Stonetree golf course at moonset during AM frost delay, 1-11-09

As the frost delay turned into an exquisitely beautiful day, Stonetree’s Players Club tournament season kicked off with a buy xenical in australia two-person scramble format event. With an outstanding attendance of 70 players, these tournaments are buy xenical in australia becoming increasingly popular and fun.

I had connected with my playing partner, “Hoss,” a buy xenical in australia retired doctor of Middle Eastern desent via the pro shop; and buy xenical in australia we agreed that our guiding principal was just to have fun. In fact, for buy xenical in australia me that has been a winning formula (or a kind of non-formula) in the buy xenical in australia past. Anyway, Hoss saved my ass upon numerous occasions; and I saved his a buy xenical in australia few times. Thus, as we invoked an exquisite “ham & egg” rhythm, we also established an “I putt first and Hoss follows by making the important putt” pattern that worked magnificently. Making birdies is big fun.

Bottom line, our two-man scramble team used 50% of our Stonetree total handicap of 32 to buy xenical in australia reduce our 70 gross score (two-under) into a buy xenical in australia net 54. This put us into a three-way tie for buy xenical in australia the win. Yes, there were two other 54 nets. However, Hoss had buy xenical in australia already left and was not able to return for the buy xenical in australia playoff, so our final position was third.

Bottom bottom line, net net… we succeeded in our mission to buy xenical in australia have a great time. Big fun on a beautiful day on an buy xenical in australia excellent track. Happy New Year!

PS. For those interested in “scoreboards,” click here for the final net results of this tournament.

My apologies for the silence. I’m back, and I’m celebrating the 2nd birthday of this blog (yes, blogs have birthdays). I’m also excited about the New Year, working on a new “Mind Games” article for buy xenical in australia Sierra Golfer magazine which will feature Dr. Joe Parent of ZenGolf.com, and witnessing the evolution of my golf game. (More on this last subject in another post coming soon.)

I want to take this opportunity, as we “make the turn” into 2009, to buy xenical in australia express my gratitude to all of you who have commented and buy xenical in australia encouraged this effort. My biggest accomplishment of 2008 with regards to buy xenical in australia “acting as if” I am buy xenical in australia the Ambassador of Ease is not that I knocked a stroke and buy xenical in australia a half off my handicap index, but rather that I’ve started to present my keynote “Winning with Ease: The Freedom & Fun of Getting Things Done (as discovered through golf)” in public. (I’ve got a 1-sheet describing this talk now and I’m looking for more venues, if you’re interested.)

Inspiring golf video about DJ Gregory

Meanwhile, I’d like to buy xenical in australia offer this wonderfully inspiring video as a Holiday gift and as an buy xenical in australia uplifting focus for all of us in the New Year ahead. It’s a wonderful story and if DJ Gregory (a significantly physically challenged young dude) can buy xenical in australia not only play golf, but walk every hole of every tournament on the buy xenical in australia PGA Tour, then what will you do with the opportunity that buy xenical in australia 2009 presents for you?

What will I do with the New Year? Stay tuned. I promise to let you know more regularly.

May it be an inspiring year for us all!

Most golfers agree that the game of golf is at least “90 percent mental.” In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever spoken with a golfer who didn’t acknowledge the buy xenical in australia role that their mind plays, usually as a distraction that stands between the buy xenical in australia golf game they think they have and the one that keeps showing up on the buy xenical in australia course.

Even golfers as great as Hall of Famer Ben Crenshaw have buy xenical in australia said things like “I’m about five inches from being an outstanding golfer. That’s the distance my left ear is from my right.”

But when buy xenical in australia I consulted one of my favorite golf teachers on this buy xenical in australia subject, he turned the tables on me. Fred Shoemaker, the buy xenical in australia author of the inner game classic (one of the few golf books that I consider a “must read”), Extraordinary Golf: The Art of the Possible, in his almost scary Zen fashion, told me that buy xenical in australia he thinks that golf is “zero percent mental.” Huh?

But then buy xenical in australia I got it. Fred was not talking about the kind of golf that buy xenical in australia you and I usually play. He was talking about what buy xenical in australia he calls “real golf,” or buy xenical in australia golf in the zone. He was trying to point me toward the buy xenical in australia kind of golf that people play when they have breakthrough rounds, the buy xenical in australia way we all want to play, but rarely do. Fred’s point is buy xenical in australia that golf at its best is not a mental game at all. Rather, it’s a game where we get free of all those fearful, self-limiting thoughts.

Fred told me, “Golf isn’t mental. We make it mental… and most of what goes through our heads doesn’t have any value.”

