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8) Holding on to bad shots? Emotionally, does he mean?
10) starting poorly; That would be my poor tee shots, or does he mean starting the game poorly. I do that too often, taking a few holes to warm up. Possibly trying to whack them too hard and forgetting to watch the ball is my problem ( in golf)
For me 1,5,7 are things that I do often.
8 emotionally, how many times do people hit a bad shot or have an out and think I am playing so bad or fiddle with swing or get ngry on next two tee shots.
10 starting off poorly, means exactly that, not being prepared to play no warm up or practice putt, then 3 putt first 3 holes etc and or starting with bad holes from being to aggressive. start slowly build in ot the round.
Yep I do 8 as you described… did so today, frustrated that I wasn’t striking it the way I was the last couple practice rounds and it went from bad to worse… mental side of golf is huge.
I’m currently 18.8 but I haven’t played my 20 rounds yet so it’s not accurate and gone from 16.2 to 18.8 after 2 higher rounds..
Goal is to keep it under 21 once the 20 rounds are up and then work down from there.
Interesting reading that back… I find it speeds it up a lot because you don’t have to stop.. I just complete the score as I am walking to the next tee box.. I don’t think I’ve had to physically stop and stand still to enter a score or check a score once..
The gps is a bit slow to give the distances but once I worked that out I just get my phone out about 30 meters before I arrive to my ball and by the time I have arrived the distance has caught up.
Special, from your description of “spitting out low”, I assume you are de-lofting the club considerably and trying to blast the ball out with a large handful of sand. While that can be made to work, it has its problems.
I’d recommend Phil Mickelson’s bunker CD for good guidance.You haven’t t told us anything about the loft and bounce angle of the club you usually use and about the consistency and texture of the sand.
I try keep the face open and hands central, i use a 60 degree for sand shots..
I think it is probably taking too much sand.. the bunkers are reasonably soft and deep with sand.. wetter weather make them a bit more condensed and harder to get under however.. If i miss i do one of 2 things… scoot through the sand and thin the ball out or take too much sand and it doesn’t get out.
The longer further back ones I tend to take a larger swing that takes way more sand where as the closer ones I have a comfortable tempo and it gets out ok.
Talk with your coach and learn the correct technique,which is same as hitting over a bunker.
As Old bogey says talk with your coach about the bounce on your wedge.
do you have a 56 deg with 10 to 12 deg bounce will hit ball higher out of soft sand than a 60 deg which it sound like you are digging in.
at Cranbourne the bunkers are deep, so try and avoid them.I’ve got a sand wedge but I don’t really know anything about bounce so no idea… I’ll try the SW see if i feel any better with it.. it’s really just those further back ones that worry me.. sometimes feels it’s about 5 meters or more back that I’ve gotta lift it, carry it, then stop it which is the shot I find intimidating at the moment.
You are right, they are deep and everywhere and it’s probably the difference on a lot of holes if I just miss slightly I find myself in one and under real pressure to stay in the hole.. The good news is I’m making it up there to them (which earlier wasn’t always the case) and if I improve marginally I’ll start missing them and make more pars!
Special, from your description of “spitting out low”, I assume you are de-lofting the club considerably and trying to blast the ball out with a large handful of sand. While that can be made to work, it has its problems.
I’d recommend Phil Mickelson’s bunker CD for good guidance.You haven’t t told us anything about the loft and bounce angle of the club you usually use and about the consistency and texture of the sand.
I try keep the face open and hands central, i use a 60 degree for sand shots..
I think it is probably taking too much sand.. the bunkers are reasonably soft and deep with sand.. wetter weather make them a bit more condensed and harder to get under however.. If i miss i do one of 2 things… scoot through the sand and thin the ball out or take too much sand and it doesn’t get out.
The longer further back ones I tend to take a larger swing that takes way more sand where as the closer ones I have a comfortable tempo and it gets out ok.
Ever have those days where you feel like you are playing really well but your score indicates you played like a big bag of shit?
I had one of those today.. scored -8 in par playing off 18. But for the first time I actually felt like I was playing to my hc but the score did not reflect it whatsoever. I was in pretty much every hole but a game of inches, marginal mistakes were turning par opportunities into doubles.
Putting and bunker play was the worst I’ve been for quite some time, couldn’t get out of a couple of bunkers and picked up and 3 putted honestly about 6 times. Had some birdie putts turned into bogies and par putts turned into wipes. Also had a lost ball on 2 holes despite being in a good position and just completely miss hit one into the thick bush.
