Nicholas Barker
ASU Student Journalist

Golf: More mental than physical

November 13, 2019 by Nicholas Barker, Arizona State University


Senior Angel Rios and sophomore Brandon Higbee finish their rounds on the 9th hole.

Nicholas Barker is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Washington High School.

In golf, if a player is struggling on the course, it can often be linked to the mental side of the sport more than the technical side.

When a golfer walks up to the first tee box after a successful trip on the driving range, a terrible shot isn’t expected. Sometimes, though, that first shot is not that great, immediately leading to negative thoughts. Senior Angel Rios, a member of the Washington Rams golf team, knows this feeling exactly.

“When I first got on the range, I thought it was going to be a good day,” said Rios when referring to one of his final matches. “Then we started actually going out [and playing,] and I was like, this is not going to be good.”

After having success on the driving range, it took just one hole for Rios to believe that it was going to be a rough day out on the course. That is how quickly the game can make a golfer think that they don’t have what it takes to be successful.

Sophomore Brandon Higbee, playing in his second year on the team, also expressed the importance of the fundamentals.

“If you are stressing about it, then when you go up to the ball, you will hit a bad ball,” said Higbee.

One of the reasons many players struggle on the course is because they don’t have proper technique, which is leading them to be discouraged. Head coach Brian Patterson, who is in his first year coaching the Rams, stressed the importance of knowing how to play the game correctly.

“The way you learned how to do something is not always the right way to teach your athlete how to do something,” said Patterson. “With coaching, I think the hard part is trying to find one way to teach an athlete how to do something they can understand.”

Another challenge that Patterson faces is the fact that there are only two returning players on the team, Rios and Higbee. The rest of the team is filled with players that are either freshmen that have little experience playing, or freshmen that have never hit a golf ball before.

“It becomes a challenge to diversify your teaching techniques and then find which one will work for this athlete,” said Patterson.

Many members of the Washington golf team believe that golf is one of the most difficult sports to play. Rios stressed the importance of having a cool head, and not letting the little things ruin a day on the course.

“My mindset is just do the best you can, and think about having the best time on the course,” said Rios. “I am not focused on winning everything.”