I went to the Allianz Classic—the first full field event on the Champions Tour this past week in my hometown of Boca Raton,Florida. This event is a big deal in Boca Raton—the charity is our local community hospital foundation. It is one of the biggest charity benefactor events in our city annually and its great fun to boot.
I love going to the range and the practice putting greens and chipping areas. This is where the players are accessible to visit and discuss golf a bit. Also, I get a look at how great they are at ball striking and the short game. I was a few feet from Andy Bean—a veteran of the Champions Tour and a fellow Florida Gator alumnus. He was no more than five feet in front of me. He was chipping to a pin about 20 feet on the green and he was about 10 feet off the green. This is not a difficult play for him but his proficiency was uncanny. He now moved to a position a little farther from the pin and his caddy dropped 7 balls on the ground. Andy proceeded to knock the first one in the cup. I then challenged him and said you need to validate that shot and he proceeded to do so after one miss. He was making this look very easy—it’s really not that easy to the average amateur.
One of the biggest mistakes amateurs make is they try so hard to do what the pros do when in reality you should try to be the best golfer you can be and not worry about how great the pros are. They do it for a living. You do not. If you do not roll chips in with regularity—its o.k. Of course try to get close and perhaps occasionally one will roll in but if not the idea is to get closer to make the ensuing putt easier and therefore lower scores. The one thought here is to play your best game and no one else’s.