Opinion & Analysis

Improve your game at your cubicle

Published

13 years ago

Nov 7, 2013

Are you wasting valuable time at work, daydreaming about golf when you could actually be using this time to lower your scores?

If you’re like me you probably catch yourself staring at a golf calendar in your cubicle recounting missed shots from recent rounds and replaying some of the great ones you pulled off. What if you took this “wasted” time and used it to focused on improving your game. At your desk. During work hours.

Major James Nesmith used his time in a POW camp in Vietnam to escape to a golf course everyday. When he was released seven years later, he improved his golf game to an astonishing degree. Without touching a club.

The Major served in the United States Military and was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam. He spent most of his days in a tiny cell, speaking to no one, performing no physical activity, fighting off insanity. He accomplished the latter by playing full rounds of golf in his mind in vivid detail. He essentially tricked his body into thinking it was on a golf course for four hours.

Major Nesmith would imagine arriving at the course, smelling the freshly cut grass and flowers. He would imagine walking onto the first tee and going through his pre-shot routine before hitting a perfect drive down the middle of the fairway. He would then walk after his ball, imagining every step before hitting his next perfect shot.

In vivid detail.

He never missed a shot. He played perfect rounds and so can you, in your cubicle.

Visualization

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What Major Nesmith practiced for seven years was creative visualization. When this type of mental rehearsal is performed in a focused state, it has a real impact on the mental triggers that fire your muscles.

The reason that creative visualization works is that you are physiologically creating neural patterns in your brain, as if you actually physically performed these actions. This type of mental training is directly related to teaching our muscles to react in a specific order and rhythm.

Creatively visualizing what one desires (shooting lower scores), by involving all your senses, has proven to help athletes achieve greater performances. These visualizations involve vivid details of what you see, what you smell, what you feel, what you hear and more importantly what you do (hitting great shots).

The Cubicle Golfer

Now I am in no way comparing our plush sterile cubicles to the conditions that Major James Nesmith endured, but we can take a very valuable lesson away from his story and apply it to our daydreaming.

If you find yourself staring at your golf calendar yearning for your next round on the course, then do exactly that. Go to your favorite course and play a round, or maybe just a few holes.

Try this: Pick two or three holes at your regular golf course that cause you the most torment. Play them: include every detail imaginable, making it as real as possible. Do this over and over again whenever you have 10-to-15 minutes to spare. And when you play them, play them perfectly.

What do you have to lose other than 10-to-15 minutes you’ve would’ve spent staring at a golf calendar. I’d say that’s not a bad day at the office.

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Colby Johannson

Colby Johannson writes from the West Coast of Canada. He's logical, practical and a bit of a smart alec. He's taken his film and TV background and his passion for golf and parlayed it into www.QuiteTheChap.com, which brings simplicity, humor, and personal opinions to help alleviate the torment of this devilish game we call golf. I have a few other words for it as I'm sure you do too.

15 Comments

jc

Dec 12, 2013 at 5:08 pm

man, this works…I was visualizing that I was in a pro-am with Natalie Gulbis and Paula Creamer. It got really slow and they asked if I wanted to skip the back 9 and go back to their place and get in the hot tub….so I didn’t play the back 9..and….well, they made me promise not to tell.

Reply Report comment
- Colby
  
  Dec 13, 2013 at 10:56 pm
  
  Well, now I know what jc stands for. I can only imagine you can walk on water after that experience.
  
  Reply Report comment
Dakota

Nov 10, 2013 at 9:12 pm

Colby is 100% right about visualization in golf, its a key factor to success in golf. I have under went many surgeries that have caused me to be out of the game for over three months, without touching a club. Whenever I am not allowed to play the game for awhile. I visualize shots that I would be faced with when back on the course. When thinking of shots that I am going to be hitting, I Can literally feel my muscles moving in the way that they would need to without actually moving at all. I am a very low handicap golfer so it might be different for me than it would be for a 8 handicap.

Reply Report comment
Juan

Nov 10, 2013 at 12:19 am

I can’t daydream at work for hours doing nothing,I’ll get fired plus I’m not in a prison camp or am I….

Reply Report comment
4pillars

Nov 8, 2013 at 5:54 am

There is no Major James Nesmith.

There never has been. http://www.snopes.com/sports/golf/innergolf.asp or any other POW who did this.

