About five years ago I decided to take up the game of golf. I needed something to do to relieve a little of the stress caused by a hectic work schedule and other things going on in my life at the time. It was actually my wifes idea. She bought me one club for Christmas and a golf legend was born. Maybe an urban golf legend. I told everyone about my five-iron I had just received as a present. Imagine my surprise when one of my friends told me that it was a five-wood instead. How can that be? I asked. It says 5 on the bottom and it definitely is not wood. What I was about to find out was that this game would definitely not reduce my stress. So as you can imagine, I was not great at the game. But what I have learned after many frustrating swings is that if you take it too serious, the game of golf will drive you over the edge. So after many games, I have decided on a few ways to avoid the stress of the game.

1. Keep your own score. I am not advocating cheating but the pressure of having to look at a score in the 80s when you are shooting in the 130s is just too much. Besides, when you lose track of how many strokes you have, that obnoxious partner that always remembers your every swing wont have any input.

2. The foot iron is your best club. Trust me on this one. I once took some customers out and I was so nervous I couldnt sleep the night before. That day I hit one of my best shots ever. I had landed by a tree root and somehow punched it right into the fairway. Unfortunately on my near perfect follow through I hit the tree branch overhead and stirred up a nest of bees. If I would have just used my foot iron I wouldnt have been running down the fairway screaming like a fool and swatting at my ears.

3. You call it a mulligan I call it a practice swing. I dont believe much in practice swings. When you play like I do, you dont want to take a chance on wasting a perfectly good swing. Just about everyone I play with takes several practice swings before approaching the ball. I just step right up and hope for the best. Sometimes I even make contact with the ball the first or second time. So when it is all said and done, I get plenty of practice swings just by swinging over the ball. If by some chance I duff one, I usually take another and another.

4. Clear water hazards and wash your golf balls at the same time. If there is water, even in my peripheral vision, I am sure to find it. One of the most valuable tools in my bag is that telescoping ball retriever. I always have the cleanest golf balls on the course. So instead of focusing on those three bad shots I allow myself to clear the hazard, I focus on my nice clean balls. (Oh and that counts as one stroke since I am keeping my own score and cant remember how many balls I actually knocked in the drink).

5. Find someone who is worse than you. This can be tough when you are really bad and almost more challenging than the game itself. I used to golf every week and about every three months I would take my wife along to show her how much I had improved. She would take her two clubs (a five-wood and a putter) and beat me by as many strokes as she chose on that particular day. So choose your "sucky" golfing partner wisely.

Golf is a great game and it is both rewarding and frustrating. But dont take it too seriously. Practice, Practice, Practice, but you will still have some bad games. Dont lose sight of the fact that it is just a game.