This game is a trial of true character

Golf is a lonely game. In spite of its associations with conviviality and sociable club life, it is essentially a highly introverted pastime.

At every level of the game, the golfer is on his own the moment he steps up to address his ball.

In theory there ought to be no great difficulty about hitting the ball. It requires no vast amount of physical strength to swing a club weighing next to nothing, although we may think it needs all the exertion we can produce. The action of swinging a golf club is not complicated or difficult, although most of us make it so.

And the degree of precision needed to implant the club face flush to the ball is no greater than a hundred everyday actions which we unerringly perform without conscious thought. If we could play golf with the same conditioned instincts we would have no problem. But we cannot.

The fact is that golf is difficult because we make it so. All manner of inhibitions and fears rise up in the mind of a man about to hit a golf ball, some of them demons of his own creation and some impressed on his imagination by the daunting sight of the way ahead.

What was basically a straightforward pitch shot has turned into a feverish ordeal entirely through the interaction of past memories, self-doubts and visual forebodings in the mind of the golfer.

The golf swing is sometimes dissected, taken apart and analysed way too much by swing experts.

It takes just an average of three seconds from the start to finish of any given golf swing and from experience, if you try to comprehend every little moving part of this series of intricate movements, you’ll wind up not being able to hit a cow’s backside with a cricket bat!

We are our own enemy, far more than any flesh and blood opponent. Golf is therefore much more than a test of manual skill and dexterity. It is also a trial of true character.

Overanalyses have led many fine golfers to lose confidence and when that starts to happen you’ll find yourself on a slippery downhill slop.

Keep it as simple as you can and expect several bad shots during a round, because trying for perfection will drive you to the nearest mental institution for golfers, therefore, joining a disillusioned group that have tried to find something — that’s just not there!

Out of Bounds: Why is it that it’s easier to get out of bed at 5.30am for a game of golf on a Sunday morning than at 10 to do the gardening?