need help in tournament play

Question
When my daughter plays golf by herself and when accompanied by myself or her boyfriend she plays super usually scoring 2 below par or par on 9 holes or in the upper 70's to low 80's on 18 holes. But when she plays in a tournamnet she bombs scoring 45-47 on 9 holes and 95-100 on 18 holes. She says that she just cant play when someone else plays with her and she doesnt know why. She is a senior in high school this year and we really need some help to get her over this. Can you suggest anything. She has about 3 years of tournament experience.

Answer
Ahhhh....the comfort zone, what a nice place to be---no pressure by playing with familiar surroundings. Whatever her golfing aspirations are as a senior or beyond, there's a few things that can be done to help develop her mental approach, especially for tournament play.

--Obviously your daughter has the "physical" part of the swing. In tournament play, everyone is trying to do their best--for themselves. One way to look at it is she needs to place her focus in PLAYING AGAINST THE COURSE, not playing against the players. Without sounding callous, her competitors really don't care about her abilities or how she is doing. Trust yourself and play the course.

--Since she is a senior, perhaps a nearby college would allow her to practice, or get playing exposure with with some of the team members.

--If the budget allows, there are sports guru's that specialize in this sort of thing.

--Arrange to play with some of the better players at the local golf course, both men & women--the pro's at the course should be able to arrange that.

I hope this has helpful, and thank you for sending your question. Keep swinging, trust yourself and have some fun!!