After years of this game reducing me to tears or bringing me to my knees, I found it necessary to develop a new perspective on this fickle game. I wanted some peace and serenity as I knocked that little ball around the pasture.

We all have been made aware that it is the six inches between our ears that is the most important distance we must overcome.

I have adapted a method for you and I to begin to take a new look at the way we perceive ourselves on the course and offer a new approach to our game.

Now I am not into any mystical hocus pocus, and I am not going to guarantee this system will knock 10 strokes off your score by midnight. What I do offer is a method of dealing with the issues and problems we confront during a round.

This is no easy fix. I cannot make you into a Tiger Woods nor an Annika Sorenstam, let’s be realistic.

What I can help you do is know how to “get over yourself” and the why we get ourselves into those frustrating moments.

Golf is complicated and difficult. Positive thinking isn’t enough. It doesn’t address the why behind our negative thinking. Let us trade in our self-esteem for some self respect. We can transform our souls.

I have spent 47 years looking for what was WRONG with me and why I couldn't just DO IT. I was athletic, smart and competent, yet there were those times I just wanted to throw something at somebody.

I really didn’t take this game serious enough, but I did take myself very serious.

There was physical improvement over the years, but there were many disappointments due to the lack of truth in my perception of what the game is and how to accept it for what it is and what it really meant to me.

It was 2004, I was in a slump and believed it was time for me to just give the game up. I was at the proverbial last straw. This was really insane, I was crying on the inside, and those tears were ready to burst forth. We were making our way down the 14th fairway when I said “never again, yes never again shall I allow this game to do this to me, never again”.

I have adapted a program that is based on a set of principles that have proven successful to thousands of people over the past 73 years. It has been used by numerous people with concerns of how they deal with life. I have adapted it to assist all my fellow golfers.

Golf is a metaphor of life. It should be used to teach us about ourselves. It is more than a mere game or an athletic sport.

I would hope that you will find yourself and begin to really enjoy this intriguing game, and become not only an happier golfer but an happier person.

If you are serious about life then golf will be the vehicle as you proceed through it and the steps are the road map. This will be the beginning of a wonderful and mysterious odyssey that will reveal to you who you are and bring you closer to who you want to be.

You are standing at a turning point, and you are ready to take certain steps that I suggest are a Program of Recovery, at some of these you may think crazy or even silly. You must be fearless and honest. You will have to let go of your old belief system.

We are dealing with GOLF, it is cunning and baffling and very powerful. Without help it can overwhelm us.

As we explore these steps do not be discouraged, I didn’t say it would be easy. Life is difficult and so is golf. Hopefully these steps will put it all into perspective and you will eventually be able to lower your handicap and begin to enjoy yourself as you should with “a nice walk” around the course, having confidence and keeping your dignity and integrity in tact, on "The Fairway Less Traveled".