Meredith Kirk’s on Golf Channel’s “School of Golf” Sept. 2

LPGA teaching professional, Myrtle Beach golf ambassador and 2014 Mrs. South Carolina America Meredith Kirk appeared on the Sept. 2, 2015 episode of Golf Channel’s “School of Golf” to offer some advice on how you can make practice fun – and, at the same time, teach yourself how to handle pressure as you transition your game from the practice tee to the first tee.

Hi, I’m Meredith Kirk, LPGA Teaching Professional. And today, I’m going to show you two drills that will help you with pressure on the golf course.

We all experience it. We get out on the golf course, and we ask ourselves, “How come we can’t hit the ball like we do on the practice tee?” So, these two tips are going to help put a little pressure on yourself while you’re on the practice tee.

The first thing I want you to do is, don’t place your ball in a perfect position when you’re on the range hitting balls. Play around with different shots on the ball. The ball falls in a divot? So be it – go ahead and hit it out of the divot! It’s good experience.

Two, set up a points system when you’re practicing. Pick a target. For example, I have my wedge right now. I’m going to pick a target about 50 to 60 yards out, so if I hit that target, I’m going to give myself one point. If I’m six yards in, I’m going to give myself two points; if I’m 12 yards in, I’m going to give myself three points; and if I’m outside of 12 yards, I’m going to give myself four points.

Obviously, the goal here is to have a low score during your practice session, and this is going to help put a little pressure on yourself to actually make some shots. So I’m going to give it a shot right here, I’ve got my wedge, and I’m going to try to hit the stick because I’m going to get one point if I do …

(Hits shot)

There we go … I didn’t hit the pin, but I’m six yards in so I’m going to give myself two points.

And that, friends, is how you transition your game from the practice tee out to the real tee!