Making the Cut and Winning a Golf Putting Championship: The Role of Approach-Avoidance Achievement Goals

Abstract

Golf is a global game enjoyed yearly by tens of millions. Effective ways to improve golf performance, especially putting, the club used the most, is of value to all golfers. Hence, the purpose of the present prospective study was to further the knowledge of the impact of approach-avoidance achievement goals on golf putting performance. Participants (N = 175) from university run golf courses participated in a two-round qualifying putting tournament with 81 participants making the cut to the championship round. Achievement goals, at the dispositional level, from Elliot and McGregor’s (2001) 2 × 2 framework (i.e., mastery-approach, masteryavoidance, performance-approach, and performance avoidance) were collected 5 weeks before the tournament, and then, at the contextual level, minutes before each round. Results indicated that those who made the cut line had significantly greater endorsement of the mastery-approach goal and lower endorsement of the performance-avoidance goal compared with those who missed the...