Golfing In The Zone

Have you ever been playing golf and you felt like you were in the zone? What I mean by being in the zone is this? You feel like golf is easy and that every swing of the golf club is effortless and perfect. All of your thoughts are positive ones and that every golf shot you make is exactly how your pictured it. You see every line of every putt and you make everything within 10 feet..

I've been playing golf for 30+ years and I was fortunate to start playing at an early age. In those 30+ years I can recall about a dozen times where I've been completely in the zone for the entire round of golf. I've had many rounds of golf where I was in the zone for a few holes here and there, but an entire round is what I'm talking about here.

When I'm in the zone it's almost surreal because I don't think about hitting the golf ball... I just do it. This is where golf professionals really differentiate themselves from amateurs. They're concentrating on execution instead of the results and that's what needs to happen to be able to play your best golf. All the swing thoughts and golf tips need to be completely out of your head. If the shot calls for a 7-iron from 150 yards to the center of the green then you just need to go through your normal golf swing with nothing but thoughts of hitting a 7-iron.

The last time I was in the zone was 2 years ago when playing in a friendly tournament at La Quinta Golf Course in Palm Springs, CA. The morning of the Saturday round I went out to the range and hit a few to warm up and the one thing I remember telling myself is to just swing with a nice and consistent tempo. I wasn't really concerned about where the golf ball went because I wanted to get into a rhythm.

The first day we played the Nickalus course and from the first tee to the 18th I was in the zone. I played one golf shot at a time with an even tempo where no shot was forced. I putted fairly well considering the greens had been aerated. I finished the round with a 75, which could have easily been 3 or 4 shots lower had the greens not been aerated.

The next day we played the Stadium course and I was still in the zone, which was rare because I had never played two consecutive golf rounds in the zone. Again my tempo was smooth providing an effortless swing of the golf club. I was hitting and placing the golf ball exactly where I wanted to on every shot. It was unfortunate that the greens were also aerated because I could have went really low that day. In fact on the last 3 holes of the round I had an eagle put from 10 feet and 2 birdie putts from 5 feet. I only came away with 1 birdie out of those 3 holes and finished with a 2-over 74. It was good enough to win the tournament, which basically covered the cost of the golf trip.

Have you every golfed in the zone? How did it feel?