The Difference Between Shooting 63 and 80.

As the Head Coach of the Bishop’s School girls’ golf team, I had the privilege of accompanying two of my girls to the Southern California Regional Championships this morning (November 1st).  As a coach, I unfortunately didn’t get the opportunity to watch my girls play as I was asked to be a scorer for a different grouping.  However, with every cloud comes a silver lining as I got to witness a junior girl from Torrey Pines High School shoot a 63 (7 under par) and set a new women’s course record on the par 70 course.
I was also lucky to watch a freshman girl shoot  80  which by most people’s standards is a very good score, however, the purpose of this post is to highlight the differences between shooting a 63 and an 80.
Pre-Round Preparation:  I noticed the TP63 (Torrey Pines Junior) spent only 15 minutes on the driving range warming up hitting balls to targets compared to 30 minutes chipping and putting where as most of the other girls stood around the range talking and hitting balls for about 30 – 45 minutes with little to no chipping or putting.
Pre-Shot Routine:  TP63 had exactly 3 practice swings before every shot and when disrupted and thrown off she would reset her rotuine until she was ready to make her best swing. The other girl would have a variety of practice swings and was even haulted whilst in a set by a person in a cart crossing the fairway, however, she never reset resulting in a shot that flew 20 yards left into a bunker.  The realization hit home as she muttered “I should have taken more time over that shot” as she put her club back in her bag.
Course Management:  TP63 hit the ball no more than 220 yards off the tee yet made the decision to lay up on 3 separate occasions to leave herself with her favorite 100 yard shot into the hole. The other girl hit her driver every time and ended up 2 over for those three holes compared to the 2 under by TP63.
Putting:  There is no denying that holing putts will lower your score, but to shoot 63 you need to hole just about everything.  TP63 finished the round with 24 putts – remember how she spent time on the putting green prior to the round…hmmmmmmmmm
Demeanor:  TP63 was nothing short of flat line throughout the entire 18 holes. She never got too high when holing putts for birdie or got upset when fairways and greens were missed compared to other players who experienced many highs and lows.
Nutrition:  TP63 muched on trail mix, bananas, a peanut butter sandwich and plenty of water in the 6 hour round.  When offered candy she refused unlike every other player in her group.

Now, many of you may feel that the attention to detail shown by TP63 doesn’t apply to you as you can’t break 90, 80 or get close to shooting 63.  My reply would be – you NEED to learn from golfers that pay attention to the details as they are 100% more likely to be able to reach their golfing goals quicker than people who do not.

All feedback is very much appreciated.