Our playing editor has had a character-defining year. Here he talks about what lies ahead.
And just like that, another year is upon us. Another year filled with possibilities and littered with uncertainty. The same could be said about this year’s DP World Tour season.
Coming off a great 2023, I found myself thinking about my goals for the season to come. While my brain automatically went to the golf game, like improving my short game or mental strength on the course, I found myself taking somewhat of a step back.
It’s obviously important to improve those aspects of your game that pose a threat to your results, but personally I feel that sometimes one needs to have a much broader view in order to find what might play the biggest role.
One thing that I notice is that in every season that I’d struggled I had often done stints of 10 or more weeks away from home. This limited my time with friends and family, foregoing time to reset my body and mind, and made time on Tour blend into one big unmemorable blur.
So going into 2024 I’m hoping to manage my schedule as best I can, thereby allowing myself to enjoy tournament weeks more and allowing myself to compete at my best more often.
Going into 2023 I had one goal: play better golf. And it seemed to serve me well. At the the end of 2022 I had no control over my game and could barely break par. Fast forward to now I feel like I’m on the path to my best golf yet. So, let’s do more of the same. After all, playing good golf takes care of the rest, too.
Now, this might not be the most in-depth process for goal setting. But maybe sometimes that’s what we need. Maybe we need to remove emphasis on a certain aspect and just let it be, allowing us to be free. Allowing us to let things happen as they would instead of trying to control every little detail of the world we live in.
I know I’m not the only one who loves control in life. But sometimes, not always, relinquishing some control and allowing ourselves to simply be is good. Taking the unbeaten path, as some would say. Yes it’s uncomfortable. Yes it’s unsettling. But sometimes, in those uncertain times, life provides us with experiences we would never have had.
Now I know 2024 is going to be tough. It’s going to put obstacles in our way and test every fibre of our beings, but, I know I’m not alone when I say … Bring it on, I’m ready.
– This column first appeared in the January 2024 issue of Compleat Golfer magazine.
Photo: Johannes Simon/Getty Images
