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How to get rid of "Blow Up" Holes

My big thing to fixing it was to stop trying to force things to happen after a bad shot. Sometimes bogey isn't a bad score.
 
I really try to take one shot at a time. If you hit in an area with no chance of reaching the green, punch out and play for par. You play the hero and you will end up the dud more often than not. It's like JB said take your meds and move on.
 
Course management.

I think it is worth noting this should start before we hit into trouble; it is more than just taking our medicine. It can be all too easy to just step up to the ball and hit. On the rare occassions I play better I find I have a better mental approach, pausing to think strategically about each hole (and shot) before hitting and having a game plan to execute.
 
Stop trying these shots;

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When you get in trouble play the highest percentage shot you can. Trying to be a hero is the quickest way to high scores. Like Phil should have done at the Masters, when there is no shot take an unplayable lie. Its only one stroke.

...and read Golf Without Fear (Dave Pelz). You don't honestly think a pro would play a right handed club left handed without practice? Believe it or not those guys practice pretty much every shot you see them make including the big trouble shots. The book shows you how to play the ten most feared situations on a golf course and the shots needed to play them.
 
Stop think of it as a blow up. I have 6's, heck a 7 every now and then. And, I step up to the next hole, take a deep breath, see the next shot and execute. Not try mind you. Execute. You can't think of it as a blow up, you just write the score. I shot my first par round last week with 2 bogies, a double, and 4 birds. Today, I stayed in the moment, shot 5 birds, an eagle chip, and 3 bogies. That's a 68, and I had a three putt, but I also had 13 one putts. In essence, putt better.
 
Right now I play 14 or 15 holes a round like I am shooting in the high 70s, low 80s, but the other 3 or 4 holes I play like I am shooting 110! Blowup holes are killing me right now.

I know that's not what this thread is about, but it's as good as any to say it in!
 
Smallville said:
Right now I play 14 or 15 holes a round like I am shooting in the high 70s, low 80s, but the other 3 or 4 holes I play like I am shooting 110! Blowup holes are killing me right now.

I know that's not what this thread is about, but it's as good as any to say it in!
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You will get through it my friend... all of us will. Just gotta remember to play smart at all times
 
Man, the blow up hole kills me too. Too bad for me it's not as simple as some make it sound by just "taking your medicine". I've eliminated trying to hit miracle shots from my game, but for me the blow up holes come when I hit 2 or 3 or 4 bad shots in a row. Then it just goes away. Very odd. A lot of rounds I'd be in the 70s if my blow up hole was just a bogey. But usually it's a triple or a quad. Not sure why it happens. But I hope they go away soon.
 
White Rhino said:
You will get through it my friend... all of us will. Just gotta remember to play smart at all times
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Well today I didn't really have any so-called blow up holes, worst hole was a double (unfortunately, I had 5 of those on the front and 1 on the back). 12-over on 6 holes, 6 over on 12 holes.
 
Damaikis said:
Man, the blow up hole kills me too. Too bad for me it's not as simple as some make it sound by just "taking your medicine". I've eliminated trying to hit miracle shots from my game, but for me the blow up holes come when I hit 2 or 3 or 4 bad shots in a row. Then it just goes away. Very odd. A lot of rounds I'd be in the 70s if my blow up hole was just a bogey. But usually it's a triple or a quad. Not sure why it happens. But I hope they go away soon.
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My blow up happens when I hit that errant shot that goes OB or in the water that costs stroke with adding the penalty strokes. I could be playing decent up to that point then I hit one and I wind up taking the 7 on the par 4 or the 6 on the par 3 or even the 8 or 9 on the par 5. Damn frustrating :angry:
 
I think that in this, being a newbie has an advantage... I try to treat each shot as a learning experience, my ego gets left at home. When I do end up in a "bad" place I don't know enough to try any fancy stuff so I try to get out to a place where I can continue my march to the green.

When I do get all frustrated and down on myself, chaos ensues... And nothing goes right.
 
My weakness is "reachable" par 5s. I'm not a long hitter, but on a short par 5 I can have a chance of getting home in two IF I hit a good tee shot in the 250-260 range (about as long as I can get without a strong wind helping) and follow that up with a good fw wood. But to do so makes me want to swing hard on the tee shot and that results in about half of those drives being bad. I need to force myself to hit a 3 hybrid or 5 wood off the tee on those par 5s to force myself to not think about getting home in two, leave myself waaaay too far back to think about a 3 wood to the front of the green - 3 hybrid, 5 iron, wedge, putt for birdie. I'm usually good about taking my medicine and just chipping out on any other type of hole and play for bogey. It's the penalty strokes that kill me more than making a stupid decision after a bad shot. My last round I was +3 on ten holes and +15 on the other eight. If I could even cut those in half and make bogeys instead of doubles on those eight holes I'd have an easy 83 instead of an ugly 90. Stupid game. :)
 
google-ing around I found this thread and I'm impressed it hasn't been touched in more than 2 years. Its so common for me to have the typical blow up holes, for me, there are usually the same holes, the last 3 in my golf course.

