To me, ambient noise in a normal environment on a normal course... for instance cheering at another green, birds, other players hitting, even talking, carts going by, etc... has zero effect on my game. Reason being I feel no pressure to perform with ambient, normal noise going on... I can key it out. People don't give a **** enough to pay money to come see me play bogey golf on a Friday afternoon.<div>
</div><div>Professional golfers, on the other hand, have to deal with crowds... take the Masters. Hundreds of thousands of people pay hundreds, thousands of dollars to come see players play golf... and the numbers of people completely consume tee boxes, greens, and fairways. On top of that, sponsors and coaches are there... Those people are there to see me play golf (if I were a professional golfer... which I am far from...). Noise suddenly becomes an entirely different element... because it's coming from people coming to see us play our best in an environment where we are expected to perform our best. </div><div>
</div><div>So to pull my thoughts together... normal noise on a golf course while I'm hacking a ball down a fairway... does not bother me. Sunday at the Masters and I'm holding a one stroke lead going into Amen Corner... noise can and probably will have a profound effect on the way I focus and play the game. </div>