Played with some good sticks today... got intimidated.

[idriveahonda]

Golf your ball, and don't give a rats arse about what anyone else is doing.

They don't control your game, so don't try to play a game you aren't familiar with.

Also, if you play like you are always ahead, you will play too conservative. Play like you have nothing to lose, because in all honesty, you don't have anything to lose.

[mdhacker123]

im not a bad stick, i am low-mid 80's and can get myself around the course, but early in my golfing life i didnt like it. i was a college baseball player and obviously very competitve and here i am playing a sport i was not good out. so when i played with guys who apperance wise didnt look like athletes would beat on me and hit it past me, that drove me nuts. so early in round i would really try to concentrate and try to hit it long but when it didnt pan out in a few holes i would lose all confidence.

Well after yrs and thousands of balls i got ok and then relished playing with better players, especially the scratch or better players. i could watch them hit all day at the range, the sound, ball flight everything is just on another level. like the old phrase, i wish i knew what i know now 10yrs ago.... i like to watch and study what they do, there approach and routine, try to pickup lil things from each person

[cwmonroe87]

Love playing with good golfers because I feel like it helps my flow and makes my game better, I'm not anywhere near their level but I feel like I play better.

[yellowlab]

If you continue to play with those guys, I promise you, your game will improve.

Quick story, back around 2000, I was a double digit handicap, probably a 13 or so. I had a small group I played with not unlike your old group, fun to play with but you couldn't rely on them week to week. So I got invited to play in the Sunday money group ant one of the local courses in town. There were anywhere from 10 to 15 guys every Sunday starting at 7:30. All of these guys were better than me, most were much better. What it did was motivate me to get better. Fast forward a couple of years and my index was 3.

The biggest thing is don't let better players intimidate you.

[tipuga93]

Definitely love playing with people better than me..I love competition and while I love playing with some of my buddies that aren't quite as good as me, playing with people better than me really makes me focus more and almost relieves some of the pressure I put on myself when playing with partners who aren't as good.

Sometimes I will get a little intimidated, I remember the first person I played with who could legitimately hit the ball 300 yards and I was intimidated, got off to a bad start, and then settled down and played fine the rest of the way...while watching said player go on to shoot a 65 like it was nothing and realize that my game was nowhere near as good as I thought it was. Playing with better players allows me to sit back and watch and see where I need to improve..can usually pick up some pretty useful tips from them as well