Buffalo weather has been extraordinarily finicky this year. Hell, this week! Sunny on Monday, chilly on Tuesday, Snow on Wednesday, with more sun, rain and snow to come Thursday and Friday. I took advantage of the first of ten spring-break days to hit the Glen Oak Golf Course on Monday, to ring in the season with Robert Trent The Jones, Senior.

I have been on something of a reading binge this last few months, with three titles at the top: Zen Golf, Fearless Golf, and Every Shot Must Have A Purpose. They all deal with mental and emotional control, but each has a different message. I’ve also been faithful to Sean Cochran and his fitness program, Your Body & Your Swing. Having turned 40 last October, it was time to rededicate myself to this crazy little thing called life/golf/love (you choose the four-letter word!)

Here’s the nut: Playing the tips of this 7000-yard track, I started with seven goofy holes of four bogeys, two doubles, and one par. No bad shots, just lots of near-misses. Then I remembered that I had done some work since the Fall, so I started counting backward from 54 (Thanks, Pia!) before all shots, and whenever “the thoughts” started to come into my mind. I then played 8 holes in even par, with 1 birdie and 1 bogey offsetting each other. Coming to 17 and 18
(perhaps the worst finishing hole in golf!), I went double-single to finish at 83.

Back to “The Thoughts.” You know them well. Here are a few: “I’ve made how many pars in a row” and “If I can just par out, I’ll shoot ___” and “Is that water over there” and “Can I carry that bunker I’ve never carried before?” Well, here’s the trick. Let them enter your thoughts and then wave bye-bye to them. If you fight them, they’ll keep coming back. It’s an old Jedi mind trick, and it worked for me for 8 holes. Next time, I’m shooting for 10.

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