What Every Golfer Can Learn From Justin Thomas’ Terrible 2023 Season

Hey Guys….In today’s video I want to share what every golfer can learn from Justin Thomas’, shall we say, less than stellar 2023.

When Justin Thomas burst onto the golf scene my first impression was he looked like a smug country club kid who would probably heckle you on the first tee for not having a polo sweater tied around your neck like him.

And the more I watched him I realized I was right. He would probably heckle you on the first tee. BUT, you’d love every minute of it.

Because it turns out he’s not some pretentious country club snob; but a genuinely good person with a great sense of humor.

Now, full disclosure, I’ve never met Justin Thomas…let alone had the privilege of having him heckle me on any tee. But he’s been around long enough, and I watch enough PGA events and interviews to recognize he’s a solid guy who is well liked by other players.

But 2023 was not so kind to him. And recently he shared on Instagram, for everyone to see, the goals he set at the start of the year versus what happened.

What struck me wasn’t his willingness to expose that he had set 8 lofty goals and only accomplished one of them. Partially.

But the significance of the one goal he DID achieve. And the reality behind the many that he didn’t.

Because when it comes to goals it’s so easy to believe that if we train hard enough, get all of the best equipment, live at the gym, and have a sports psychologist or two we can achieve anything we set our minds to.

Even Thomas’ notes that he thought all the practicing he had planned would pay off.

But the reality is sometimes hard work and determination don’t mean results. And if it did there would be at least 100 PGA pros battling for first place every week.

I think all of us have spent day after day at the range, gotten lessons and watched every golf video we could find on YouTube, only to go out and play like it’s the first time we’ve seen a golf club.

And then other times where we haven’t been playing or practicing at all and still play out of our minds.

And the opposite can be true. There seems to be no rhyme or reason.

Same reason a pro can win a tournament by 7 strokes and the very next weekend not even make the cut. The same pro. The same work ethic. The same skill set. Totally different results in a matter of days.

It’s a head scratcher we all can relate to in one way or the other.

And though I think Thomas’ shortcomings in 2023 can act as a good reminder to all of us golfers, that the best we can do is set goals and do our very best to attain them…there’s even more to gleam from the one goal he did accomplish.

Now, before any haters get their panties in a bunch about whether or not he should have been selected to the Ryder Cup team—that’s besides the point I’m making here. And, we have time on our side to prove that he clearly was not the reason the US team lost.

From what I can only guess, Thomas was selected based on his past success in Ryder Cup and President Cup matches…AND this is Key…also because Zach Johnson and his other teammates wanted him there.

And to me, that’s a goal every golfer should aspire to. Having your fellow golfers WANT you around.

Golf may be an individual sport. But it’s played with other people.

Life is too short to play with people who make a four and a half hour round feel like Dental Surgery.

To me, if you’re the type golfer/person others want to have around…there is nothing higher to aim for.

Of course, playing great and being admired isn’t a bad thing. But if you’re celebrating alone…well, that is a bad thing.

I mean, sure, I’ve set my lofty goals this year. Lower my handicap to a 5. Play 50 new courses. And YES, I’d love to play in some tournaments and not look or feel like a drunk chimpanzee trying to knock a coconut down from an imaginary tree.

But when I look back at the end of the year and see, perhaps, that maybe I didn’t achieve all or any of these goal, I hope that at the very least I continue to make new golf friendships along the way…and be the type of person and golfer others want to play with.

That will be a pretty damn good year.

Thanks for the lessons Justin. I’m sure this will be a much better year. And feel free to heckle me any time. I’m going to get that polo sweater to wrap around my neck.

And here’s wishing you a successful and fun time out on the course in 2024!
I’d love to hear your thoughts about any or all of this in the comments below and throw in a like if you’re feeling up to it.

Cheers.

Hey guys in today’s video I want to share with you what every golfer can learn from Justin Thomas’s shall we say lesson Stellar 2023 so stick around when Justin Thomas burst into the Golf Scene my first impression was he looked like a country club snob who would probably Heckle you on the first

Te for not having a Polo sweater tied around your neck and the more I watched him I realized I was right he would probably heckley on the first T but you would love every minute of it because it turns out he’s not some pretentious Country Club snob but a genuinely good

Person with a great sense of humor now full disclosure I’ve never met Justin Thomas let alone had the privilege of having him Heckle me on any but he’s been around long enough and I’ve watched enough PJ events and interviews to recognize he’s a solid guy who’s well-liked by other players but

2023 was not so kind to him and recently he shared on Instagram for everyone to see the goals that he set at the start of the Year versus what happened and what struck me wasn’t his willingness to expose that he had set eight lofty goals and only accomplished one of them

Partially but the significance of the one goal he did achieve and the reality behind the many that he didn’t because when it comes to goals it’s so easy to believe that if we train hard enough get all the best equipment live at the gym and hire a sports psychologist or two we

Can achieve anything we set our mind to even Thomas notes that he thought all the practicing he had planned would pay off but the reality is sometimes hard work and determination don’t mean results and if they did there would to be at least 100 PGA Pros battling for

First place every week I think all of us have spent hours at the range got lessons and watched every YouTube video we can find only to go out and play like we’ve never seen a golf club before and then other times when we haven’t been playing or practicing at all and go out

And play out of our minds and the opposite can be true there seems to be no Rhyme or Reason same reason a pro can win a tournament by seven strokes and then the very next week not even make the cut the same Pro the same work ethic the same skill set totally different

Results in a matter of days it’s a head scratcher we can all relate to in one way or the other and now I think Justin Thomas’ shortcomings in 2023 can act as a good reminder to all of us golfer that the best we can do is set our goals and

Do the best we can to attain them there’s even more to gleam from the one goal he did accomplish now before any haters get their panties in a bunch about whether or not he should have been selected to the Ryder Cup team that’s beside the point I’m making here and we

Do have time on our side to see that he was not the reason and the US team loss from what I can only guess Thomas was selected based on his past success in Ryder Cup and president Cup matches and and this is key because Zack Johnson and

His teammates wanted him there and to me that’s a goal every golfer should aspire to to have your fellow golfers want you around I mean golf may be an individual sport but it’s played with other people and Life’s too short to play with people who make a 4 and half hour round seem

Like dental surgery to me if you’re the type of golfer person others want to have around there’s nothing higher to aim for of course playing Great Golf and being admired isn’t a bad thing but if you’re celebrating alone well that is a bad thing I mean sure I’ve set lofty

Goals this year lower my handicap Play 50 new golf courses and maybe playing a tournament where I don’t look like a drunken chimpanzee trying to knock a coconut that out of imaginary tree but when I look back at the end of the year and see perhaps that maybe I didn’t

Achieve all any of the goals I had set I hope at the very least I can continue to make new friendships along the way be the type of golfer and person that others want to play with and that will be a pretty damn good year so thanks for

The lessons Justin I’m sure this will be a much better year and you can Heckle me anytime even if I do have a Polo sweater around my my neck and here’s wishing you a successful and fun time on the course in 2024 I’d love to hear your thoughts

About any or all of this in the comments below if you’re filling up for it and have a great day cheers