When Irishman Graeme McDowell won the 2010 US Open at Pebble Beach he displayed the brand of golf confidence that every champion golfer possesses when they win big tournaments.
He was cool under pressure, and able to execute his golf strokes with a high degree of personal control.
I believe that any golfer who has a high degree of self-belief, and a mindset that is marked by self-assurance, freedom from uncertainty, embarrassment and doubt has a high degree of golf confidence.
When golf confidence champions perform, they do it without any signs of over-confidence, self-importance or superiority.
They don't boast or sing their own praises, and they don't make excuses when golf shots they hit don't work out.
They simply get on with the job of playing their golf shots to the best of their ability in the moment.
You can learn how to stay cool under pressure and execute your golf strokes with a high degree of personal control like Graeme McDowell, by understanding a very simple attitude adjustment that determines to a great extent whether you can manage the stress associated with playing your best golf or not.
To develop your golf confidence you need to understand that the success of every one of your golf shots is directly proportional to your perception of the situation you're confronted with, and the level of self confidence you have to achieve a satisfying result in that situation, using your existing golf skills.
This simply means that the higher your level of proficiency with a particular club, in a particular situation, the higher your golf confidence level in that particular situation, and a higher probability that you will be successful.
Elevated golf stress levels are generated whenever you face up to a situation where the perceived challenge appears greater than you ability to deal with it.
It would be nice to play the majority of your golf shots from level and perfectly manicured lies on the fairway, but this is far from reality in golf.
You may have noticed that Tiger Woods and other great golfers spend a fair share of their time hitting shots out of long rough, off undulating lies and from under the trees.
Golf is the great game it is because you have to develop your skills and confidence to adapt continually to the different types of terrain and weather conditions that confront you.
If you always play your golf shots from improved lies, then anytime you're confronted with a challenging lie your stress levels will rise and affect your ability to execute your stroke with confidence.
The real art of playing golf confidently therefore is to learn how to match your golf swing with the different clubs in your golf bag to the ever-changing situations and challenging conditions you meet on every golf hole.
You should practice golf shots from uneven lies, all types of grass lies, bare and sandy lies every time you go to the practice fairway.
If you spend your time largely practicing from nicely manicured, level pieces of grass on your practice range, or, you practice off range mats at your local driving range, then you will quickly discover that your confidence levels will be lower, and so will be your success rate when you have to play shots from tough lies.
The 2010 US Open at Pebble Beach was a tremendous challenge for every golfer in the field because of the firm fairways and greens, and the long grass that bordered the narrow fairways.
The United States Golf Association sets up their golf courses this way so that the golfer who wins on them is the one who can adapt continually to the ultimate golf skills challenge.
I remember years ago seeing a video of the great American amateur golfer Bobby Jones demonstrating his tremendous adaptable aptitude for playing golf from the most challenging situations around a golf course.
The challenge put to him by his playing partner (a very incompetent golfer) was that he would hit his tee-shot and Bobby would have to play the ball from wherever it lay until the ball was in the hole.
Bobby's playing partner had a smug look on his face when the great golfer agreed to take up his challenge.
Well, it's fair to say that Bobby Jones had to play his shots from some pretty awful and challenging situations around the golf course, but in every case he was able to extricate his ball from the situation, and get it onto the green or very close to it most times.
He then chipped or pitched his ball close to the hole and made the putts when they mattered.
Bobby Jones like Graeme McDowell proved that they are great golfers not because of their ability to hit beautiful straight drives and accurate irons, but also because of their adaptive skills and confidence at producing good shots from bad situations.
This is the key principle for developing your golf confidence.
Increase your capacity for enduring the challenging situations around the golf course, and you will develop your competency for tolerating the stress associated with playing golf confidently when it really matters.