The Tournament Book

If a week long golf tournament were a book and every day was a separate chapter, most books would start off similarly: travel, arrival, accommodation acclimation, course study and preparation, practice, rest, etc. But if in some Virginia Woolf stream of consciousness format, the narrative may play out uniquely, as the psychological always provides new challenge.

This week I arrived hopeful yet fatigued: both bad mental characteristics. Hopeful is practical but -20 par requires more than optimism. Thus, my challenge over the past two days has been to mentally transform "hopeful yet fatigued" into "determined, energetic and fearless." This psychological metamorphosis would be the interesting introduction to the tournament novel. The belief system is the baseline from which all shots follow. Deepak Chopra wrote in his Golf For Enlightenment, "don't blame your ball because you've loaded it with hidden and conflicting intentions."

So with less than a day before my opening tee shot in the Times Colonist Open, my technique feels comfortable enough to produce low scores. The course is in amazing condition despite heavy rains in the past two days: greens are true and fast, rough is thick and high, fairways are cut short and narrow.

It's now a matter of continuing to work towards solidifying my week's belief system that exudes confidence and trust. Most players know rationally where their "zone" is and can describe it, but the difference between knowing and feeling, determines success. I must rediscover my zone and work to remain in its flow, leaving behind hopefulness for complete self belief; relinquishing the need to control and surrendering to my own conditioned ability to place the ball where I intend.

While the rest of the book is unwritten, I've prepared myself to succeed and believe the book's closing chapter will be exciting and fun.