I addressed this point a few months ago, but it’s so important, I want to touch on it again now that a new golf season has begun.

There is a tendency to quit after a bad shot. After all, the hole is ruined, and you’re shooting for bogey at best, and maybe a double. But the thing is, that’s not true. Keep playing. Don’t add up your score until the ball is in the hole.

Remember the 2009 Masters, when Angel Cabrera, contending, hit his tee shot on the 72nd hole into the trees? Usually the pros find a little gap and hit a rifle shot straight through it onto the green. Not him. He truly had no opening.

He did all he could do, which was chip out into the fairway. His third shot was an 8-iron that ended up 12 feet from the pin. He sank the par putt, got into the playoff, and won the tournament on the first playoff hole.

As long as you can keep hitting the ball, there’s a chance. I’ve made par from a tee shot into the weeds. Not the rough, the weeds. I’ve made par from a tee shot into the water.

So when you hit a bad shot, don’t kick yourself. There will be plenty of time for that after the round is over. Instead, start thinking how you can make your next shot count – how you can make a bad shot part of a good score, and not the cause of a bad one.

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