But I’ve always been most concerned with the long game and today the driver performed well which was nice. Was in most holes and just blew it around the green and the sand so positive is I’m normally not too bad in that area of the game, so if I can keep striking it like that it will come together. I could have so easily been 0 today as it turned out I had -8.
Positives!
Never focus on your score, it builds tension, focus on the process of how you go about playing..
look back almost certainly your poor bunker shots came about not because of technique, but because you tried to get close instead of just getting out.
dont put a value on the putt, ie its for a par or birdie, as each putt is same value its just on shot.
How do you define a birdie putt.? realistic anything more than 10 ft 3m is at best a good chance for 2 putt.
bet your 6x 3 putts came about because you tried to make the putts for birdie, ran first on 2m past then missed next one, Yes.
instead of lagging close when putting from more than 3m.2 of them were probably 2-3 meters but a bit down hill that i rolled another 2-3 meters past.. was cringe worthy stuff… In saying that I was playing around with different styles for gripping the putter and each had a different feel on how hard i would hit the ball..
I played a practice 9 tonight after work and the rest of my game is really coming together. I shot 45 which for my goal of breaking 90 is close. Just need to be a bit cleaner.. approach shots sticking on the green and not going off the back or in a bunker etc…
practiced putting and bunker shots on the 18th after.. putting a bit better..
I really struggle with the bunker shots that are really deep in a bunker and a long way back.. the ones that you have to lift a lot higher and further in the air to get out.. my bunker shots don’t tend to get awfully high they more kind of spit out lower, so I’m ok when I’m closer to the edge but struggle with the one I described… any tips for these ones guys??
I couldn’t understand his mind set on that hole. I understand his good results have come from taking risks and being aggressive.. but he was still inside the cut line and he tried the exact same shot 3 times!!!
Surely after the first out of bounds ball.. which even the commentators were lost for words as to why he was attempting that shot to begin with.. he’d take the medicine walk away with a bogey or a double and stay in the cut line.. was mind boggling stuff..
I suppose he lives and dies by the sword..
Ever have those days where you feel like you are playing really well but your score indicates you played like a big bag of shit?
I had one of those today.. scored -8 in par playing off 18. But for the first time I actually felt like I was playing to my hc but the score did not reflect it whatsoever. I was in pretty much every hole but a game of inches, marginal mistakes were turning par opportunities into doubles.
Putting and bunker play was the worst I’ve been for quite some time, couldn’t get out of a couple of bunkers and picked up and 3 putted honestly about 6 times. Had some birdie putts turned into bogies and par putts turned into wipes. Also had a lost ball on 2 holes despite being in a good position and just completely miss hit one into the thick bush.
But I’ve always been most concerned with the long game and today the driver performed well which was nice. Was in most holes and just blew it around the green and the sand so positive is I’m normally not too bad in that area of the game, so if I can keep striking it like that it will come together. I could have so easily been 0 today as it turned out I had -8.
Positives!
and the actions of those muppets aside, the flip side of that is how you react to the feeling of being pressured and rushed from the group behind too.
There will be times that stuff simply happens and for reasons that aren’t specifically your doing – like a couple of the group hits some OB and then some of your group taking your allocated time for a lost ball, all of a sudden it can add up if the group behind has had a good run and they are standing behind you looking like the royal tea-pots they are.for next time you’re stuck behind some silly punters with their pants tucked into their socks playing slow golf, what can you do?
could you take the sandwedge out of your bag that you threw back in quickly the hole before to keep on moving and give that a clean? Get the mud off it, get a tee into the grooves, just shit like that to take your mind off the inevitable wait and make use of this time?
The answer to that is be anything other than a tea-pot.The last suggestion is good advice. Will take that on next time.
As I said we understand slow game play will be a thing but it was hard to accept it when we were just standing there for 5 minutes at a time watching some of those things that they were doing it was genuinely ridiculous.
My mate who was playing with me works in a pro shop and plays a lot of golf and said it was the worst behaviour for slow play he’d ever witnessed, but we both definitely let it get to us.
Point taken find other ways to not let it throw you off!
In saying that it’s certainly not the only reason I completely shit the bed and played horrifically after the first 6 holes.
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Slow game movement got in my head today. I was 0 through 6 in par and my mate was -1. But around the 4th hole we started getting really agitated at some of the things the group in front of us were doing.
