Spring is here and, after The Masters, its time to sharpen your swing. If there is no time for practice, just go play.

Playing is more fun and, on the way to the course, talk to yourself as The Masters’ 2021 champion, Hideki Matsuyama, did going into the 1st round.

“I had no top 10s this year, so I was not confident,” he said. “My confidence was low and had no expectations. Late Wednesday afternoon, I found a little something that helped.”

Since you haven’t practiced, see if it’s possible to think logically and deduce that it’s probably not going to go well. Sounds wrong, or negative, but expect contact to be a problem.

See if you can make a swing and hit the ball on the club face and if you do, smile and be thankful.

If the club and ball contact is successful enough for the ball to get airborne, count that as a reason to celebrate. When you find small swings and putts to be really difficult, don’t be surprised, expect it. The touch and feel swings could be more challenging than full swings.

Now that the struggle is full on, look at this as a chance to exercise “Next Play Mentality” introduced last week by Myles Jenkins of SC High School League Class 5A boys basketball champion River Bluff High School.

Remember what Jenkins had to say?

“If I make a mistake, forget and move on, keep working,” he said.

The two best players I have ever known and watched play golf execute the “next play mentality” are Dustin Johnson, the world’s number 1 golfer, and my son Wesley Bryan.

There are others great at this, but these 2 I know and while I’m not comparing Wesley to Dustin, they are both spectacular.

If you are still with me I’ll make my final point then recognize some locals. If 70 to 80 percent of the great player’s total shots are misses, yours will be too. Yes, sorry but the greatest players on earth miss many many shots. They just enjoy the game despite this fact and they are accepting.

More with Jenkins, next week so be sure to tune in.

Now to the high school roundup. AC Flora won its 5th consecutive tournament to keep their undefeated record intact. The Anderson Brothers Invitational was contested over 2 courses in Florence - the Country Club of South Carolina and Florence Country Club.

Chapin placed 3rd as a team and River Bluff placed 8th. An individual for the Eagles, sophomore Wyatt Harrill, had a competitive personal scoring best shooting 78-79.

“The first day I putted great and the second day my ball striking was solid,” he said. “I had 15 footers for birdie all day long.”

Harbor Town is this week It’s quite special because my son Wesley is playing and it is the 1st event that his entire family will be with him.

Hadley James is 26 months old and Winnie Elizabeth is 12 weeks old. His wife, Elizabeth, is with him too, so I’ll not make a performance prediction.

Know for a fact he will be happier than previous events while traveling alone. He’s playing exceptionally well, so it will be fun to see how he handles this new family frontier.