First Individual Tourny tom morn.

So tommorrow mornign will be my first solo tourny. I have played in two tournys previously but they were team tournys so I wasnt to nervous since I was going to have others I could rely on. Now that its all me I dont really know how im going to handle it. The tourny is a Mulligans tournament where we get one Mulligan per hole and it is 50% hcp'd. Any tips or suggestions for how to handle my nerves or how to approach tourny. my weakest part of my game currently is the mental aspesct ive played with a lot of low handicapers who all tell me i have the ablity to be a single digit if I could straighten out my head and just practice alittle.

Let me try to put your mind at ease concerning this mulligan tournament… you could hit all 18 tee shots OB and you still have a legitimate chance to shoot par. There’s nothing about which to be nervous.

Wow.......a mulligan per hole!!  That's my kind of tournament.  Whats to be nervous about?  You get one "do over" on every hole!  That's way cool.  Normally mulligans can't be used ON the green when putting. Can use use a "do over" on a missed putt, too?

Just go out, play and have fun.  Probably the worst thing you can do is keep score.  Just hit each shot the best you can.  Write down the score, forget about it and go play the next hole.  Don't keep track of your total score in your head.

This is good advice for every round you could ever play. Once I let go of cumulative score, I began scoring well. My best scores have always been on rounds where I just played every shot with as much focus on each shot and not just how to make up for my bad shots to "salvage" a round. I would play a round prior to this tourney to see where most of your mulligan shots will go. For instance, if you know your putting is off before the round, don't waste a mulligan on a missed approach shot, etc. I know that if I were to play in a tournament like that, that I would be glad I saved mulligan shots for around the green because I can generally keep the ball in play but struggle with putting, and have the occasional awful short game days.

I wish I could play in a tourney like that, i've never played in one yet, sounds like a nice way to start out just relax and play golf thats the best way to go man.

So round started out great. I was 4 over thru seven then had a little hiccup on 8 when I Doubled and finished front nine 7 over but I was getting 7 stokes so it was a net par. @ this point Im super stoked and thinking if I can keep this up I can finish in the money. Start out the first 4 holes on the back with 4 bogeys and Im thinking im still in this as im going to get 8 stokes on the back. Then I just lost it. Couldnt swing the club. I was either hitting everything way FAT or i was pushing it. Ended up finishing the last 5 holes @ 14 over thru those 5 holes. hole 14 had a triple, 15 double, 16 bogey , 17 five over, 18 triple. Wtf happened to my swing I cant belive I self detructed That bad. Finished 4th in my flight witha net 82 one stroke behind some guy in my foursome who decieded that he wasnt going to hole out on 12 and pick his ball up when he got to a 9 thinking that there was an esc. He asked me to sign his card and I wouldnt because I didnt agree with him. So he ended up taking third and couple of bucks.

Stats:

Front 9:

Firs:3/7

Girs:4/9

Putts:20

Score 43 (+7)

Net Score 36

Back 9:

Firs:2/7

Girs:0/9

Putts:17

Score 52 (+16)

Net Score 44

My how much would I love this tournament.

just relax and play like nobodys watching and pretend your playing with your friends so you dont feel so jumpy and nervous..my first few solo tournaments i bombed because i got all hostile and nervous and tense, its the worst thing you can do.

There's no doubt it my mind I'm going to excel in tournament play. I can't wait til I start my 'tour' this spring.

I strive off competition. I've only lost one match where betting was involved and that was a fluke

Thats good to be confident in yourself but your going to need a little bit a of a reality check before you play in an all rules competition. Just know if your a 14 handicap, you will probably shoot well above that. Alot of people think they are going to go out there and Tiger woods everyone, it just doesnt happen that often. Once you get more experience playing tournaments its easier

OP - I'm kind of good at math, and your scores don't add up : )  Your 9 hole scores add to an net 80 but you said you had a net 82?

4th in flight, 1 out of the money, not so bad.

As I stated before your tourney you should NOT keep score in your head or even know where you stand.  From reading your report it sounds as though you were keeping score, knew where you stood to make money.  Thats always a huge mistake.  You should have walked off the 18th green wondering what your score was and then needing to look at everyone elses score to see if you made $$$.   Its easier said then done : )

My bad My back nine score was a 54 +18