Stop playing Smart

If there is one thing we should all try to do more often it is play dumb.

Playing dumb may seem a strange way of wording the concept, but I believe that when we play dumb we avoid silly mistakes that can quickly see a good score go bad.

I was playing with a good friend the other day, that plays off a solid handicap of 7.

Having started extremely well, my friend was full of confidence and rightly so.

Then came the moment of trying to be a smartass….

A shot that leaked slightly to the right of the green left a hellish chip.

Short-sided my friend was faced with about 10 feet of green. The green sloped heavily away from my friend and towards the water.

My friend brimming with confidence decided to try and flop the ball, from a tight lie, up and onto the fringe of the green with the idea that the ball would trickle down to the hole.

What happened next was nothing short of a disaster. My friend proceeded to blade the ball straight across the green and the water hazard, only for the ball to hit a tree and ricochet back into the water.

This meant they had to drop on the opposite side of the pond, now faced with a pitch of around 30 metres, over the water my friend was under pressure.

Again trying to be smart they left the ball short and required another drop, resulting in a shot that returned to the original spot just right of the green.

Having played 7, when a simple 5 was on the card, my friend made a comment which is the inspiration for this article.

“Sometimes I wish I played dumb!”

I asked them what they meant, and they responded “if I had played dumb I would have taken the simplest of shots from the fringe of the green and just rolled the ball forward with a wedge or 9-iron, leaving an uphill putt and a chance of par. Instead I got smart, cocky and wanted to try and play a shot that may have looked incredible, but was extremely dangerous, now not only do I feel dumb I look it as well”.

3 putts later my friend recorded a 10, which ruined their card and their day.

They had learnt a harsh lesson, and I had learnt how although I often mention playing smart, it is in fact a more appropriate message if we instead try to play dumb, simplifying everything we do will, for the most part result in lower scores.