Forget your opponents; always play against par.
Of all the hazards, fear is the worst.
In golf, as in life, you get out of it what you put into it.
The mark of a great player is in his ability to come back. The great champions have all come back from defeat.
You've just one problem. You stand too close to the ball after you've hit it.
Correct one fault at a time. Concentrate on the one fault you want to overcome.
'You know Bobby, when I was your age I'd drive the ball right over those trees at the corner.' Feeling challenged Mr. Cole hit a big driver right into those big trees. Snead then said 'Of course, when I was your age, those trees were only 10 feet high.'
Practice puts brains in your muscles.
First and fore-most, you must have confidence. Your second mental problem is concentration. Think the shot through in advance before you address the ball. Draw a mental image of where you want it to go and then eliminate everything else from your mind, except how you are going to get the ball into that preferred spot.
There is an old saying: if a man comes home with sand in his cuffs and cockleburs in his pants, don't ask him what he shot.
When I swing at a golf ball right, my mind is blank and my body is loose as a goose.
Keep close count of your nickels and dimes, stay away from whiskey, and never concede a putt.
You have more potential than you think.
No matter what happens - never give up a hole....In tossing in your cards after a bad beginning you also undermine your whole game, because to quit between tee and green is more habit-forming than drinking a highball before breakfast.
If a lot of people gripped a knife and fork the way they do a golf club, they'd starve to death.
I'd say that golf is about 75% mental. If your state of mind gets out of kilter, you're worse off than a tomcat floating on a log.
To win you must have talent and desire but desire is first.
The three things I fear most in golf are lightning, Ben Hogan and a downhill putt.
Don't just play your way around the course. Think your way around way around the course.
Golf tip: Lay off for three weeks and then quit for good.
Grip the club as if you were holding a baby bird.
Most people who play golf have one big trouble: they think too much. To get any real mileage out of this game you've got to sit on your imagination.
A bad putter is like a bad apple in a barrel. First, it turns your chipping game sour. Then it begins to eat into your irons and finally it just cleans the head off your driver.
Of the mental hazards, being scared is the worst. When you get scared, you get tense.
Golf course architects make me sick. They can't play themselves, so they rig the courses so nobody else can play either.
