It has never happened to me before, but I holed a 155 yard approach shot with my 6 iron yesterday. I new the shot was online, but when I got up to the green, I couldn't find my ball. I might have looked into the cup, but I found another ball just off the green. I wasn't my ball, but I thought maybe I had accidentilly hit another ball. When I lagged my put to within 10 feet, I went to pull the flag and there was my ball just sitting there, staring up at me!

It seems obvious enough, but trying hard to not lose my ball has helped me improve my game lately. It has forced me to play more conservatively, which for my skill level, makes a big difference. Even if I have to take an extra stroke to get to the green, at least I didn't rack up a bunch of penalty strokes that results in a "blow up" hole. Also, the more I keep the ball in play, the more my confidence goes up. I'm also not sure that I recorded all of the penalty strokes that I should have previously, so my stroke count is way more accurate this way.

I just completed my first round without losing a ball yesterday and it felt great. With this style of play, I now have a solid baseline that I can build from.

Even though I haven't played as much as I would have liked this summer, I feel like my game has really improved. Much of it is due to better game management. I am making better decisions on the course which it helping to shave strokes here and there. I also seem to be swing my clubs better, which is boosting my confidence. My main goal now is to play more often to make sure that this improvement is for real and not just the product of a single round.

-Doug