2. Check certain fundamentals. Go through making sure your grip, your posture and your alignment are OK. Take care of the basics. Jack Nicklaus did that. Every spring he'd go see Jack Grout at Scioto and start working again as though he were a beginner.

3. In an ideal world, take a lesson early in the season. You want to make sure you get your tendencies worked out so when you practice, you know what you're practicing. You don't want to just go bang balls and practice the wrong things.

4. You need to work on your short game. Practice the shots around the greens, chip shots, bunker shots. Get your feel for them. When you haven't been playing a lot, you're going to miss more greens than usual, so you'll need your short game to save you.

5. Spend time on the putting green. It's the game within the game. Work hard practicing the three- and four-footers. Then start working on your long putts, getting a feel for the pace of the greens so you won't be three-putting.