Better Golfers Have A Better Temperament

It must be obvious to anyone who has played the game of golf for some time that there is much more to golf than the mere ability to swing the club hard and true. It must be borne in mind that this swinging must be kept up through the eighteen holes of the round and among the diverse circumstances and happenings that will occur in that round. Here is where the matter of individuality intervenes.

I heard it once said of a man, "He is a good golfer because of his wonderful temperament. "There was a good deal that was true in the statement, as he played from a handicap which was lower than his style or methods of play would warrant, and, moreover, he continually defeated players who, in the matter of style and the individual strokes played, should certainly have had the best of the argument when playing against him.

But with the odds from a physical point of view most apparently all against him, he nevertheless kept on winning the greater percentage of his matches, much to the chagrin and bewilderment of his opponents, who could not fathom how he ever managed to do it. One of his opponents somewhat expressed the opinion of the majority when he remarked, "I cannot make out why that man invariably manages to defeat me, as I can play better golf than he does, and, moreover, always seem to be playing better golf . Nevertheless, he wins the majority of the games that we play together; it's a mystery to me."