I'm a 24 handicapper, usually shoot 96 (my hdcp), lowest round of 91. I've never had a round with no penalty shots, never, not. Even. once in the 5 years I've played golf. So that 96 score average usually carries from 3 to 5 penalty shots.

If you play with me the for the first time you would think I'm a low-mid handicapper just having a bad day. I've been standing in the 16th tee box on 74 shots and I've ended up shooting 103 (yesterday).

My home course has its own version of bear trap, the last 3 holes are 3-1-2 handicap, so the 3 hardest holes in the golf course.

Here are my 2 scenarios:

1. Started of the 1st hole, I've been killing the golf course for 15 holes, then end up the round with 3 more than horrible holes, go home mentally exhausted and sad.

2. Started of the 10th tee, killed the course for 6 holes, totally screw the round in those 3 holes and then I turn to the front nine 1st tee, I don't even want to play anymore because I know I'm not even going to break 100, so I end up shooting 115.

It's so frustrating that I don't even want to play my home course anymore.

when I play my partners sometimes joke with me calling me sandbagger because I carry a 24 hdcp., when I hit the 16th tee box they stop the jokes and see why I'm a 24 hdcp.

Horrible, frustrating and sad.
 
Yep, it's course management.
My rule: ONLY go for par 5's in two if ALL the following rules apply:
1. The distance is within my range.
2. I have a clear shot. Trying to curve around a tree with a long club AND land it on the green decreases your chances of executing.
3. There is no trouble short right or long right. For me, my 3W produces a fade. If I overfade, will I be in water/sand? If it goes straight, is there a bailout to the left? If I am good on both, the shot is clear, and within my distance - I will go for it. Otherwise, lay up.
 
Have you tried working on your mental game at all. We all have had holes that simply do not suit us, or we had a string of bad luck on and then when we get back to that hole, we think to ourselves "ok, don't screw this up." That's not the right way to think about it. We all have to think in the positive, we have to recreate the imagery of that hole in our minds. In short, our subconscious needs to be thinking about all those great shots we hit on other holes, and not how we have played that particular hole(s) in the past.

It takes some work, but the rewards can be astonishing. Sounds to me like you have the game, that you aren't doing anything wrong in course management, but that maybe your mental game is getting in your way.

~Rock
 
Sometimes going for a shot makes sense. Birdies help the card as much as doubles hurt it. The key is managing the miss.

As mentioned early sometimes you have to play sideways and play for bogie.
 
When I look back at my blow up holes they come in all shapes and sizes. Not one particular miss, bad course management or common mistake starts them off. I think most are caused by the space between my ears. I hit one errant shot (of any type) and then I let bad thoughts roll in. I get rushed and out of my normal routine. The negative mindset and rushed tempo are killers for me.


Trying to do better but I think controlling the mental side is tougher than a swing fix. My brain is so stubborn! I have to stay positive, and in routine and know that bogey or even double bogey alone are not going to be round killers.
 
My biggest way to reduce blow up holes is to just chip it out of trouble perpendicular to the hole then hit up.
 
I watch a great deal of golf the last four days. the one thing that struck me was the lack of 'in the moment play'. Staying in the now is key to managing your scores. If you hit into trouble the thought should be 'how do I make the par on the hole'. It should be....'how do I get back into play'.

The forward thinking usually never includes the thoughts about what happen if I don't pull off the hero shot. It's always about pulling off a shot that almost never works.

Look for the spot that gets you back in play and then play the shot at hand. This line of thinking will knock shots off the score
 
cpljohnst said:
Trying to do better but I think controlling the mental side is tougher than a swing fix. My brain is so stubborn!
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I agree with this 100%!
 
Course management is the key. My big thing that keeps me from incurring a lot of them is to not hit a long club if I don't have to. If I can have a short iron into the green and only hit a 4W or hybrid off the tee, that's what I'm going to do, because those clubs are more accurate in general, and much more playable if I miss. Also making sure to not get stupid and try the ridiculous hero shot from the trees, going for a par 5 in two with a lot of trouble, etc.

HOWEVER, the other thing to understand is that even if you make all the right decisions, sometimes you're still going to take a penalty. We all hit bad shots, even with our most reliable clubs. So being able to deal with it, and bounce back and minimize the damage, even if it's taking a double instead of a quad, is really key.
 
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