The golf doctor answers your questions

QUESTION: Please explain to me what a “press” is in a game of golf.  I play with a few guys for a little bit of cash, but it always ends up to be for more than we started out agreeing upon. Last time when I asked how that was so, one of them replied, “that’s because of the presses.”  –Robert T., Las Cruces

1. GOLF: Before I get into presses I should emphasize that it isn’t all that wise to be betting in a game where you don’t know the stakes or the rules. A “press” is simply a way to up the ante of the original bet by tacking on a new, separate bet. Let’s say your opponent goes two-down on the original match play wager. Then he chirps “press.” That means the original bet continues, but a new bet starts on the ensuing hole for the same amount and continues over the remaining holes. Usually a press begins when someone is two down. But “automatic” presses are popular when agreed upon, in which a two-down score means a press bet automatically kicks in. Occasionally a golfer who is losing will throw in an “aloha press” on the 18^th hole, which essentially means “double or nothing” on the whole day.

Personally, I’m not a great fan of presses, as my friends well know. But I will go along to get along when it matters. One fellow who I have known for years flatly refuses to play presses. Of course, there’s a downside to refusing to accept press bets: You may not have as many people to play with in the future. But I just hate working all afternoon to win a match only to lose everything on some guy’s lucky shot or lucky putt on the last hole.

QUESTION: How do you recover from a horrible start? This happens to me, oh, about once every couple of months. I start out making a snowman and a quad and then start three-putting and I want to quit. The awful play seems to go away by the back nine holes, but the damage is already done. My other question is: How can a person have fun when that happens?   –Linda B., Las Cruces

1. GOLF: First, you know you can’t undo your miserable play for the first half of your round. What you can do is start over again. Not in terms of score, per se, but in terms of how you are able to approach your normal ability to play. You may find that you are able to hit extraordinary shots and make a lot of putts once you settle down and get the demons out of your head and swing. Even the best players in the world have off days, and wonder how they played so badly to miss the cut in an important tournament. As for awful play, try to forget the bad shots but remember the lessons learned from them.
   
   

QUESTION: Half the time I hit shots that turn out exactly the way I didn’t want them to. I tell myself “don’t hit it in the water;” and sure enough I hit it right into the pond.  How can this be?  –Jose, Doña Ana

1. GOLF: You have to understand how the human brain works. When you’re poised over the golf ball the brain doesn’t know (or care) the difference between “Do” or “Don’t.” Your cerebral cortex mainly processes visual images, and you are creating a self-fulfilling shot pattern by the auto-thought of “don’t hit it in the water.” Get used to using a pre-planned mental shot image and rehearsal to match that image.