Golf Shot Quotes & Sayings

The best stroked putt in a lifetime does not bring the aesthetic satisfaction of a perfectly hit wood or iron shot. There is nothing to match the whoosh and soar, the almost magical flight of a beautifully hit drive or 5-iron. — Al Barkow

Caddies are a breed of their own. If you shoot 66, they say, "Man, we shot 66!" But go out and shoot 77, and they say "Hell, he shot 77!" — Lee Trevino

I get upset over a bad shot just like anyone else. But it's silly to let the game get to you. When I miss a shot I just think what a beautiful day it is. And what pure fresh air I'm breathing. Then I take a deep breath. I have to do that. That's what gives me the strength to break the club. — Bob Hope

You just don't have the time to worry about what others are doing. You just want to take care of your own business. You are focused on that tee shot on the 10th tee and making it to the finish line. It's one of the most stressful moments in professional golf, but you have worked so hard to get to that point, that it really is fun. — Mike Weir

Scott Medlock's portrait of 'the shot heard around the world' from the 1935 Masters is still being celebrated as a moment in Golf History. Imagine that! — Gene Sarazen

Trouble shots are surprisingly easy if you activate your imagination. You simply must be able to imagine exactly what flight the ball will take before you can play any shot well. — Walter Hagen

If you hit a bad shot, just tell yourself it is great to be alive, relaxing and walking around on a beautiful golf course. The next shot will be better. — Al Geiberger

I mean, I can actually say goodbye to the game of golf, never hit another golf shot the rest of my life and I'd be happy because I can get back in life without any rotation. — Greg Norman

When I'm in a zone, I don't think about the shot or the wind or the distance or the gallery or anything; I just pull a club and swing. — Mark Calcavecchia

The hardest shot in golf is a mashie at 90 yards from the green, where the ball has to be played against an oak tree, bounces back into a sandtrap, hits a stone, bounces on the green and then rolls into the cup. That shot is so difficult I have made it only once. — Zeppo Marx

Placing the ball in the right position for the next shot is eighty percent of winning golf. — Ben Hogan

The man who runs from his office to the golf club, gulps a sandwich, belches and races to the first tee has no business howling in anguish when he puts his first two shots in the woods, then tops a 3-iron shot into the pond. — Tony Lema

I distracted Herbert by pretending to trip and break a bone. Ethan darted around to the red golf cart with a cocky smile on his face. He put the key in ignition, and the vehicle roared to life. "Hey," Herbert shouted, snapping his attention to Ethan.
I sprang up and ran up to Ethan. He pulled me in the cart and stomped on the gas pedal. We shot through the automatic doors with Herbert on our tail.
"Go faster!" I cheered.
My brother smacked the steering wheel. "I can't; it's a golf cart. — Erica Sehyun Song

Golf's three ugliest words: still your shot. — Dave Marr

First and fore-most, you must have confidence. Your second mental problem is concentration. Think the shot through in advance before you address the ball. Draw a mental image of where you want it to go and then eliminate everything else from your mind, except how you are going to get the ball into that preferred spot. — Sam Snead

We have 51 golf courses in Palm Springs. He [President Ford] never decides which course he will play until after the first tee shot. — Bob Hope

Golf is fundamentally about being honest. I see people hit eight shots and tell me they shot five. I never say a word. It is a reminder to me of what is at stake. — Martin Sheen

A good one iron shot is about as easy to come by as an understanding wife. — Dan Jenkins

It is more satisfying to be a bad player at golf. The worse you play, the better you remember the occasional good shot. — Nubar Gulbenkian

Staying in the present is the key to any golfer's game: once you start thinking about a shot you just messed up or what you have to do on the next nine to catch somebody, you're lost. — Paul Azinger

In golf, it's almost impossible to be perfect on each shot; that's the fun and challenge of golf. — Yani Tseng

Golf is evolving, every day, every shot. — Tiger Woods

There is an old saying: if a man comes home with sand in his cuffs and cockleburs in his pants, don't ask him what he shot. — Sam Snead

Sam Snead did to the tee-shot what Roger Bannister did to the four-minute mile. — Byron Nelson

