A common face you hear in sports, is that IRON SHARPENS IRON. In an earlier post (I Want More Amateur Golf on TV), I talked about how stacked the Oklahoma State Men’s Golf Team was in 2017-2018. After Victor Hovland won this past weekend in Mexico, he moved up to number 15 in the Official World Golf Ranking. One spot behind former teammate Mathew Wolff.
Also at the event this week in Mexico, playing as an amateur, was Austin Eckroat. Eckroat shot four rounds in the sixties and finished the week in a tie for 12th. He also happens to be one of the five golfers that helped Oklahoma State win the National Championship in 2018.
Not bad for an amateur.
So how about the other two guys that rounded out Oklahoma States roster in 2018? Where are they?
Well, Kristoffer Ventura is now on the PGA Tour after finishing 8th on the Korn Ferry Tour money list in 2019. Ventura struggled a bit in his first year on tour finishing 156 in the FedEx Cup. However, he has had a nice run in the Fall Series to start his 2021 season. He has two top 10 finishes in 8 starts. He did however miss the cut in Mexico this week.
Rounding out the 2018 team for Oklahoma State was Zach Bauchou. Bauchou has had a tough start to his professional career missing four cuts in four starts on the PGA Tour.
Why Does this Matter?
On this blog, I post a lot of tips and tricks about how to improve your golf game. One of the things I have talked about in the past, is to find players that are better than you, and then play a lot of golf with them.
The idea is that IRON SHARPENS IRON.
Look no further than the 2018 Oklahoma State Men’s Golf Team to prove that point. Three of the five guys on that team are now playing on the PGA Tour. And a fourth just finished tied for 12th on the PGA Tour, while playing as an amateur.
If you want to get really good at the game of golf, make it a priority to play with people that are at or above your current level. Doing this will help you in a couple of ways.
- If you are constantly playing with players that are better than you, then you are going to lose a lot of matches. No one likes to lose. Losing over and over again, gets really old. But, losing can be very valuable for you as a player. It will push you to get better.
- Playing with players that are better than you will show you what you need to work on to get to the next level. When you are playing with the better player, figure out where their advantage over you lies. From experience, the better player is going to do everything just slightly better than you are, however, there will be one area that truly sticks out. Pinpoint it, and focus your practice time in that area.
- The person that is better than you, has already traveled down the road you are on and can be a valuable source of information. They have already overcome the obstacles you are currently facing, so ask them questions and learn as much you can from them.
A Little Push Helps
Golf is an individual sport, but, I think there are tons of opportunities to surround yourself with a mini team. Find a few guys or gals, that like to work on their game as much as you do and play a lot of golf with them. Form your own “team”.
I think you will find that this will help motivate you to work harder so that you aren’t always on the losing end of your matches every weekend.
Until next time,
Enjoy the chase!