I'm currently in the midst of perhaps one of the most frustrating things that can happen to one's golf game. No, my swing doesn't feel like an unfolding lawn chair; I just thought that was a cool title. What is happening is that from one hole to the next, my game might be "on" and then suddenly it will turn off like a light switch.

As an example, when I was playing this past Thursday, I got what should have been an unsurmountable lead on my opponent on the front nine, only to see that lead all but vanish 3 holes later. It's very frustrating, because I've always prided myself in being able to maintain a lead when I get one... essentially throwing myself into match play mode mid-round.

Similarly, because of the inconsistency in my game, I'm not able to take advantage of the opportunities that I get. And this is not in relation to my opponent, but in relation to par. I don't know how many holes I have given up to bogey in the past 3 weeks simply because I can't take advantage of either a good drive, good approach or good chip.

And that's perhaps the most frustrating part: it doesn't seem to be tied to any particular part of my game. It's one thing to be able to say, "I was driving the ball well today but my short game was off"... but immensely worse to have to say, "I drove the ball well on the last hole, but then I lost it for the next two, then my driving came back, but I couldn't make a 3 footer."

To have that much variation from hole to hole is driving me nuts. As Harvey Penick says, "stick with the swing that brung you"... but if you can't rely on that same same swing from one hole to the next... what do you do?