This golf course, you miss a shot a little bit off-line, it's going to bite you. — Mike Weir

We shot 'Dharma & Greg' six blocks from my house for five years. I had a Dodge Durango that I sold after five years, and it only had like 12,000 miles on it. My whole life was within eight square blocks of my house. There was a golf course across the street. In my downtime, I was on the driving range. — Joel Murray

I shot a wild elephant in Africa thirty yards from me, and it didn't hit the ground until it was right at my feet. I wasn't a bit scared. But a four foot putt scares me to death. — Sam Snead

I compare the pressure of a golf shot with making an extra point in basketball. The player starts from a full stop, and that rim doesn't move. — Harvey Penick

It's an individual sport (golf), so it's the exact opposite of baseball. If you hit a bad shot, you can't say, 'Well, this happened.' It's just you. It's your shot. You can't point the finger at anybody but yourself. — Albert Belle

You're the only one in control over your golf ball. It's not like tennis: you're hitting a shot and somebody's hitting it back at you. — Lee Westwood

This is the substance of our Plot-For those who play the Perfect Shot, There are ten thousand who do not. — Grantland Rice

I realize that's why we play golf, to hit the ball into the hole. But it is a strange feeling when you hit the shot and it actually goes in. — Hollis Stacy

A beginner gets so excited when he hits the ball in the air or maybe hits a nice bunker shot. A player who has won major championships doesn't get that excited about those shots anymore. It takes a lot more to excite you. The closer you get to perfection, the more difficult it becomes. That's what draws me to golf. It's such a challenge. — Stewart Cink

He knows all the golf lingo. You know? You hit your ball, he's like "there's a golf shot. That's a golf shot." Well of course it's a golf shot; I just hit a golf ball. You don't see Gretzky skating around going "there's a hockey shot, that's a hockey shot." — Bill Engvall

The first time I played the Masters, I was so nervous I drank a bottle of rum before I teed off. I shot the happiest 83 of my life. — Chi Chi Rodriguez

I've always tried to play golf with a golf club. I have a hard time driving with my rifle. I mean, 18 is really narrow ... I have no problem with the course, except for the tee shot on 18. — Jack Nicklaus

The difference between a good golf shot and a bad one is the same as the difference between a beautiful and a plain woman
a matter of millimetres. — Ian Fleming

Think of golf as chess. You have to think two or three moves ahead every time you hit the ball. Over every shot, you should be thinking, 'Where do I need to put this ball in order to make my next shot as easy as possible. — Gary McCord

Forget the last shot. It takes so long to accept that you can't always replicate your swing. The only thing you can control is your attitude toward the next shot. — Mark McCumber

Compare rounds of golf, one played while keeping score and one in which you hit a mulligan every time you are unhappy with a shot. In the latter case, being on the golf course loses significance. Rounds that are memorable are the ones that you make count. In a broader context, all rounds of golf are of no consequence, whether score is kept or not. But you are the center of your own universe. You are free to create meaning for yourself. — David Miller

My style of play won't ever change, because I enjoy that aggressive style of golf. It allows me to play my best. When I attack pins, I stay more focused. I get more into the shot and, consequently, I get more out of the shot and out of my game by playing aggressive. — Phil Mickelson

Gumption is the most important thing for a thru-hiker to maintain. Compare rounds of golf, one played while keeping score and one in which you hit a mulligan every time you are unhappy with a shot. In the latter case, being on the golf course loses significance. Rounds that are memorable are the ones that you make count. In a broader context, all rounds of golf are of no consequence, whether score is kept or not. But you are the center of your own universe. You are free to create meaning for yourself. When you attempt to capture the highlights without burdening yourself with the tedium, the highlights lose the foundation that elevates them to the status of "highlight." Analogies abound because a focused attitude defines the quality of all that we do. In playing a game, dieting, or hiking the AT, you benefit — David Miller

A well hit golf shot is a feeling that goes up the shaft, right through your hands and into your heart. — Ben Hogan

One of these days I'm going to write a book on drops. That ought to sell. The shot's become more popular than putting. — Jimmy Demaret

