I had this funny conversation with myself during the last couple holes of our Club Professional Championship held at Medina Country Club this past Monday and Tuesday. I was walking down the fairway after hitting it to what I thought was 8’ putt and the question ran across my mind…

“Who is the best putter you know?”

I thought about if for a minute and answered “Kevin Cashman, who I haven’t played with yet to which the reply came, “No.”

“Steve Stricker…?” “No.”

Uhhh Phil Mickelson,  Tiger Woods…. “ ”Noooooooo. You are, you dummy.”

“Ohhh yeah, I am. I’m the only one I really know. I get it…I’m the only one that can hit my ball.”

So I marked my ball, cleaned it off read the putt from the low side of the hole, visualized the speed down the line, took a practice stroke from a foot behind my ball and stroked it right into the hole for a birdie.

I set a goal earlier in the week that I told Dave Kirkbride, our GM at Halla, that my goal was to shoot one round in the 60’s during the event.  After loosing a ball in the middle of a fairway en route to a 77 the first day I started off birdie, birdie the second day. So I’m on the 18^th tee which was a 450-yard par 4 with a 15mph wind into us. I need to make birdie to reach my goal. I’m a bit nervous being under par and trying to stay in the moment and focus on the task at hand which was getting the darn ball air born off the tee with these shaking hands and racing heart. I slowed down to imagine my son Brody sitting out in front of me while we are at the range and he says, “Hit me a good one dad!” To which I am compelled by my masculine spirit to make the most powerful and in balanced swing I possibly can, which I did 280 yards right down the middle. I approached my ball, found my distance at 168 with a strong cross wind and decided to hit a punch 6-iron. I picked four window frames left of the hole as a starting line, got over the ball and imagined my other son Gabe giggling and saying, “Hit me a good one dad!” I swung and as pure as a sunset in Phoenix, the ball came off like a rocket on a mission at the target, the wind hit it and started to push the ball towards the pin… it landed, bounced once, bounded twice and checked up two feet from the hole. A pretty mindless tap for my birdie and score of 69 for the day.

Four hours later I find myself on the sixth hole of a playoff with a four foot breaking putt against a good friend of mine, Matt Norgaard who is consistently in the top ten players in the state and played golf at Oklahoma State. This time I have a four-footer up the hill to win the five person playoff. I turned to Matt who is also a new father and said, “When I get under pressure in situations like this, I imagine one of my kids sitting in front of me saying, “Hit a good one dad!” I calmly stroked the putt into the back of the hole…

Sometimes the proper motivation can help you overcome your fears, lack of self-confidence and putting things into perspective alleviates the pressure and gives you the ability to try your best and focus on the task at hand. Whoever said golf is just a game?

So I ask you, who is the best putter, chipper, driver you know? Who are you playing for?