Do you have any irrational habits about golf?

Just curious, so I figured I would ask. Golf can be a very personal game, and many of us have developed little habits, superstitions, and beliefs. Not all of these are logical, and some may even go against the general concensus as to what is best for our game. I was just curious what some other peoples are.

Personally, one of mine is that for the life of me I don't like hybrid irons. I started playing before hybrids existed, and tend to be more of a traditionalist. I fell in love with my 5 wood when learning to play, and now always carry that or a 1 iron. Yes, it's stubborn. Yes, I can see the benefit of hybrids. It's just how I feel.

Any others?

Always tie the left shoe first and then the right. This stems from playing hockey for many years as a goalie so "superstition" (I call it routine!) is right up my alley. Also, if I were to try and make a putt with my glove I suspect the universe would become out of balance and possibly implode so best not take the chance.

I won't putt until the player before me removes his ball from the cup.  Unlike the cups on the putting greens there is only room for one ball at a time in the cups used on the course.

I can't have anything in my left pocket and I can only have 2 tees and a ball repair tool in my right pocket.  I never carry an extra ball in my pocket, it drives me crazy when I'm trying to hit.  Also, I'm almost neurotic about wearing a hat: I can take it off in between shots but I almost can't take the club back if I don't have a hat on when I swing.

set routine of

ball and tee left pocket, pencil and ball marker right pocket, divot tool back pocket

always have to have two bottles of drink, 4 pre-rolled ciggerates, and a choccy bar in my bag

I stubbornly refuse to allow any stubborn and irrational items in my golf game.

I always play with a tube of lip balm in my left pocket and all my other pockets empty. I used to empty all my pockets so I wouldn't have anything distracting me at all. Then, I had the best round of my life one day and realized afterwards that I had Chap Stick in my left pocket. Since then, I've done that every round. I've only repeated that performance once since then, but I still believe!

This isn't a habit any longer, but I'll tell it anyway. All through my high school playing days and halfway through college, I refused to wear soft spiked golf shoes. I had a plain white pair of Reebok shoes that I called "golf shoes" because that is all I ever used them for. I played in the same pair for six years. Strangely enough, I'm not near as good now as I was in my later high school days. My thought is that it is probably because I went from playing 2-3 rounds per week to 2-3 rounds per month, but just maybe I need to ditch the golf shoes and dust off the old Reeboks...

Nothing that I would consider as irrational, although I know that some of you might think so.  That is my need to play by the Rules of Golf regardless of the actual meaning of the round.  Even if I'm playing alone without another soul in sight, I will still take the proper drop from a hazard.  I'll still play a provisional ball, even to the point of declaring it so despite the fact that there is no one but myself to hear.  By playing this way, I never have to worry about making a mistake when I am playing in a competition, because playing correctly by the rules is just automatic - It 's how I play golf.

Mine is like the opposite of yours.

I cant have anything in my right pocket and I keep my cell phone and divot tool in my left pocket (I keep score on my phone).  I cant carry anything else in my pockets or it drives me nuts!  I also hate playing WITHOUT a hat :)

I can't have anything in my left pocket because it drives me crazy trying to get something out of my pocket with my glove on. Divot Tool, Ball Marker, Tee in my right pocket.

I don't think I'm very supserstitious, but I never carry anything more than my divot-repair tool, two tees, and a gold coin (for my ball marker) in my right pocket. In my left pocket, I make sure to have only one pencil pointed down! I have drawn blood several times from those stupid sharp points on the ends. In addition to that, I clean every groove before my round in addition to the numbers on my AP2s. I like it squeaky clean. That might be a little superstitious.

I forgot about the tees - I can't stand painted tees because they leave marks on my clubs.  I either use the natural wooden tees or plastic tees (usually the Evolution tees).  There's also something fundamentally wrong about non-white golf balls...

I clean my club after every shot with a brush I have clipped onto my bag and sometimes use the club washers attached to the carts at our club.  I also keep a corner of my towel wet and I scrub every dimple of the ball clean before putting.

Nice to know I'm not the only neurotic one out there!

Ha. I can't play with white balls anymore. It hurts me to even practice with them.

Other than that, I think about golf all the time , which is surely an irrational habit.

If I Have a couple bad holes I'll draw a line on the card and mentally start over.

I have to have a ball in my left pocket

If I'm scoring pretty well I'll use the same ball no matter what. I don't care if it hits a tree or the cart path or whatever. If I still manage to score pretty well, I'll use it forever, no matter how scuffed it gets.

Items in my left pocket must outweigh items in my right pocket