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Does your first hole set the tone for the round?

Not for me, I tend to be pretty up and down through a round and can turn on a dime.

Yesterday was a great example, smoked my drive on the first tee, hit a dart with a wedge on approach and had a nice 2 putt for par. Followed with another par (great opening for me as a 19hc) then chunked my approach into the water on 3 and lost my swing for 5ish holes and the card blew up. My opening drive was the only good one I hit all day.
 
No. I just look at the first hole as the start of 18 holes. I have no expectations at #one just starting the day of a round of golf.
 
I've had birdies and doubles on the first hole. Doesn't get me too up or down. It just is. Play in the present and with confidence. Not much difference between a good and bad shot - it's probably a matter of not relaxing or your tempo is off.
 
No, My best rounds typically occur when my first hole isn't great.
 
Not at all. In fact, I usually try to tell myself the opposite - that it’s one hole (good or bad) and there are 17 left to play, and take them one hole at a time.

I’ve had rounds where I was +3 thru 3 and played the remaining 15 holes at E.

I’ve also had rounds where I’ve started -1 thru the first few holes (even a birdie on #1) and end up with a bad score for the day.
 
No. I often drive the ball well off the first tee and then screw up my second or third shot. I rarely make par or better on any first hole I play.

Last round I played I boomed a drive hit a decent second (par 5) then shanked my 3rd shot and carded a double. I will say that did shake me up a little but I recovered with a solid par on the 2nd hole and went on to shoot 78 which is good for me.

That 3rd shot is in my head a little though. I'll have to really grind hard not to let it affect me next time I play that hole.
 
Good question and I believe most golf course architects do what they can to have the first hole a relatively easy one.
 
It can do that to me, but it doesn't have to. A skull or chunk of a pitch can really get in my head early in a round though. It just makes everything else unsure.
 
A good start doesn’t guarantee a good round for me. However a rough start (double or worse) does have a propensity to make the round a bit more grindy for me. I know in my head it’s only one hole but it does get to me a little if the start is that rough
 
This is something I work on. It’s more the cycle of a blow up hole at any point creating a downward spiral to ruin a round. That can happen on the first hole. Or later

if it’s first hole it’s generally a bad swing day that I get stuck in a poor mindset and let that worsen the swing I’m putting on the ball.

instead I have to learn to refocus on a relaxed swing and find away to get back to my proper tempo.
 
If I birdie it. I can only quantify that by my keeping a mental note of my rounds when I birdie the first. In those that I can recall, it was usually the first in a day with a few/many. Doesn’t happen very often, so not very hard to keep tabs.

Most of my better rounds, including my PB and the one before that, started with bird. Conversely, a double to start can get in my head enough that I may not shake it by the next tee and compounded errors are on the table. Wednesday, I started double/double and residually... the wheels officially fell off. Mentally weak!
 
jdtox said:
Bear with me as I lay out this scenario….Yesterday played a tournament, ball down, putt everything out real deal. I hit a drive right down the middle on the first hole. Had 90 yards to the flag and a lie with ball slightly above my feet. Couldn’t decide on what shot to hit and ended up trying to hit a knockdown GW. What happened was I pulled the ball left, got a horrible bounce which ended up in the bunker, then proceed to hit the ball over the green, stub another wedge and eventually make 7 from 90 yards away 🤬

To say I was not thrilled would be an understatement haha. Anyway it seemed that my confidence in my wedges was not at 100% and it cost me multiple shots throughout the round leading me to think that way happened on that first hole affected me the entire day.

On the flip side I’ve had rounds that start out with birdie that never translates to a personal best so who knows found thought it might be a good discussion
Click to expand...
For me, it doesnt. It usually takes me a couple holes to get going. For me, the middle of the front 9 is really what sets the tone for me.
 
RealPretendPsychic said:
I don’t let a bad first hole dictate my round, but a good one can give me a shot moving forward.
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x2...i get a little discouraged but i know i can right the ship...bad tee shots don't discourage me all that much anymore...i have enough confidence that my irons can get me outta that trouble. iron play tells me how the day will go, tho...
 
jdtox said:
Bear with me as I lay out this scenario….Yesterday played a tournament, ball down, putt everything out real deal. I hit a drive right down the middle on the first hole. Had 90 yards to the flag and a lie with ball slightly above my feet. Couldn’t decide on what shot to hit and ended up trying to hit a knockdown GW. What happened was I pulled the ball left, got a horrible bounce which ended up in the bunker, then proceed to hit the ball over the green, stub another wedge and eventually make 7 from 90 yards away 🤬

To say I was not thrilled would be an understatement haha. Anyway it seemed that my confidence in my wedges was not at 100% and it cost me multiple shots throughout the round leading me to think that way happened on that first hole affected me the entire day.

