the one you can't beat

ok...i guess this is some sort of weird therapy to talk about this but i am still frustrated after yesterdays round. there is a guy who in the past has been our club champ and i could not beat him then i still can't beat him. we played a foursome yesterday and as usual had a nice chunk of change on the match. i could care less about the money i just want to beat him. i shot a respectable 78 but i had to scramble on some holes because i was not hitting many g.i.r. 's. everythime i thought i was going to go up on him he sticks a wedge from a crappy lie or drills a 15 footer for a save. the worst part is he shoots a 74 and his buddy tells me that it is one of the few times he has gotten in the lower 70's this year...he says it must just be when he goes up against me that brings a better game out of him. I think over the years that we have played he is 9-0 against me...ok...i am more pissed now than when i started this post...anyone have somebody who owns them like this?? we usually play together 1 or 2 times a year

I know exactly what you mean. I was 52-4 for my high school match play record (long time ago) and all 4 losses came at the hands of the same person over all 4 years. I can still remember losing to him in my senior year (at my home course). I was 2 down with 2 to go and went back to back birdies to even the match and send it to sudden death. He beat me on the 1st extra hole.

This isn't exactly the same but similar. I was a better golfer than my dad for 2 years before I beat him it took me that long to stop puting pressure on myself to win. I would get so bent out of shape if I made even one mistake against him it sucked. But once I started playing my game I beat him and do most of the time unless he goes out of his mind and then I am happt 4 him.

Anyway I would suggest u play ur own game focus on that more and not on him as much. I know in match play u need to follow ur opponents shots because it effects ur strategy, but realise that if u play well then u force him to play his very best to beet u.

well, last year in varsity golf i met this kid who talked nonstop for the whole round saying the most random things and he screwed my consentation and I lost so next year i cant wait to beat him ;)

If a 78 is a low score for you then yeah, you just bring out the best in his game. If you had an off day and usually shoot lower then it's all mental. I used to never be able to beat one of my playing partners, then I didn't play with him for a few months. During that time I drastically improved my game and when I played him next I was already comfortably averaging 4-6 shots better than him per round so it was easy to beat him. Just as long as I didn't put any pressure on myself to have to prove anything. Just work on your game until shooting lower scores comes naturally and then trust your ability and play your own game. Don't put pressure on yourself by trying to beat him just have fun. This game is easier when your relaxed!