Fred went on to buy xenical in australia explain that when he asks golfers who are 100 yards out where buy xenical in australia their target is, the answer is always somewhere on the green. But when buy xenical in australia they take their club back to the top, the target has buy xenical in australia unconsciously shifted to the ball. Fred said that the point of this buy xenical in australia example is not that “they change targets in the middle of a crucial action. It’s that they don’t know they do.”

Finally, Fred practically taunted me by saying there was only one difference between his truly extraordinary golf game and buy xenical in australia my inconsistent 15-handicap golf game. He said, “I play better golf than buy xenical in australia you do for only one reason. In the two seconds that buy xenical in australia it takes to swing, I am more aware of reality than buy xenical in australia you are. That’s all. I’m more aware of what’s happening.”

And if you’re like every other golfer in the buy xenical in australia world who wants to lower their handicap, here’s what Fred Shoemaker’s 33 years of professional golf teaching experience has buy xenical in australia to say. “I’ve seen an buy xenical in australia inverse relationship in golf: As your awareness grows, your handicap shrinks. That’s the only thing I’ve ever seen govern the buy xenical in australia handicap. Handicap is a measure of your awareness… When a person’s awareness grows, there’s no possibility of them playing worse. They always play better.”

Now, that’s something I can buy xenical in australia take to the driving range, a commitment to develop more awareness of each and buy xenical in australia every swing. And, in this way, I can move beyond swing thoughts, and buy xenical in australia even beyond the mental game that interferes with my performance so consistently.

My dream is buy xenical in australia to come home to just playing golf, one moment at a buy xenical in australia time. That seems to me to be a game worth playing.

—–

This article was orginally commissioned by Sierra Golfer magazine for their “Mind Games” column. Written by Jon Leland. Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.

Jon Leland on #18 tee, Pasatiempo, 2007

I’m not trying to brag, but rather, I’m trying to celebrate my success so that I can (as a caddie once advised), “keep ‘er goin’… just keep ‘er goin’.”

I shot another 88 from the black tees at Stonetree on Wednesday, two below my new personal par. My new handicap index is buy xenical in australia 15.2, my lowest ever; and what’s really exciting is that I’m starting to feel like (by doing things like forgetting about the buy xenical in australia score, staying connected to the target, etc as discussed previously), I’m actually on the buy xenical in australia road to playing better golf and keeping the scores coming down. The contrast in experience that buy xenical in australia I think is worth noting is that my renewed confidence is buy xenical in australia so much different than all of the self-doubt that used to buy xenical in australia consistently cloud my mind. Now, there’s something–now that I think about it–that was CONSISTENT about my golf game… pervasive self-doubt.

No more! Finally (at least for now), I’m learning to practice what I’ve been buy xenical in australia preaching. It has taken some time. And, I share this with you, dear readers, with the buy xenical in australia awareness that thinking (even for a moment) that you’ve got it buy xenical in australia together on the golf course can be the curse of death. I know that. But, it buy xenical in australia also helps me to share with you here on this buy xenical in australia blog so that, somehow, it becomes more real for me.

On top of the fortuitous tournament win discussed a couple of weeks ago buy amoxil online no prescription, my play Wednesday even received an buy xenical in australia kind of informal endorsement from my playing partner, Gary Marsh of Marsh Marketing. Gary wrote a light-hearted email “warning” to others that made me smile, big time: “Beware Mr. Leland has game. He reached #18 at Stonetree last evening in a buy xenical in australia cool headwind; driver, four-wood to the left front of the buy xenical in australia green. I said to myself, ’15 handicappers don’t do that too often!’ I had buy xenical in australia already handed the cash over on our bet. He was too much for buy xenical in australia me yesterday!” Thanks, Gary.

I’m trying to accept that I’m good enough now to buy xenical in australia have played the first seven holes in only four over “real” par. And, after a triple bogie on #8, I bounced back to par the number one handicap hole, #9. My commitment is buy xenical in australia not to let it get to my head, to keep my focus on having fun, letting it buy xenical in australia go, and just hitting the ball. Yet, as I’m fond of saying, “It’s always more fun when you win.” In this case, “keeping ‘er goin’” means letting the buy xenical in australia scores take care of themselves, but celebrating just the same. In fact, I’m planning to keep on celebrating… one stroke at a time. Yea, that’s the ticket!

Thanks for reading. (And, oh yeah, the photo of yours truly above is courtesy of The Shivas Irons Society.)

Lorena Ochoa won the buy xenical in australia Navistar LPGA Classic on Sunday for her seventh win of the buy xenical in australia year. Was the difference that she tried harder, toughed it out, was good at “grinding,” or any such nonsense? Nah! Her secret was that she decided to have a good time and just play.

