different for putting but that wasn’t to ditch my Ping Anser, which is older than both of our daughters. Instead, I started to use a left below right grip for putts from ten feet and in and I have to say that seemed to be making a difference.

Before the competition season got under way, I played 16 holes one day in two over, which was the best I’d managed for a long time, and so I headed into my first medal of the year at Aberdour, my home club, feeling somewhat optimistic.

After ten holes, things were going along okay. I’d reached the turn in 39, six over, and started for home with a par. What happened thereafter probably tells you everything about how poor I appear to be when it comes to trying to overcome a bit of adversity on the golf course.

A quadruple-bogey 8 at the 11th was followed by four successive double bogeys before another quadruple-bogey 8 at the 16th then a double to finish added up to a dreadful 52 coming home and net 80, one of the worst scores on the day.

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“Remember, it’s the next shot that is the most important one,” said one of my playing partners in trying to hammer home that you simply can’t be heading to the next tee feeling angry about a bad hole when that was clearly the case with me on this occasion and, as a consequence, then had a run of bad holes.

Golf Correspondent Martin Dempster plays his golf at Aberdour on the Fife coastplaceholder image
Golf Correspondent Martin Dempster plays his golf at Aberdour on the Fife coast | Contributed

My next medal outing came the day after arriving home from The Masters and not playing for a fortnight. On a similar occasion in the past, I was absolutely buzzing after being at Augusta National only to be left feeling totally deflated as I sent three balls in the Firth of Forth from the first tee and maybe even shanked one into the bushes as well. Ouch!

Again, though, I was doing okay, having reached the turn in 37 this time and once again making a par at the short tenth. Though not necessarily stemming from a disaster at the 11th as a 6 went down on the card on this occasion, it was disappointing nonetheless to cover the final eight holes in 13 over and end up with 31 points, which at least left me in a less embarrassing position.

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For some totally unbeknown reason, in a couple of media day outings thereafter I then started faffing around with the height of my tee with the driver and played dreadfully on both occasions, the penny not dropping until the 16th hole in the second of those outings that, for me anyway, it’s a case of teeing it high and trying to let it fly.

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So, with my head feeling a bit clearer again, I set out in medal number three last week. Six straight bogeys to start may not sound too positive, but all of them could easily have been pars and the seventh is one of the easiest holes on our course.

Not, however, when you find a greenside bunker, take three shots to get out and walk off with a quadruple-bogey 8. Yes, one of those again, prompting that same reminder from the same playing partner as my shoulders dropped and blood boiled inside my body on the walk to the next tee.

It’s mindset that really makes the difference

On this occasion, I actually did a bit better in terms of trying to leave that setback behind me and would probably have walked off the course feeling relatively happy if it hadn’t been for what happened on the 17th. My approach found a bunker and guess what instantly came into my mind? Yes, that mishap earlier in the round and, of course, I then ended up doing exactly the same thing again.

For the record, it was an 88 on this occasion, which means that I am currently playing the golf of a 20-handicapper when I honestly believe it could be a single figure if I had the right mindset because, let’s not kid ourselves, that’s what really makes the difference at any level.

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I’ve played 20 games in total this year and will keep plugging away because that’s the beauty of golf. One day soon, I’ll hopefully master the art of keeping out of my own way because, after all these years, I now know that is my biggest problem on a golf course. And I’m probably not alone.

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