Alert! Personal Scoring Record!

This is Nate under a tree, hitting a golf shot. Normal enough, right? After all, Nate LOVES trees. Here's what you may not know or be thinking about as you watch this short video:

1. Nate's previous shot was a great tee shot that took a bad bounce, causing his ball to roll under a tree

2. Nate didn't get mad. He calmly walked up to his ball and assessed the situation

3. Nate took note of the lie of the ball and the "window" he had to get the ball out

4. Nate is about 120 yards away from the hole. He chooses to take out a club he would typically use from 200 yards away

5. Nate has determined he can't hit the ball through the tree or over the tree. He must hit under the tree

6. Nate has decided he can be aggressive on this shot, rather than just safely punching out to the middle of the fairway

7. Nate then lines up with the ball in the back of his stance to de-loft the club, shortens his swing, finishes with his hands low and firmly punches the ball out from under the tree

8. Nate hits the ball hard enough to roll 360 feet, because too short could leave leave him in the sand trap. But also not too hard. Because hitting it more than 380 feet would put him behind the green and in the dirt above a green that has a huge downslope

9. Nate also aims way to the right of the green. He analyzed the slope of the fairway and uses it to roll the ball to the left naturally

After all these careful considerations, Nate executed a shot that wound up a few feet from the green. This is a ridiculously challenging shot to make.

These are just some of the thoughts that go into pretty much every shot these boys take. Not to mention the pressures of trying to keep up with the other players in your group, making a good score to help your team, and battling the emotional struggles of losing golf balls, missing putts by a centimeter, etc. There are no substitutes to come in for you when you're tired or struggling. There is no cap on how many strokes you can take on a hole. Every shot counts. The boys deal with this for half a day as they navigate an 18-hole round of golf. It is mentally exhausting. Emotionally depleting. And physically challenging. For 5. Straight. Hours. Golf is hard!

Back to Nate... Yesterday he battled through highs and lows all day to shoot his personal best, 99! Breaking 100 is a fun landmark in golf and not a lot of people get to experience it. Congratulations, Nate! Your hard work is paying off big time!