Golf acts as a corrective against sinful pride. I attribute the insane arrogance of the later Roman Emperors almost entirely to the fact that, never having played golf, they never knew that strange chastening humility which is engendered by a topped chip shot. If Cleopatra had been ousted in the first round of the Ladies' Singles, we should have heard a lot less of her proud imperiousness. — P.G. Wodehouse

If I had cleared the trees and drove the green, it would've been a great shot. — Sam Snead

Like life, golf can be humbling. However, little good comes from brooding about mistakes we've made. The next shot, in golf or in life, is the big one. — Grantland Rice

Think ahead. Golf is a next-shot game. — Billy Casper

Nobody ever looked up and saw a good shot. — Don Herold

It's harder to score well in a slow round. The tendency is to overthink shots while you're waiting and become mentally exhausted. Instead, chat with your playing partners about anything but golf. Concentrate on each shot for no more than a minute. You'll stay fresh. — Rickie Fowler

My golf score is really bad. I don't know. I'm definitely not a good golfer. Off the tee box, I can drive it about 275, and I'm in the fairway about 99% of the time. It's my next shot that needs work. — Jason Aldean

I love golf. But do you know how I got good at golf? Because of Charles Barkley. I was playing with Charles, Michael Jordan and Roy Green, and Charles was talking so much trash. On every shot, he was talking trash. So I left the tournament, and I went and practiced for a year and half. — Eric Dickerson

When your shot has to carry over a water hazard, you can either hit one more club or two more balls. — Henry Beard

It's often necessary to hit a second shot to really appreciate the first one. — Henry Beard

Never try a shot you haven't practised. — Harvey Penick

I've just discovered the secret of golf. You can't play a really hot game unless you're so miserable that you don't worry over your shots. Take the case of a chip shot, for instance. If you're really wretched, you don't care where the ball is going and so you don't raise your head to see. Grief automatically prevents pressing and over-swinging. Look at the top-notchers. Have you ever seen a happy pro? — P.G. Wodehouse

Lawyers are alright, I guess - but it doesn't appeal to me", I said. "I mean they're alright if they go around saving innocent guys' lives all the time, and like that, but you don't do that kind of stuff if you're a lawyer. All you do is make a lot of dough and play golf and play bridge and buy cars and drink Martinis and look like a hot-shot. And besides, even if you did go around saving guys' lives and all, how would you know if you did it because you really wanted to save guys' lives, or because you did it because what you really wanted to do was be a terrific lawyer, with everybody slapping you on the back and congratulating you in court when the goddam trial was over, the reporters and everybody, the way it is in the dirty movies? How would you know you weren't being a phony? The trouble is you wouldn't. — J.D. Salinger

I always look to see what Arnold [Palmer] shot; it's a habit. We will always compete against each other. — Jack Nicklaus

I can play the game only one way. I must play every shot for all there is in it. I cannot play safe. — Bobby Jones

The TV and the public pay our wages and they like to see professional golfers mess it up. Missing a green with a chip shot - when do you see that? It's great to see exciting golf like we had last week. — Paul McGinley

In order to hit a good golf shot at that moment in time when you're standing over the ball, you must believe that golf shot is the most important things in your life. — Tiger Woods

People ask me, 'Would you ever want to play professional golf?' And I'm like, 'No. No, no, no, no. Just because I can hit a good shot every now and then doesn't make me a pro.' — Mia Hamm

A shot that goes in the cup is pure luck, but a shot to within two feet of the flag is skill. — Ben Hogan

That "I don't give a darn" attitude is probably why I've shot so many good final rounds over the years when I started the day a few shots behind with nothing to lose ... and maybe that's why I've shot so many bad last rounds when I was ahead and knew I couldn't afford a mistake. — Jack Nicklaus

If we had to play Augusta National in one hour, the best athlete would win the Masters. But as it is, they give us time to hang ourselves. Every swing is a 'thought shot'. So instead of the best athlete, you end up with the best thinker as the winner. — Joe Inman

All you can do is really the prep work and make sure you're ready to hit each golf shot. Outside of that, you're not sure really what's going to happen. It's a funny game, but I think that's why I love it. You never know, one day to the next; you could go shoot 62, and the next day you're going to shoot 78, and you can't predict it. — Rickie Fowler