They’d stand and wait for the group in front to leave the green, then only once they’d left the green would they measure the distance, pick a club, have about 4 practice swings then hit. While the partner would stand and watch, then walk over to his ball which he could have got to while his partner was hitting, then do the same thing. One time they were on there second shot on a par 5, and waited until the group in front were off the green to hit. They were not great golfers so no chance in hell were they making it from 250+ out.
They’d mark their balls each time, wait for the mate to putt and second putt, when they could quite easily putt in between. Then once mate was finished would put ball down, read the putt from about 3 different angles, practice putt then finally hit it.
By the 14th or 15th one of the guys would start playing a practice ball every time he didn’t like a shot he hit.. did it about 3-4 times.
Each time they did one of these things we’d just have to stand and wait and watch it all happen. We understand it’s busy and its going to be slow, but was infuriating that they weren’t ready to hit each time it was clear. If you’re waiting, be ready to hit you know?
Our golf was shit but it definitely got our noses out of joint big time it was a talking point for us every hole. I went -10 my mate went -11. Fair to say we made a complaint.
Played a few round recently, tried using my old mans old driver. It has a shorter shaft (despite him being 6ft6 thought would be longer than mine), and feels like it has a bit more weight in the head. I seem to be squaring the face up quicker with it and finding a lot more fair ways. Still have the odd one where I get a bit loose and the hands open right up goes flying right, but probably finding 2/3 fairways the last 2 rounds with it, as opposed to basically none.
Yesterdays round started horrifically, couldn’t find a fairway to start and the irons were cutting a fair bit. Started with 55 on the front, couldn’t get much worse and then had a 44 on the back. Difference was finding more fairways, the long irons were still off but at least they were up there and i could chip on and 2 putt for a bogey. Was like 2 different golfers.
Got the first handicap and I got to say I am a little confused. It’s 16.1 when my best round I put in was a 97. So i expect I’ll blow that right out and will be a little bit until I have a hc I can play too.
Not sure if this is exactly right Special, but I think for the purpose of handicap they only allow for double bogey on any given hole, so even though you may have had a 97 as your best, take off any triples and above and you may have only had a 90. Same goes for the other h’cap cards. Have you been given your handicap off 3 cards or 5? If three, then yeah it will go out a bit.
That sounds about right, I had a few holes triple or above in my last 2 rounds, outside of that quite a few pars and a couple birdies.
I expect I won’t have a hc I’ll be able to play to for quite a few rounds but that’s ok it’s all progressing nicely anyway.
You arent supposed to play to your handicap everytime,
Back to Basics: Handicapping 101 – Playing to Your Handicap
What does “playing to your handicap” mean, and how often are you going to actually do it? Having a good understanding of what your chances are will not only help you make sense of the Handicap System, you won’t feel so badly those times when you don’t hit your number!The first thing to know is how important USGA Course Rating is, and exactly how it plays into the equation.
Ever heard the term “Target Score”? Let’s say you’ve entered a tournament at Stone Creek GC, and you’re going to play the Blue tees, which has a Course Rating of 71.4 and a Slope Rating of 127. What’s the best score you could probably hope to shoot that day? Your Handicap Index is a 15.2, so it converts to 17 (using Course Handicap Tables or “Conversion Charts”). Now add the 17 to 71.4 for a total of 88 (rounded). This means you’ve played to your handicap for the tournament, which is a good showing!
This little bit of math illustrates that playing to your handicap is not about how well you think you played or the number of putts you had, but a measurable number. Notice that par has not been mentioned? That’s because playing to your handicap is not how your net score relates to par (forget about par – it just doesn’t give you enough information about a golf course’s difficulty in order to relate it to handicapping).
How often should you play to your handicap? Taking each component of the Handicap System formula into consideration, at the end of the day, playing to your handicap actually happens only once out of four to five rounds. But don’t get discouraged – there’s a good reason the USGA came up with this probability.
Even though all scores must be posted (the system needs lots of data to work correctly) the formula bases your Handicap Index on the better half of them. If, however, all of them were used, players with higher handicaps would see significant increases while those with lower handicaps would not increase as much. This would tip the balance of the system heavily toward higher handicap players.
So keep setting your target to play to your handicap – it’s good to have a goal! – but don’t feel badly if you only play to it 20-25% of the time.
Thanks for that, makes perfect sense! and I know most only play to the HC a small percentage of times. I suppose it is just difficult to get my head around when the title of this thread is ‘can I break 90’, 16 seems awfully low, but I know that will come out to a more even number. The 44 on the back yesterday gives me hope it’s not far off though!