It is a total urban myth.

Shame on you Golfwrx for putting this up.

Reply Report comment
- jim
  
  Nov 11, 2013 at 2:46 pm
  
  there was a great movie called “bat 21” where they rescued a pow (gene hackman) by using his local course distances as a grid to extraction locations…lol
  
  Reply Report comment
David Smith

Nov 7, 2013 at 4:47 pm

This is no lie! I live in Canada and all of last winter i did this same exact thing. I started by plotting out the courses I play on in my mind and how I can change my game to possibly score lower then I played them in my head all winter long and sure enough I significantly lowered my scores, I played some of my best golf the first round after being dormant for 6 months with only indoor simulators to practice on!

Reply Report comment
Kevin Simms

Nov 7, 2013 at 12:04 pm

Nice article, Colby! Visualization is a great tool that I use on the course, but I never thought of trying it in the office. I’ll have to give it a shot!

Reply Report comment
tyler

Nov 7, 2013 at 11:51 am

Humans werent designed to sit motionless for the most part, 8 hours a day. I would rather have been born a caveman being chased by sabertooth tigers.

Reply Report comment
- Colby
  
  Nov 7, 2013 at 2:48 pm
  
  Are you visualizing that?
  
  Reply Report comment
Brian

Nov 7, 2013 at 11:45 am

Wow, I’m 2 under after 9.

Reply Report comment
- Ben
  
  Nov 7, 2013 at 2:20 pm
  
  I’m stuck behind a slow foursome. sitting in my cart, waiting to attack the pin.
  
  Reply Report comment
  - Colby
    
    Nov 7, 2013 at 2:49 pm
    
    I would hit into them to speed them up.
    
    Reply Report comment
  - AJ
    
    Nov 8, 2013 at 9:11 am
    
    For a start you should be walking, with a tour caddy by your side, and playing behind Tiger, Rory and Phil!
    
    Reply Report comment
    - AP
      
      Nov 8, 2013 at 3:05 pm
      
      Even more reason to hit right over them. Strange how I’ve gone 18 hole in ones in a row, this visualization exercise is incredible.
      
      Reply Report comment

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Opinion & Analysis

5 Things We Learned: Thursday at the PGA Championship

Published

2 weeks ago

May 15, 2026

Ronald Montesano

Aronimink is not a storied club, but when Donald Ross himself proclaimed it to be as good as he can design and build, one had to take notice. Jay Sigel was the pre-eminent male amateur golfer from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s. He might have called any number of Philadelphia clubs home, but he chose Aronimink. It served him well. Gary Player won a PGA Championship here in 1962, and was followed by the 1993 winner … nobody. Aronimink gave that event away to Inverness, for reasons of which it is certainly not proud. So be it. We had to wait sixty-four years for the PGA to return to Newtown Square, but here we are. Aronimink has been neo-restored by Gil Hanse and team, to return Ross features with an eye toward defense against the dark arts, errrr, high-tech equipment.

Day one saw Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau dig big holes, to the tune of plus-four and plus-six, respectively. Since the first-round lead will be minus-three at worst, many shots will need to be made up for the power couple to reach contention. By nightfall, seven golfers held the day-one lead at three-under par 67. Shots and sticks caught our attention, and we are proud to present Five Things We Learned on Tech Thursday at the 2026 PGA Championship. Thanks to InsideTourGolfer, Today’s Golfer, and GolfWRX for initial equipment research.

First, meet Min Woo Lee

Min Woo Lee, aka Dr. Chipinski, has once again thrust himself into the conversation of Can he, will he, when will he? Lee has so much talent, wins not nearly as often as we believe that he should, and has no major near-misses (much less titles) on his wiki. The young Aussie is getting older and wiser, but is he able to avoid the scarring that holds the older and wiser back from breaking through? Philadelphia offers another opportunity. Min Woo signed for five birdies and two bogeys on day one, and grabbed a share of the opening-day lead at Aronimink. Winners transcend history and the moment, and Lee will need that sort of ascent to lift the Wannamaker on Sunday.

Second, meet Aldrich Potgeiter

The young South African golfer can rip driver with the best of them. Aronimink tips out at nearly 7400 yards, but beyond the fairway bunkers that ensnare only the mortals, Potgeiter can take his chances with wedge from the rough. On Thursday, he spent plenty of time in the spinach. Like Popeye, he used his muscles to gouge and thrash and dig his way out. Six birdies against three bogeys on the card brought AP in a three deep.

