The 18 Rules to Enjoy a Round of Golf

Sometimes we lose sight of the purpose of playing golf. It is supposed to be fun god dammit. Everyone should be smiling. Stop taking yourself serious and loosen up. If it ain’t fun, stay home and watch baseball.

Here are my 18 rules to enjoy your next round of golf:

1. Get there early and warm up. Range, sand, and putting.
2. Tell everyone on the tee box your skill level and what your normal score is.
3. Hit your first tee shot nice and easy to get the ball into play.
4. Apply your pre-shot ritual to each shot.
5. If you hit an errant shot, shake it off. Literally. Jump up and down if you have to.
6. Buy a round of beverages for your foursome.
7. Know your yardage and use the appropriate club.
8. Care for the course by fixing divots and ball marks even if you did not create them.
9. Grab something at the turn and call it a reward for surviving 9 holes.
10. Keep up your shot ritual and stay mentally tough.
11. Compliment other golfers on their shots.
12. If you make a joke about a bad shot, make it about yours.
13. Celebrate lucky shots.
14. Stop and enjoy the vista of the golf course.
15. Ask the other players what courses they like to play.
16. Always play at 80% to 90% power to stay in control.
17. Don’t count your shot total until you walk off the 18^th.
18. Doff your hat and shake the hand each player in your foursome’s hands at the end.

I try to keep the positives thoughts flowing. Maybe some day we can look at the 18 things to never do on a golf course.

What do you do to make the day on the links enjoyable?