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A high slice is due to the club face being open in relation to the direction the club head is travelling at impact. The most likely reason is a cupped lead wrist (left wrist for RH golfers). The reason for cupping is because you want to hit the ball up so your subconcious helps you out by opening the club. You need to swing with a flat left wrist.
Hold your left arm out horizontally, palm facing the ground, flat left wrist. Tilt your hand up, as indicating ‘stop’, your wrist is now cupped. Tilt your hand down so your palm faces your knees, that is now bowed.
Now take your normal stance with your driver with a square club face (at right angles to the target line). Deliberately cup your left wrist and see what happens to the club face angle. If you do that through impact, you’ll get a high slice right. So do your best to always swing with a flat left wrist.
A shorter driver is easier to control and a heavier club head provides better feel.
Pretty much exactly what my coach has been working with me on. I’ve been getting it but then slightly change it without realising it. Just have to keep focusing on it!
The change in driver has definitely made a difference.
Played a few round recently, tried using my old mans old driver. It has a shorter shaft (despite him being 6ft6 thought would be longer than mine), and feels like it has a bit more weight in the head. I seem to be squaring the face up quicker with it and finding a lot more fair ways. Still have the odd one where I get a bit loose and the hands open right up goes flying right, but probably finding 2/3 fairways the last 2 rounds with it, as opposed to basically none.
Yesterdays round started horrifically, couldn’t find a fairway to start and the irons were cutting a fair bit. Started with 55 on the front, couldn’t get much worse and then had a 44 on the back. Difference was finding more fairways, the long irons were still off but at least they were up there and i could chip on and 2 putt for a bogey. Was like 2 different golfers.
Got the first handicap and I got to say I am a little confused. It’s 16.1 when my best round I put in was a 97. So i expect I’ll blow that right out and will be a little bit until I have a hc I can play too.
Not sure if this is exactly right Special, but I think for the purpose of handicap they only allow for double bogey on any given hole, so even though you may have had a 97 as your best, take off any triples and above and you may have only had a 90. Same goes for the other h’cap cards. Have you been given your handicap off 3 cards or 5? If three, then yeah it will go out a bit.
That sounds about right, I had a few holes triple or above in my last 2 rounds, outside of that quite a few pars and a couple birdies.
I expect I won’t have a hc I’ll be able to play to for quite a few rounds but that’s ok it’s all progressing nicely anyway.
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Played a few round recently, tried using my old mans old driver. It has a shorter shaft (despite him being 6ft6 thought would be longer than mine), and feels like it has a bit more weight in the head. I seem to be squaring the face up quicker with it and finding a lot more fair ways. Still have the odd one where I get a bit loose and the hands open right up goes flying right, but probably finding 2/3 fairways the last 2 rounds with it, as opposed to basically none.
Yesterdays round started horrifically, couldn’t find a fairway to start and the irons were cutting a fair bit. Started with 55 on the front, couldn’t get much worse and then had a 44 on the back. Difference was finding more fairways, the long irons were still off but at least they were up there and i could chip on and 2 putt for a bogey. Was like 2 different golfers.
Got the first handicap and I got to say I am a little confused. It’s 16.1 when my best round I put in was a 97. So i expect I’ll blow that right out and will be a little bit until I have a hc I can play too.
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Leave the Driver in the bag and find a club you can hit about 160 m for tee shots and stay on the fairway (4W, 5W, 3 Hybrid?)
When you can control your slice , try the Driver again.
My highest iron is a 5 i probably hit that somewhere between 150 and 160. Have a hybrid and a 3 wood. Can hit the hybrid reasonably, 3 wood comes out similar to the driver so I just leave it alone. I spose that’s why I’m persisting with trying to get the driver swing right, because at the moment I have a handle on the iron swing. If i could find just every second fairway at least I’d have shot under 90 the last few rounds, comfortably. But at the moment I;m pretty much hitting 0 fairways, second shot a lay up, 3rd shot a long shot in because I’m so far back from the sliced right tee shot.
Fact I’m still registering pars and bogies with that type of result off the tee, If I can just figure out this driver swing I’ll be on my way.
Cranbourne has lots of tight tree lined holes, so you are better to leave driver in bag, and play with 3w.
nothing says you have to hit driver on any holes.as XRman says, you are better to be 165m in fwy with a 5 iron or hybrid than 220 in trees with a driver.
I get the theory behind it in terms of it;s better for my scores but long term I have to learn how to use it!
Had my third lesson tonight and focused on the driver, I’m not getting my hands through a head of my body so I know what I’ve got to work on with it.
