Golf is another game which I do not play or know much about. But, in the arena of mind-body sports, I figure golf is the one most similar to poker. Apart from the obvious physical difference, I think there is a great similarity in psychology and strategic planning. Golf, like poker, just seems to have a lot of both.
This past Spring, I attended the Byron Nelson Championship Golf Tournament. There, watching the players on the green as they planned and executed their best moves, reminded me of poker players as they perform much the same way around the felt.
So, with interest and enthusiasm, I began my search of Golf and the Art of War: How the Timeless Strategies of Sun-Tzu Can Transform Your Game
Here are a few of Sun-Tzu's timeless strategies as they are adapted to golf:
1) "Success at the highest levels of the game simply isn't possible with sloppy or careless thinking or behavior." Page 18.
2) "It is another common denominator to successful players that they are meticulously organized, leaving as little as possible to chance." Page 20.
3) "In golf, as in any form of competition, momentum is important but it is also fluid, shifting from one competitor to his opponent." Page 36.
4) "It is generally conceded that if a fast player is paired with a slow player, it is the fast player who will suffer, because his sense of pace and timing will frequently be thrown off." Page 53.
5) "Indecision often results in a lack of confidence and poor results." Page 66.
6) "When playing in a tournament, he (Jack Nicklaus) would play fairly conservative golf, especially in the early rounds." Page 97.
7) "One of the marks of a great champion is being able to take a lead, no matter how large or small, and hold it in a final round." Page 104.
8) "Simply put golf is a game of minimizing your mistakes while waiting patiently for your opponent to make his own miscalculations or poorly played shots." Page 113.
Sounds pretty familiar, doesn't it? Especially #8.
If you desire to expand your understanding of the art of mental competition, then I recommend this book for you. If you love golf history, then you will really like this book. It is loaded with golf lore, and quotes from and about all the golf champions.
See more books by Don Wade located bottom of this page. And, before you place a book order, look at the Free Offers page.
R. Steve McCollum
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