Course Management: Getting Results in Golf, Business, and Life!

Course Management:
Getting Results in Golf, Business and Life
Rick Moroski, President & CEO, The Leadership Caddie
Rebecca Dengler, LPGA/PGA Teaching Professional

Have you ever felt there were times when you just want to give up on it all? Quit this ever challenging, seldom rewarding game called golf? Tell the boss this is enough I’m not going to take it anymore! Do you ever feel the need to just get away from the never ending chaos of life?

We have all from time to time had a rough experience in all these areas and yet we feel the desire to persist, to give it one more chance, maybe out of shear passion for the game or that always present emotion of wanting to prove to yourself or others that you can do it! Whatever, your inspiration is to keep at it we applaud you! We also recommend that if you are not getting the results you desire in your game, the recognition for your work or life isn’t going the way you had envisioned it, you should look at your approach.

The results of your golf game, your success in business or life are all dictated by your actions. Your actions are the result of the thoughts that you hold dominant in your mind. What if you change the way you think about how you approach your game on the course? Just maybe that will translate into getting the results you want in Golf, Business and Life.

I was very fortunate to have met Becky and been exposed to her style of teaching and her approach to the game. Before I met Becky, the term course management was just not in my vocabulary, although grip and rip was. Needless to say this approach did nothing for my game; in fact this was pretty much a dominant theme in business and life as well for me. Have you ever watched people at a driving range? Which club do they hit most often? The Driver! How many of you have ever step backed and thought about how often do you use your driver during a round of golf? Hmm, well there are only 18 holes, but 4 of those are par 3’s, so were down quickly to 14 and if we were really honest with ourselves there are probably at least 2 other holes where we don’t need the driver either, so let’s agree that at best we would only swing our driver 12 times during a round, which accounts for 17% of our total swings if we are shooting a par score of 72! Considering the average player shoots a score of 100+ a round, this would reduce the percentage to 12% or less.

We have found that people often want to improve their game be it golf, business or life, yet often continue with the same approach and wonder why they aren’t getting the results they desire. Next time look at how you play your game and look at changing your approach to improve your score. In golf, course management requires us to manage the physical golf course, such as the hole layout, hazards, yardage and course conditions to name a few. However, more importantly, course management requires us to know our skills and their limitations. In fact, without this information, all the information we may know about the golf course and the conditions would be useless. We need to fit in our skills within the boundaries of the golf course to be able to manage it successfully.

As a golf instructor I am always surprised at peoples’ persistence in doing the same thing over and over yet expecting different results. Some have termed this phenomenon as the definition of insanity. Take putting for an example. Most putts have some break or curve to them due to the contour of the green. In fact it is rare to have a putt that is dead straight. However, many players do not take the time to even look from behind the ball to begin with, to see if the putt breaks. This would enable them to adjust accordingly so the ball will have a better chance to go into the hole. Instead players usually rush up to the ball to putt and then are surprised when the ball curves one way or another. Just like crossing traffic it is always good to look both ways before you take that next step.

This same approach applies to business and life as well. Just like the golf course, business and life presents its own unique challenges and risks associated with every action you take. How aware are you of those pending obstacles? Do you recognize them and adjust for them or do you subscribe to the grip it and rip mentality and then rationalize why you’re not getting the results you desire. Just like golf, sometimes it is ok to lay-up, to take a more deliberate approach to mitigate the pending risks or hazards you may encounter. Always be sure to look and truly see first, what is in front of you. Please don’t associate this with settling or compromising, this is about playing it smart. It’s ok to take an incremental approach to get to where you want to go; sometimes you really can go faster and further if you go slower.

All golfers are unique in their skills and experiences; their definition of success is also unique to them and will also need to be self defined. Let’s consider PAR. PAR is the goal for score on each hole. If a player had all pars for round of golf, they would be considered a very accomplished player. The players on tour relate their success according to PAR. So to begin with, players must look at the hole and define what score they can feel challenged by, but not overwhelmed with, for that hole. Then plan to play the shots within their skill level on that hole for that score. Many times average players’ use PAR for their measurement of success and within a few holes begin to feel overwhelmed and disappointed. Personal golf goals need to be encouraging and challenging, not stressful and unattainable.

One of the greatest examples of this is when players get into trouble, such as having to hit from behind some trees. Most commonly, they look for a direct line to the pin and try a shot that is often very difficult and often puts them in more trouble. Instead, players need to recognize the first priority is to get out of trouble and get back in play. Before you consider playing that low percentage shot through the trees, you should look to get the ball back in play and aim at the opening towards the fairway.

Setting realistic goals for business and expectations for you in your life are the keys that guide and influence your actions. It is difficult to inspire an organization or a team, if the goals are so daunting that they feel defeated before they even start. However, there are some Leadership styles that truly believe that the only way to progress is too constantly set the goal above that which is reasonable, at least then you’ll know that you are driving everyone to a new level, so they think. The risk with this approach is burn out of your team and/or change that is often not sustainable. We recognize that there are always times in business and life when there needs to be that extra effort, where we need to rally the team or ourselves and push through to a new level. Yet everyday cannot be a fire drill or that will be the behavior you cultivate and without that catalyst of an emergency; performance will not be up to par.

Once realistic goals are established, where the score relates to the players skills, the player can now create a plan for managing the course. To begin with, the player needs to set a plan for each hole. For example, if the first hole is a par four with a pond in the front, a player may choose to hit their second shot if front of the pond and then hit their third shot onto the green. For many players because it is the first hole, they may not be as comfortable with having to hit over the water onto the green, with their second shot of the round. So if they plan to hold up on the second shot, they will take the risk out of play, thereby reducing the stress and then ultimately perform better. I’ll never forget watching the US Women’s Open, held at Pine Needles Golf Course and on the first hole, a par 5, most of the players would attempt a very difficult second shot trying to reach the green and often ended up in trouble, which often turned a hopeful birdie into a bogey or worse. I then watched one of the best players tee off, Karrie Webb, and I proceeded to watch her hit a very easy second shot to a safe spot on the fairway and then hit an easy shot onto the green for an easy PAR. Yes, she then proceeded to win the event by many shots.

Regardless of the course we are playing, be it the Golf Course, the Business Course or the Life Course, they all involve managing the course and most importantly ourselves. The key is being aware of our options, truly seeing what is in front of us and planning our way forward towards our target. We often focus outwardly when looking to solve the challenges of the course we’re on, but the answers we are looking for, are in knowing ourselves and our capabilities. We need a desired outcome that may stretch us a bit, but is still within our reach. Finally, we need to decide to have a new approach, one with a plan that is incremental in its steps, is adjusted for the different circumstance that we encounter and leverages the skills and abilities that we possess!