Opinion & Analysis

Don’t let your mental approach hold you back

Published

13 years ago

Apr 24, 2013

Imagine getting ready to paint a room in your house. The room is in good shape and you surmise it will take a few hours to finish. You know you need paint, brushes and rollers to start. You grab your brush and you are on your way.

You are almost finished trimming the entire ceiling when you notice a crack. You start scraping off the ceiling paint and boom, the ceiling starts falling down in front of you. There’s dust everywhere, you have a huge hole in the ceiling and nothing to patch it with. Time to head back to the store, grab some ceiling paint, joint compound and rags.

You quickly arrive back home, armed and dangerous. You finish painting the ceiling and it looks great. You start trimming around the doors and windows and soon realize you don’t have any tape to mask the doors and windows. “Now what?” you say in disbelief. “Back to the store again?” Four hours later, you still have some work left. Sound familiar?

Let’s briefly assess the situation. You started out unprepared, ran into an obstacle, experienced frustration and fell short of your desired outcome. Has this ever happened to you on the course? You started out the round looking to shoot a certain number, something in your game went awry, you shot six strokes higher than anticipated, and left the course frustrated. Here are three simple tips to alleviate this from happening in the future.

Tip No. 1: Preparation – You must have a written strategy entering every round. Your strategy might be as simple as “I will focus on my target on every shot” or “I will relax and have fun today.” Possessing a strategy when you play keeps you in balance on the course and provides that positive inner voice throughout your round.

Tip No. 2: Process – If you focus on the process to achieve a desired result, you will typically experience better results. If you are focused on what you anticipate shooting, your mind is in the wrong place. If your focus is on your process of achieving that goal, you will play less emotionally and have clarity in your thought process.

Tip No. 3: Performance – It always amazes me how powerful simple thoughts really are. If you say to yourself “I am going to play my absolute best today” (every time you play), you will be amazed how it impacts your entire thought process. When you are focused on performing your best, you have clarity, confidence and focus. It’s really that simple.

Opinion & Analysis

AVL: My U.S. Amateur local qualifying experience

Published

5 days ago

Jun 5, 2026

Andrew Von Lossow

This past Monday, I played in the U.S. Amateur local qualifier at Rock Creek Country Club in Portland, Oregon. A full tee sheet from 7:30 a.m. to 1:55 p.m., the top 11 scores would make it to the U.S. Amateur final qualifying.

I teed off at 10:48 a.m.. With the 7:30 am tee time, you can get a feel for the leaders’ pace, and they were off and running on the challenging setup at Rock Creek.

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Getting to the highlight of the round on the par five 17th, a drive up the left side and 212 yards left to the front hole location. I took out a 5-iron with plans of middle of the green. The ball ended up 8 feet left of the hole, pin high. A slight downhill putt dropped in for an eagle 3 on the 17th. With the cut line looking to be anywhere from -2 to even par. This was the boost I had been waiting for all day.

With making par from the trees on 18, it was time to wait for a potential playoff with a posted score of one under par 71.

Three hours later, it was playoff time. 8 players for 6 spots. I made par on the playoff hole, which was good enough to advance to the U.S. Amateur final qualifying in July. USGA qualifiers sure deliver on all of the emotions in golf!

Club Junkie

Building my 2026 gamer WITB: Ranking the contenders and new putter projects – Club Junkie Podcast

Published

7 days ago

Jun 4, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

The annual What’s In The Bag build is underway, and on this episode of Club Junkie, Brian breaks down the clubs currently leading the race for a spot in his 2026 gamer setup. From drivers and fairway woods to irons, wedges, and shafts, he ranks the equipment that’s performing best and explains what’s separating the front runners from the rest of the field.

Brian also heads into the workshop to discuss several putter projects currently on the bench. From head options and shaft choices to build ideas and testing plans, he shares what he’s working on and which putters could become serious contenders for the bag this season.

If you’re a gear junkie who loves equipment testing, club building, and the never-ending pursuit of the perfect setup, this episode is for you.

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Club Junkie

Tour Edge Exotics mini driver review + TaylorMade Spider ZT Max first look – Club Junkie

Published

2 weeks ago

May 28, 2026

Brian Knudson

On this episode of Club Junkie, I put the new Tour Edge Exotics Mini Driver to the test and break down the performance, forgiveness, distance, and where it fits compared to a traditional driver or strong fairway wood. If you have been curious about adding a mini driver to the bag, this one is worth a look.

I also dive into the new TaylorMade Spider ZT Max putter that was recently spotted and discuss the growing zero torque putter trend. Plus, there is a closer look at the new Project X Titan Yellow shaft showing up on the PGA Tour and what makes it different from other profiles currently out there.