Third, meet Martin Kaymer

Not a major event takes place without a where’s he been throwback moment. We know that Martin Kaymer left the PGA and DP World tours for LIV golf, but the two-time (US Open and PGA) major winner has a lifetime exemption into at least one major event, and he seizes the opportunity each May. Kaymer joined the six-seven brigade with four birdies and a solitary bogey on day one. Kaymer was never a long hitter, and the years are kind to no golfer. The German champion will need to uncork every bottle of guile and strategy in his cabinet to remain in contention. For today, though, he occupies a rung on the ladder of Tour Tech.

Fourth, meet Scottie Scheffler

Let’s see, he’s the defending champion at the PGA, and he found his way back to the top tier with five birdies against two bogeys. To be a favorite and then play up to that stature and expectation is quite difficult. Just ask Rory, Bryson, and some of the other pre-tournament heartthrobs. Scheffler’s game is complete, and to knock him off the OWGR #1 pedestal, one needs to defeat him at the majors. Aronimink is the sort of course that fits Scheffler’s game. Better yet, it unfits the game of many of his challengers. Don’t expect Scheffler to go away anytime soon. Come Sunday, he’ll be around.

Fifth, meet Stephan Jaeger

Clocking in for the unheralded players shift are Ryo Hisatsune and Stephan Jaeger. Hisatsune logged seven birdies on day one, but gave most of them back with four bogeys. Still, he’s tied at the top for a time. Jaeger pitched five birdies against two bogeys, including a run of three consecutive, from holes four through six. Odds are that one of the two will hang around through 36 holes. Odds also suggest that both will be gone by Saturday evening. Still, the PGA Championship has historically been the major most likely to be won by an under-known. Both Hisatsune and Jaeger feature on that list, so good luck, lads!

Club Junkie

Club Junkie’s Titleist GTS driver fitting results!

Published

2 weeks ago

May 14, 2026

Brian Knudson

On this episode of the Club Junkie Podcast, I head to the Titleist Performance Institute for a full driver fitting with the new Titleist GTS lineup. We dive into the fitting process, talk about what made the biggest difference in performance, and break down how the different GTS heads and shaft combinations compare on the launch monitor. If you are thinking about a new driver setup for this season, there is a lot to take away from this one.

I also get into Brooks Koepka and the gear setup he brought to the PGA Championship, including the putters that caught my eye during the week. There are some interesting equipment trends showing up at the highest level right now and we break down what stands out.

To wrap things up, I talk about reshafting a few wedges, what I learned during the process, and swapping an adaptor onto a new shaft for another build project in the shop. A gear packed episode from start to finish for anyone who loves golf equipment and club building.

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Club Junkie

Club Junkie WITB, week 16: New Titleist GTS woods!

Published

2 weeks ago

May 14, 2026

Brian Knudson

Excited for this week’s WITB as we get to add the new Titleist GTS woods to the bag! I was fit at Titleist’s TPI facility in Oceanside California a few weeks ago and my new clubs just showed up. I am also adding a cool set of irons that I built last year some wild custom wedges into a new golf bag. Speaking of the bag I have a new Ghost Anyday Black Ops stand bag that I will be using on my Motocaddy Remote M7 electric cart.

Driver: Titleist GTS3 (11 degrees @ 10.25)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Red 6s

3-wood: Titleist GT1 3Tour (14.5 degrees)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD CQ-7s

5-wood: Titleist GTS (18 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Red 7s

9-wood: Titleist GT1 (24 degress)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Red 7s

Irons: Bettinardi CB24 (5-PW)
Shafts: KBS C-Taper Lite 110 stiff

Wedge: TaylorMade MG5 (50-09 SB)
Shaft: Mitsubishi MMT 125 Stiff

Wedge: TaylorMade MG5 (56-12 SB)
Shaft: Mitsubishi MMT 125 Stiff

Wedge: TaylorMade MG5 (60-08 LB)
Shaft: Mitsubishi MMT 125 Stiff

Putter: Dan Carraher ZT Proto

Ball: Callaway Chrome Tour

Bag: Ghost Anyday Black Ops Stand Bag