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Blow up holes.

The blow up holes are part of what killed me last year. They seem to come at the most random time which is a really frustrating thing. My best year I ever had was when I basically eliminated those stupid holes.
 
KEV said:
The blow up holes are part of what killed me last year. They seem to come at the most random time which is a really frustrating thing. My best year I ever had was when I basically eliminated those stupid holes.
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I am thinking there is a process, whether it be redoing pre-shot routine, drinking water, singing, walking in circles, jumping jacks, balancing on one leg, got to be something that minimizes this random event. The part that is going to be a problem is who can predict when this blowup is to occur. Kind of like saying how do you fix what you don't know is going to happen?
 
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This is what usually keeps me from posting a really good score. Hard to go low with an 8 or 9 on the card.
 
Its inevitable that I'm going have at least one per 9.
 
Carolina Dundee said:
This is what usually keeps me from posting a really good score. Hard to go low with an 8 or 9 on the card.
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I am a fairly high handicapper, but if I did not have the occasional 8/9/10 score, my game would be SO much better! I might actually look like I could play golf LOL
 
Once on a short par 70 course I went out 33 or -2 and went in 52 or +17 for an 85.

Blow up holes? I have blow up 9s.
 
blow up holes really f up my handicap, but that same handicap is inflated due to blow up holes, so it really actually helps me in match play when using handicaps. As a blow up hole only costs one not a match, like with stroke play.
 
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I've reduced my blow up holes by really trying to concentrate on the current shot. I talk to myself. "Nothign you can do about the past, and nothing you can do about the future. Just execute this shot."

It has helped me a great deal. I cannot say I am always successful with this approach, but I can say that it helps.

One other thing I do is, if I am not hitting a particular club well on a given day, I give up on that club. Leave it in the bag and go with something else.
 
I haven't at all been able to remove the probability for blow-up holes from my game. I have been able to effectively limit their intensity, just not their inevitability.
 
robrandalgz said:
This is me exactly. I can go on a 3-4 hole run where I actually look like I know what I'm doing (maybe even be under par for that stretch) and do a complete 180 and play like a 36+ handicap for 4 holes straight. It's maddening.
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Same here. I often go -1 over a three hole stretch, followed by +9 over the next three.
 
Thinking more about blow up holes, the thing that bugs me is that they happen to me in so many different ways. Preventing them is not as simple as just fix A or B. And there are also blow up holes where I hit good shots and yet boom. How did that happen? It's like the golf gods decided I needed a little extra torture.
 
My worst hole last year was an 11. It started on the par five 5th hole, 451 yds. Not long but the hole is tree lined with tall pines. I pulled my drive about 220 into the blackberries. I found the ball, and took and a double unplayable, because I couldn't take a stance on the first one. This left me with a choice of chipping back out onto the fairway or trying to advance the ball with a 5H which would have settled up about 20 yds short of the greenside bunkers. I nailed the shot, except I pulled it and it ricocheted left off a large pine further into the woods. Fortunately it had gone about 100 yds. Again I had a choice of chipping out, but I had a clear shot of getting the ball pin high on the black tees of the 6th hole. What to do? What to do? I decided to play it there to the 6th tees. I hit the ball perfectly and had an easy pitch shot that I could get close and one putt for a double, right? Wrong. I skulled the pitch over the green into the deep greenside bunker. And like an idiot I thought I could get out in one. :censored: Three shots later I finally was out of the bunker, barely, and in the rough at 9. Duffed the chip and barely got onto the green, and then drained a 45 foot putt to save hexabogey or 11.?

It's amazing how those long putts drop on blow up holes.
 
mikeg_74 said:
I'm good for one a round....never fails and it's like clockwork....forces me to scramble and save the round. I don't know how or why it happens, but it's really uncanny at this point.
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Yup, I’m a member of that club as well. I’m good for at least one a round and then it puts me in a struggle to keep things going. Am working on it...slowly.
 
For me, blowup holes are like the bullet in Russian roulette. Each non-blowup hole (for me, bogey or better) is a "click" as the hammer strikes an empty chamber. So more decent holes I string together, the more my brain starts anticipating a blowup, which of course eventually becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. My most frequent golf buddy has a habit of complementing my scorecard if I'm stringing a bunch of good holes together. He's kidding of course. Naturally he knows that just pointing out that I'm doing well is generally enough to cause the next hole to be a dumpster fire. lol (I do it to him too. It's all good.)

Obviously what I'm describing is not a STRONG mental game. I've been working on altering my mental picture to visualize the round blowup-free, keeping my mind calm and absent any golf drama. When I hit a shot that doesn't go quite where I wanted it to, I try to immediately control the mental reaction and calmly switch to visualizing the next shot. It's still a work in progress and probably always will be. But it seems to be helping a little.

I also notice a greater possibility of blowups as the round progresses and I start to get a little tired. I have to be very intentional with my posture and my hip rotation or the late-round laziness grabs me and I chunk a few shots in a row.
 
It wouldn’t be a round for me if I didn’t have a blow up hole. It’s just part of the game. I keep telling myself, one day that it won’t happen but it always does. I prefer to remember the good shots and forget the blow up hole or sometimes holes! ?‍♂️
 
I identify with this... very common for me to card an "other" or two during an otherwise fairly clean round...
 
When i low up a hole, i change balls. I may go back to it after things change a round, but there will be a change
 
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