Last Tuesday I was out playing my first round of golf with the woman’s league at my club — first time since returning from my golf adventure in Ireland — and I was totally off my game. I would like to think it was the jet lag, but can’t use that as an excuse. I think my ball just decided it wanted to spend the entire round in one sand trap or another. Out of the 18 holes we played, I was in a green side bunker at least a dozen times and a fairway bunker at least twice… And then in the water at least once. (Found that ball as it luckily just rolled into the shallow water along the bank.)

As I approached each tee box, I tried to leave the past holes behind. I determined to live in the now moment, think happy thoughts, picture the perfect shot heading straight down the fairway, and softly landing on the green. But no matter how I tried to focus and commit to a great shot, my ball decided it preferred to go in an entirely different direction. Have you ever had one of those days? Your brain and your body are disconnected and the message just doesn’t seem to get through?

Tomorrow morning I have been given a 6:36 a.m. tee time. I have to get up at 5 a.m. to make it. Needless to say, this is not an ideal situation for me. I recently wrote a post on What Is The Best Time of Day to Play Golf? and after doing some research, discovered the best time of the day to play is usually in mid to late afternoon, when your body has warmed up to the idea of moving around, your brain is in gear and all those internal cylinders are firing away. Playing at the crack of dawn will be a challenge. But hey, that last round was mid morning… so maybe early is better for me. I’ll let you know.

Two questions for you: What do you do when nothing seems to go the way you intended on the golf course? How do you get out of your own way?