10 Inspirational Quotes to Improve Your Golf (& Your Life)

Here at Hole19, we're all about inspiring you to play your best golf ever, and if we can bring you some influential words of wisdom that can extend beyond the golf course, then that's a bonus.

There are thousands of inspirational quotes about golf that we have all heard many times over, but if we take a look into their deeper meaning, some can translate into helpful pieces of advice for everyday life.

1. Of all the hazards, fear is the worst - Sam Snead

One of the most destructive forces in golf, and in life, is fear. It can destroy our focus and ability to think clearly and play confidently. Most worryingly, it can strike at any time on the golf course.

More generally, fear stifles progress, hinders creativity, and it stops us from becoming the best versions of ourselves. It can make us play things safe rather than sailing unchartered waters towards a new destination of hope and personal fulfilment.

One way we can manage and potentially banish feelings of anxiety is by overpowering that negative emotion with positive thoughts. Visualising success, for example, can be a great way to train the mind to look beyond our fear of failure and focus on desired outcomes.

2. A good golfer has the determination to win and the patience to wait for the breaks - Gary Player

The ability to apply patience to a round is an area where the world's best golfers excel. As amateurs, we can become too emotionally invested and may try to force things when we don't feel like we're getting the breaks we deserve.

When things aren't progressing as quickly as we might hope, maintaining the same enthusiasm for the end goal is critical in being ready to take advantage when opportunities present themselves.

3. A bad attitude is worse than a bad swing - Payne Stewart

How we react to adversity can say a lot about our character. As far as the scorecard goes, we all know that a bad attitude can be a more destructive force than a funky swing. It can also be a bit of a mood killer if someone in our fourball explodes into an expletive-laden outburst mid-round.

A bad golf swing can be ironed out at the driving range, but a bad attitude can be a lot harder to fix. Learning to take the rough with the smooth could help us thrive both on and off the golf course.

4. Golf is about how well you accept, respond to, and score with your misses much more so than it is a game of your perfect shots - Dr Bob Rotella

Dr Bob Rotella is one of the world's foremost authorities when it comes to sports psychology - so he knows a thing or two when it comes to getting inside a golfer's mind. His main message is that 'perfect' is a term that has no place in golf.

Sometimes we need to play the cards we are dealt, and it can be a powerful message for every aspect of our lives.

When we're not striking it our best, we can still maintain a solid mental attitude and scramble around in the hope of posting a respectable score.

Things can get a little awkward in life, and we will each face challenging times on a pretty regular basis. In those of a more trivial nature, we can try to make the most of a bad situation.

When things aren't panning out as we had hoped, how we choose to react can directly impact our future success and happiness.

5. As you walk down the fairway of life you must smell the roses, for you only get to play one round - Ben Hogan

It's very easy to get wrapped up in our golf rounds and forget to take a look around, and the same is true for our day-to-day lives. It's human nature to take the little things for granted and forget to take a step back and give thanks for our lot.

Let's all take that time to smell the roses. Take stock and recognise the moments that bring us the most joy. Acknowledge the meaning and value of friends and family. Build new relationships. Travel to new destinations. Play more golf.

We may only get to play one round in life, but if we play our best, once is enough.

6. The harder you work, the luckier you get - Gary Player

Lady luck is an interesting character. On the golf course, at times, we may feel her helping hand guide an awful tee shot back into play, while on other occasions, she may flat out ignore our weary call for intervention.

She's a fickle creature who loves many and is faithful to none. We can't be guaranteed to have her good fortune in our corner on-demand. We are all individually responsible for making our own luck in every aspect of life, and it all begins and ends with putting in the hard yards.

7. Don't be afraid to take lessons, I'm not - Jack Nicklaus

When arguably the greatest golfer of all time shows enough humility to realise that he still has room for improvement, we should take heed. No matter how determined to 'go it alone' we may be, checking in with the local pro can greatly benefit our golf game.

Being humble opens up the possibility of learning from others. Taking that lesson into the workplace arena, we should be open to new ideas and collaboration. When taking steps into the unknown in our personal lives, we shouldn't be too proud to turn to others for advice.

8. I never learned anything from a match that I won - Bobby Jones

One of the game's greats, with 13 major championship titles to his name, reminds us that while success is what we all strive for, it's in defeat that we learn more about ourselves.

It's OK to fail if you're committed to learning from it. Failure can motivate us to grind harder in pursuit of success.

9. Success in golf depends less on strength of body and more on strength of mind and character - Arnold Palmer

It's not always the golfer with the greatest skill level or best physical attributes who will prosper. Any player who can pair their golfing ability with a strong mental game will be primed for success on the golf course.

We can quite easily apply Mr Palmer's message to our own daily lives. It's no surprise that those individuals who can best display admirable traits of grit, tenacity, perseverance and drive go the furthest in their endeavours.

10. Competitive golf is played mainly on a five-and-a-half-inch course... the space between your ears - Bobby Jones

We bring our list to a close with another quote again highlights how we can use the mind as the 15th club in our bag.

Golf is an inherently tricky sport, and the last thing we want to do is overcomplicate things. Fiddling with swing mechanics or allowing a mini-meltdown can take away from an otherwise reasonable plan of attack. Trust the skills you bring to the golf course and go ahead and execute.

The mind can also be a powerful companion when navigating the stresses and strains of everyday life. The way we think can shape our personal experiences, so we can change our lives for the better by adopting a positive mental approach to our daily activities.