Does anyone else play better when they stop caring about their score?

Hi ladies, Evelyn here. Something weird happened during my round this weekend and I wondered if anyone else does this. I started absolutely terribly. Double bogey, bogey, then another double. At that point I basically gave up on having a good score and told myself I was just going to enjoy being outside and stop worrying about it. And of course THAT’S when I started playing good golf 😂 I stopped taking three practice swings and I wasn’t standing over the ball thinking about ten different swing tips. I just picked my club, looked at where I wanted the ball to go and hit it. I ended up making two pars and a birdie later in the round, which is very good for me. Now I’m wondering if half my problem with golf is actually between my ears. When I care about my score, every bad shot feels important and I start messing with my swing. Once the round is supposedly “ruined,” I relax and suddenly everything works again. Does anyone else do this? I’d especially love to hear from women who play competitive golf or have worked on the mental side of the game. How do you care about your score without becoming obsessed with it while you’re playing? Maybe my next golf goal needs to be learning how to play hole #1 with the same attitude I apparently have after I’ve already blown up my scorecard on hole #4. — Evelyn

Created at: 10/4/2026, 2:17:31 PM