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Jack Nicklaus once relayed a story about a guy playing in a pro-am. The amateur hit a shot really close on a tough hole, then missed the putt badly. He told the amateur that he missed the putt because he didn't think he deserved to make it.
I believe there is a lot of merit to that in golf. We set up barriers for ourselves and make the entire round about the achievement of a score rather than the best execution of each stroke. Then, when we start out well we end up playing prevent defense instead of just dropping the hammer. I used to have a lot of issues with this. If I'd hit it to 15 feet I'd think "Just don't make bogey" instead of trying to make birdie.
If you can par 8/18, you're good enough to shoot 82-85 right now, even with a blow-up hole. You just have to be willing to believe that you are good enough to do it.
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"When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read 'all men are created equal, except negroes, and foreigners, and Catholics.' When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty – to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy.”--Abraham Lincoln
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