I never played a perfect 18 holes. There is no such thing. I expect to make at least seven mistakes a round. Therefore, when I make a bad shot, I don't worry about it. It is just one of the seven. — Walter Hagen

Golf's ultimate moral instruction directs us to find within ourselves a pivotal center of enjoyment: relax into a rhythm that fits the hills and swales, and play the shot at hand - not the last one, or the next one, but the one at your feet, in the poison ivy, where you put it. — John Updike

Unfortunately, the suit is so stiff, I can't do this with two hands, but I'm going to try a little sand-trap shot here. — Alan Shepard

From the beginning it was drilled into me that a golf course was a place where character fully reveals itself
both its strengths and its flaws. As a result, I learned early not only to fix my ball marks but also to congratulate an opponent on a good shot, avoid walking ahead of a player preparing to shoot, remain perfectly still when someone else was playing, and a score of other small courtesies that revealed, in my father's mind, one's abiding respect for the game. — Arnold Palmer

Do your best, one shot at a time and then move on. Remember that golf is just a game. — Nancy Lopez

Every day I try to tell myself that this is going to be fun today. I try to put myself in a great frame of mind before I go out - then I screw it up with the first shot. — Johnny Miller

Hole in One: an occurence in which a ball is hit directly from the tee into the hole in a single shot by a golfer playing alone. — Henry Beard

I admire a lot of people, but in terms of sport I've always loved the mentality of Tiger Woods on a golf course. I always love his eyes when he's setting himself and focusing on his decision; he has a really strong, focused face and believes that he can make the shot. — Rafael Nadal

If you call on God to improve the results of a shot while it is still in motion, you are using 'an outside agency' and subject to appropriate penalties under the rules of golf. — Henry Longhurst

I always think before an important shot: What is the worst that can happen on this shot? I can whiff it, shank it, or hit it out-of-bounds. But even if one of those bad things happens, I've got a little money in the bank, my wife still loves me, and my dog won't bite me when I come home. — Cary Middlecoff

As a kid in Fayetteville, N.C., I played golf all day, every day, a lot of it by myself. I spent hundreds of hours around the greens at Cape Fear Valley, the course my dad owned, hitting every shot I could think of - the one-hop-and-release, the chip that lands dead, the explosion from a bad lie. — Raymond Floyd

If I could have shot 69 in the last round every time, I would have won nine U.S. Opens. Nine! — Sam Snead

I suppose I'm happy when I know I've given a horse a good ride, no matter where it is. I like playing golf in the summer; I'm happy when I hit a good shot, and I enjoy watching Arsenal playing beautiful football, but overall I can't believe you can be happy when you're not winning. I honestly can't accept that. — Tony McCoy

It's mass confusion. I'm guessing on every shot. About the only thing left for me is acupuncture in the brain. — George Archer

I killed him with my niblick, said Celia.
I nodded. If the thing was to be done at all, it was unquestionably a niblick shot. — P.G. Wodehouse

When I used to play golf. It's a terrible miserable game. It's incredibly frustrating. In 18 holes you make 150 horrible shots off in the woods, in the water ... You make one good shot and it brings you back the next time. With writing a long book there has to be at least one bit that has some magic in it that you can go back to. — Alan Lightman

The most important shot in golf is the next one. — Ben Hogan

Extremely large greens breed slovenly play. When any green ceases to command respect, it loses its value as a test of that rarest of all strokes, the shot home. — A. W. Tillinghast

I can honestly say in my entire career, I've never gone around a golf course and not mis-hit a shot, but today I never missed a shot. I hit every driver perfect, every iron perfect. I'm in awe of myself. — Greg Norman

You stand up to that challenging shot, you put yourself into that shot, and you pour yourself into it confidently. Stand up and commit yourself completely. If you miss it, you miss it certainly. You've done everything you can. — Debbie Massey

As every golfer knows, no one ever lost his mind over one shot. It is rather the gradual process of shot after shot watching your score go to tatters - knowing that you have found a different way to bogey each hole. — Thomas Boswell

I went to play golf and tried to shoot my age, but I shot my weight instead. — Bob Hope