When (if ever) do you give up?

OGputtnfool

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 17, 2018
Messages
16,230
Reaction score
4,352
Location
Edmond, Oklahoma (NW OKC)
Handicap
-10.0
So, I feel like I'm a fairly optimistic player and I do my best to stay in the moment and not let my bad holes drain me. I go into each round hoping for a 70's round, figuring I'll be content with low 80's, flustered, but not upset with mid-upper 80's, and totally dejected with 90+. Anyway, I can stay in it even after a terrible hole if it's early in the round, but if I have a bad hole (I took a 9 on a par 4 on 16 last round) late in the round, I'll abandon all care and start hitting crazy shots. I'll hit driver when I would normally hit 3wd or less, I'll try flop shots when I'd usually try low runner, etc. I figure if the round is "over" I might as well learn a little bit and put some "off the wall" shots in my memory bank for later.

What say you? Do you grind it out no matter how bad the round gets?
 
I will often not play with the same intensity after a round goes bad but always stick it out until the end.
 
I will grind it out, but there have been days I just walked thru the motions the last couple holes. I also tend to get even more gambling if my round is going bad. I am like why not maybe I will get lucky.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Ugh last round I gave up on the 17th when I faded my tee shot into the trees, had a great line but made poor contact with the ball and basically duffed my hybo, then a couple wedge shots and finished with a triple bogey

So 18 I just said F it, we already lost the match, so swung away at driver (lost another ball), and also left my 54* on the last couple holes ... I hate when I get that pissed, rarely ever happens but it doesn't look good

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 
I have on one occasion turned off my ShotScope after the 8th hole - then (as I would expect to happen) when I stopped caring, things settled down. So I try to apply that lesson to every shot: no good shots, no bad shots, just the next shot.

To quote my favorite star trek movie, never give up, never surrender!
 
If I am playing in my usual weekend "points" games, I will still be trying to grind out a couple points on the final holes for my team no matter how bad it's going.

The only exception would be those rounds once a year or so where not only myself but all three of the other guys are shooting way over our handicaps and miles out of contention. Sometimes (very rarely) those days are bad enough that none of us really give a damn by the 17th or 18th hole.

If I am playing by myself (17 hcp), in an individual competition of some kind or playing alongside others but not competing I have a hard time concentrating once I hit about 90 strokes and still haven't reached the 18th hole. I know if the round is going into GHIN it's supposed to be my best effort but with nothing actually on the line I can't pretend I am grinding over every shot on the last hole to try and save a 95 instead of shooting 97 or 98.
 
I'll keep playing if there's skins still available, but once I'm closed out and done with presses my interest goes down. I pick up whenever I'm already 2 over on damn near any hole.
 
Always play to the end, I might not be as enthusiastic but I will finish the round.
 
Never give up. Always try to score as well as I can on any given hole.

giphy-9.gif
 
I don't think I've ever given up, but sometimes things go so far south I do lose interest, then I snap out of it and use the remainder of the round to get my sh!t together because I usually have a partner counting on me to get my sh!t together:bulgy-eyes:
 
oh there's absolutely a point when i stop caring. when the score goes to sh1t because of a few blow-up holes, i'm totally checked out mentally and start trying stupid shots just like you mention in the op.
 
I haven't given up since I was 8 years old playing with my father. Young kid, throwing temper tantrums & clubs. I would get mad & my father would literally send me to the car & wait until he was done playing. He did this multiple times until I learned not to get so pissed off at playing bad. So in reality, I never quit ... my father Made me quit. :act-up:
 
All good responses. For the record, I guess "give up" wasn't a good choice of words. More to the point, at what point do you stop caring about your score because you know it's futile that day? I don't know that I've ever walked off because of poor play. Maybe once or twice after nine when planning on 18, but I know I've never left at hole 7 or hole 15 or something like that.
 
OGputtnfool;n8884956 said:
All good responses. For the record, I guess "give up" wasn't a good choice of words. More to the point, at what point do you stop caring about your score because you know it's futile that day? I don't know that I've ever walked off because of poor play. Maybe once or twice after nine when planning on 18, but I know I've never left at hole 7 or hole 15 or something like that.

In that case, I can that has been done plenty of times. I'm just sick of playing poorly, that I'm just out there swinging, hitting multiple shots
 
Former Marine....no such thing as give up. That would be the same as quitting to me and I don't understand that either. I was born for grinding it out in everything. Boxing while in the Corp, fishing for bass cash for 18 years, playing paintball for cash for another 6 years, whatever it is. See it through. Learn from it. Repeat.
 
I'm kinda like you OG, at least lately. The rest of my life is so complicated right now I don't have the patience. I'll try miraculous shots, putt with whatever I have in my hand. Sometimes I'll pick my ball up after my tee shot or approach and go to the next hole. I do it so much that Arccos sends me emails to make sure I understand how to use the system lol. Golf is hard enough as it is without being stressed and frustrated before I even tee off. I started gravitating to my other hobbies lately.

Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk
 
It really depends on if i am playing solo, with a group, tournament, etc. Generally I will keep on playing my normal game but every now and then i will play kind of a go for broke unit it’s late in the round and trying some different shots out.
 
I don't think I've ever quit early, per se. I did, however, decided to call it quits after losing a ball in the bushes by the green on 18 the other day. It was getting late, and I couldn't find it. So I guess I gave up.
 
I might pull the pin on a hole once in a while, but there is always another ready to go on the next tee box.
 
I am always playing match play or skins. Those holes don't matter, it's on to the next one for me.
 
If I'm playing horrible and there's nothing on the line I'll check out. I need to try and find other ways to enjoy the round if my score sucks.
 
If I'm just playing a stroke play round I definitely have a point where I'll just check out. On those days where the swing didn't show up and I have no ability to grind I just end up going through the motions out there.
 
DucatiGirl;n8884764 said:
I have on one occasion turned off my ShotScope after the 8th hole - then (as I would expect to happen) when I stopped caring, things settled down. So I try to apply that lesson to every shot: no good shots, no bad shots, just the next shot.

To quote my favorite star trek movie, never give up, never surrender!

Weird how that works, ain’t it?
 
To the OP, I have been know to call a round after a few bad holes, but I don’t go far afield to try shots that are way out of the realm of my possibilities.

I’ll consider it a practice round, and try to do just that, practice my meat and potato shots. Getting those better will help me more than trying shots I will not often need. Heck, why practice a flop when I can practice a shot/approach/etc. that will keep me from needing to flop a ball?
 
Back
Top