How to stop feeling intimidated playing with better golfers

Self Doubt · Sep 2, 2026

Your playing partner stripes a 280-yard drive down the middle. You’re up next, and suddenly the shot you’ve hit a thousand times feels like something you never did before.

That’s not THEIR swing getting in your head. That’s YOU getting into YOUR head.

Their good shot is information, not a judgment about you

A great tee shot from someone else tells you exactly one thing: they hit a great tee shot. It says nothing about what you’re about to do. I try to help the people that I work with get into a strong golf mindset by training them to notice a good shot and let it go, the same way they’d let a good shot of their own go — interesting, and not an indication of how good or bad they will play today.

Remember, you’re not playing them. You’re playing the course.

The scorecard doesn’t have a column for “who hit it further.” Every golfer at your club, on your course, in your group is running their own private round against par, not against each other, whether they act like it or not.

I remind students that the moment you start playing the person instead of the course, you’ve traded a fair fight for one you can’t win.

Borrow their pace, not their pressure

There’s a useful version of playing with better golfers: let them set a tempo you can lean on, a reminder of what committed, unhurried golf looks like up close. There’s a useless version: absorbing their confidence as pressure on you. Same round, same group — the difference is entirely which one you choose to take from it.

Keep your pre-shot routine identical, group or no group

Your routine is what tells your body this shot isn’t different just because of who’s watching. Same practice swings, same breath, same one thought over the ball, whether you’re playing alone or paired with a scratch golfer. As a golf mental game coach, I will tell you the routine is the great equalizer — it doesn’t know or care who else is in the group.

The takeaway

Intimidation isn’t caused by the golfer next to you. It’s caused by letting their round rent space in your head. Keep the scorecard where it belongs — between you and the course — and their good shots stop being anything but good shots.

Note: For more mental golf game ideas, be sure to check-out my new The Mental Golf Game podcast.