Many times I hear girls and parents say “But I played great during my practice round and shot __ ” but then didn’t play well during the tournament, or “I play well when I play at home” and think that compares to rounds at away courses and during competition. Bottomline, is that those are not and never will be the same as tournament golf. The goal is to better prepare for the difference and how you are inherently going to feel and react during tournaments.

One way to avoid this scenario is to use practice rounds to learn the course and better prepare for the tournament, not as a time to keep score. This avoids even setting an expectation for a certain score that you “should” shoot during the tournament when conditions change and you are now truly focused on shooting an actual score.

Instead, use it as a time to prepare for worst-case scenarios. Take lots of notes, consider all conditions that may change, specifically identify your targets, know your layup spots, figure out pin placements if possible, and get a feel for short-game shots. 

Yes, be confident going into the first round, but confidence comes from knowing that when things don’t go “as planned” or “as expected” you are prepared. It does not come from expecting to play perfect golf.

My college coach at Furman University, Mic Potter, who is one of the best to ever coach (now the U of Alabama coach) said on Golf Channel a few years ago that he “tries to make practice so hard that tournaments feel easy”. That is how you get better and make tournament golf “easier”, by creating scenarios and drills during practice that force you to have consequences and get “stressed” as you try to complete your intended drill. 

But you must hold yourself accountable for completing drills and challenges as you plan and not cutting corners. You will start to feel what it’s like to finish them and how that can relate to what it’s like to stand on the tee in a tournament needing to hit the fairway, or standing over a 3ft putt to shoot your lowest round to win a tournament. 

You can’t totally prepare yourself for the stress and added pressure of tournament golf, it is always going to feel just a bit uncomfortable, but you just have to keep putting yourself in those scenarios again and again. Then you learn each time you do, you adjust, you adapt, and you better prepare for the next time.