Jared Nelson chuckled as he walked to his ball on the fifth green at Bethpage Red. The final round of the Doc Glimmer Invitational wasn’t going precisely as he planned. An opponent opened with a slew of birdies. Jared was losing ground and had just hit a poor approach short of the green.
He was unaffected by it all.
“He stepped up and knocked it to tap-in range,” UConn coach Dave Pezzino said. “It was really casual. His maturity and understanding have come a long way.”
Nelson turned to an idea introduced to him by UConn's mental game coach, John Wartman.
“I have a 10-step rule,” Nelson said. He is allowed to feel upset for his first 10 steps, but then he has to move on and focus on the next shot.