It was a bright Spring day so dad agreed to a game.  He’s a bit of a fair-weather golfer and the only other game he’d played this year was against my brother in America. Dad won.

There was a bit of a dispute about shots.  The new handicap system implemented earlier this year had reduced dad’s handicap to 3.7 from 7.5! But there was no dispute about dad’s mentality.   He wanted to win.  He wanted to beat me. And that’s how it’s always been.

Since we were small children, dad has never let me or Steve beat him at any sports and we’ve played lots. In fact thinking about it, it extended to anything including board games. Although to be fair it was usually mum who won at Scrabble.

Back to our game and dad’s approach got me thinking about mindset. Maybe I should start to develop a “dad mindset”. After all he never wants to lose; he always tries his hardest when playing me or Steve; he brings his best game to our matches; and he’s ruthless.

All of these features would help my game. I think it’s something for me to learn from and look  to implement as the season gets underway. Building on last season means practising different aspects of my game including the mental side.

 Another aspect is his calmness on the course.  He may let the odd expletive slip out but he doesn’t hold onto his anger or frustration even if he’s in a bunker.  He might get a bit annoyed at me mentioning that but you’ll need to ask him if you want to know more on that aspect of his game.

The new professional events get underway this month and where better than the home of golf to implement more improvements. The first event is a Big Johnson tour event over the Jubilee and Castle courses at St Andrews. Let’s see if I can bring the dad mindset to my game.

So what happened in our match? The card shows I won 4 and 2 based on dad’s official handicap.  He’s raising a dispute. Oh that’s another thing – he never gives up.