On the flip side I’ve had rounds that start out with birdie that never translates to a personal best so who knows found thought it might be a good discussion
Click to expand...

Generally if i par or better the first hole everything is clicking enough I’ll be in the mid-upper 30’s for nine and mid 70’s for 18.

If I triple it, I’m a head case for the rest of the round.

So yup!
 
First hole is my warm-up hole to shake off the rust for the rest of the round since I usually don't have time to hit the range before I play. If I play the first hole well then cool; if I put up an 8 well bummer but next hole will be better.

Of course I've never played a tourney so I might feel differently in that scenario.
 
jdtox said:
Bear with me as I lay out this scenario….Yesterday played a tournament, ball down, putt everything out real deal. I hit a drive right down the middle on the first hole. Had 90 yards to the flag and a lie with ball slightly above my feet. Couldn’t decide on what shot to hit and ended up trying to hit a knockdown GW. What happened was I pulled the ball left, got a horrible bounce which ended up in the bunker, then proceed to hit the ball over the green, stub another wedge and eventually make 7 from 90 yards away 🤬

To say I was not thrilled would be an understatement haha. Anyway it seemed that my confidence in my wedges was not at 100% and it cost me multiple shots throughout the round leading me to think that way happened on that first hole affected me the entire day.

On the flip side I’ve had rounds that start out with birdie that never translates to a personal best so who knows found thought it might be a good discussion
Click to expand...
I'm with you on this opening feeling, last time out I fairway all 4 holes, 1-3 were all in gap or sand wedge range & all 3 I thinned through the green and scrambled for bogey. Hole 4 I went 6 iron (should've been 4) then 7 iron into the green for a long 2 putt par.
After the first 3 I sacked the edges and started putting my 9 or PW which steadied that part up
 
It depends, but the feeling walking off the 1st green definitely influences at least the first 9 holes.
Mentally it is easier to separate the “front” and “back” 9
 
I have gotten pretty good at forgetting about it and getting on with the round. A short memory is pretty valuable for a golfer.
 
Generally not for me. It is always fun to start with a birdie but I am quite happy to start with a par and feel good about it.
 
jdtox said:
Bear with me as I lay out this scenario….Yesterday played a tournament, ball down, putt everything out real deal. I hit a drive right down the middle on the first hole. Had 90 yards to the flag and a lie with ball slightly above my feet. Couldn’t decide on what shot to hit and ended up trying to hit a knockdown GW. What happened was I pulled the ball left, got a horrible bounce which ended up in the bunker, then proceed to hit the ball over the green, stub another wedge and eventually make 7 from 90 yards away 🤬

To say I was not thrilled would be an understatement haha. Anyway it seemed that my confidence in my wedges was not at 100% and it cost me multiple shots throughout the round leading me to think that way happened on that first hole affected me the entire day.

On the flip side I’ve had rounds that start out with birdie that never translates to a personal best so who knows found thought it might be a good discussion
Click to expand...
Similar start for me in the Southern Hemisphere , rolling off the side the off the green , down hill to the flag walked off with 8 , like a file on a hard disk that irrecoverable , all you can do is . Mark it down and There’s a fresh hole to play . The difference betweeen the best is they put it aside and move on , we lesser mortals have the opportunity to repeat it again and again in the same round lol

Or play a hole or shot that worth the trauma of the hole of disaster, either way we playing a game there’s a lot worse things that could be happening 😊
 
I’ve been a bit inconsistent in my distances this year and it certainly set the tone of the round for me today...
Par 5 520 opening hole into the wind (windy all day) Driver into the fairway about 245.... playing to a number something 100-115 hit 5i on second shot to almost exactly 115... 3rd shot was PW choke down, knock down again dead into a tough wind which I hit thin and nuked it thru the back of the green.... 2 putt par but was never comfortable the entire round and struggled all day with iron confidence
 
Nope
 
No, not really. I try to avoid a blow up hole obviously. But I usually don’t have time for a big warm up pre round. I often will double the first hole and then settle into my routine of 1 par and 2 bogeys every three holes.
 
It can make me feel like I either should have stayed in bed, or today's going to be the day.

And then I walk to the second tee....:p
 
It’s sets the tone for the day, at the very least. A great first hole makes me think good things are ahead. Average makes me happy. If things are really bad on the first hole, it could throw me way off.
 
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