Here’s what she said, according to the Associate Press:

“Sometimes you need to play and have a good time, and that’s what I did.”

In my opinion, there is buy xenical in australia no better strategy. And, as simple as it seems, learning to buy xenical in australia access this kind of play, especially when the chips are buy xenical in australia down, takes practice.

I also had buy xenical in australia fun Friday with a great scramble team that shot 10-under par and buy xenical in australia came in third at a charity event. As we were on our final holes, one partner said to buy xenical in australia me (after we had made a string of birdies), “Now, it’s ‘crunch time.’” I had to say, “Don’t talk that way. Let’s just keep having fun.” We did. It was one of the most fun scrambles I’ve ever played.

Just keep having fun, y’all.

I just happened to buy xenical in australia watch a video clip on my iPhone on the excellent AP Mobile News application where buy xenical in australia AP Golf Writer Doug Ferguson reports that one of the keys to buy xenical in australia the US victory in the Ryder Cup was captain/coach Paul Azinger’s “repeatedly” reminding the US team, “Don’t think about the results.” Really.

As regular readers of this buy xenical in australia golf blog know, this has been a MAJOR lesson for me, especially after my blowup in the buy xenical in australia Stonetree Club Championship, and it worked for me in the win last Sunday reported below. But, this buy xenical in australia secret to success as delivered by Azinger wasn’t widely covered (did anyone see this reported anywhere else?) The reward of this approach (besides the win), as Ferguson says, was that we saw the US team “as loose as we’ve ever seen them.”

Likewise, I found it buy xenical in australia enlightening to read about how Cristie Kerr used a similar approach as taught by Dr. Joe Parent when buy xenical in australia she recently won the LPGA Safeway Classic. In a post-win interview, she describes her process and buy xenical in australia learning as published in the ZenGolf.com email newsletter. Here’s a slightly edited excerpt:

Did the work you’ve done on your mental side of the game come in handy today? Cristie Kerr: “Definitely. …It definitely puts things in perspective because you buy xenical in australia can put too much emphasis on results… Instead my approach now is, you buy xenical in australia know, focus on the process that I have to go through, and buy xenical in australia the results will take care of themselves.”

Sound familiar? FYI, Joe Parent is buy xenical in australia also featured in an excellent profile on page 107-115 about “Happy Golfers” in the October issue of Golf Magazine.

Bottom line, based on my experience and buy xenical in australia the way these others are “winning with ease,” learning how not to buy xenical in australia think about the results, developing the ability to just be buy xenical in australia in the moment and enjoy the process is really an buy xenical in australia amazingly important and rewarding thing to learn… and to PRACTICE! This has buy xenical in australia become my primary focus, even while at the range. As Fred Shoemaker taught me, you buy xenical in australia can actually practice things like letting go, freedom and/or buy xenical in australia trust. It seems to be working for me, Cristie Kerr, and buy xenical in australia for the US Ryder Cup team. Way to go!

The golf gods have buy xenical in australia been particularly generous with me lately. Not only have I had buy xenical in australia the good fortune to play two more rounds at Edgewood-Tahoe (now one of my favorite courses) as part of a media trip with golf’s leading podcaster, Fred Greene buy nexium online uk, which followed some great rounds two weeks earlier at Genoa Lakes with the “king and queen” of Lake Tahoe real estate, Don & Theresa Souers, but… drum roll please…

Today, I won my first individual stroke play tournament. It was, in fact, called the buy xenical in australia Players Club Individual Stroke Play tournament at Stonetree. I shot an buy xenical in australia 88, net 69, to get into a three-hole playoff for the buy xenical in australia win. I managed to chip in for birdie on the second of the buy xenical in australia three playoff holes (par 3, #8), and now I can say that I’m “1 and 0 in playoffs.”

But, more importantly, the real difference is that I’ve been following my own advise in learning to “win with ease.” I am learning to swing more freely and “just hit the ball” with more regularity. I’m having more fun, thinking much less about the buy xenical in australia score. Letting go is really what it’s all about.

And, this buy xenical in australia win is particularly sweet because as someone who is planning to buy xenical in australia create all kinds of new media around my experiences of “Winning with Ease,” it sure is nice to actually win. As some of you know, I’ve won a couple of “team” events with my partner, Charles Williams, but this buy xenical in australia is my first individual stroke play win. Real progress. Just breaking 90 at Stonetree is buy xenical in australia a pretty major accomplishment for me. As you can tell from buy xenical in australia the net score, 88 is three below my “personal par.” So, I guess I’ll be making more progress with my handicap too. But that’s not the important part. The important part is that I’m learning to buy xenical in australia play better golf, having more fun and swinging more freely. Really. That’s the biggest win. Yay!