Practice makes perfect. Penalizing in practice hopefully does as well.
The Jefferson City Jays have done something a little different this in qualifying rounds. Miss the fairway off the tee? Add a shot to your score. Miss the green in regulation? Add a stroke.
"I've always put an emphasis on fairways and greens, but I wanted to show them how important it is," Jays coach Randy Bickel said as Jefferson City prepares for today's opener at the Waynesville Quad.
"That helps the mental attitude of playing well every hole. It comes down to thinking your way around the golf course and using good course management."
The Jays will be led by a pair of returning state qualifiers.
Gabe Trowbridge, a senior, tied for 48th last year at state and is entering his fourth season on the varsity.
"That's rare at a large school," Bickel said.
Nathan Erickson, a sophomore, tied for 56th at state last season.
"They are both doing very well, they are very consistent with their ball-striking right now and their course management is very good," Bickel said. "They are both solid players.
"I don't have to worry about them. A bad round for them is a pretty good round for most people."
Bickel said there is strong competition for the spots behind the top two.
"The scores are coming down and they're doing a lot of good things," he said.
Kent Uhlmann, a senior who played some varsity last year, is coming out of the basketball season for Jefferson City.
"He's getting his golf swing back," Bickel said.
Brett Trowbridge, a sophomore, also spent some time on the varsity last season.
"He has matured physically and is coming around," Bickel said.
Other returners in the mix are juniors Wilson Fischer and Hunter Rhoads, along with sophomore Michael Craighead. Two newcomers - freshman Michael Padberg and junior Austin Siebeneck - are also battling for varsity positions.
"We're going to have a lot of competition for the last couple of spots," Bickel said.
Jefferson City enters the season with some well-defined goals.
"We want to win districts, win sectional and go to state as a team," Bickel said. "If we can think our way around the golf course and our short game doesn't fail us, we should be able to accomplish that.
"With a 1-2 like Gabe and Nathan, you can rely on them. If we can get a couple of guys to post good scores, we can do well this year."
Bickel would like the positions to be settled by mid-April.
"We want to have the lineup solidified about two weeks before districts and go from there," he said.
Jefferson City will play districts at Waynesville. The sectional site is still undecided, with the Class 4 state tournament set for Silo Ridge in Bolivar.