Does your first hole set the tone for the round?

It usually has no bearing for me. Inevitably during a round I find it, then lose it. Usually a roller coaster of each. Bad shots are going to happen during a round, so it typically doesn't throw me off too much if I start that way.
 
Since I sometimes get first hole jitters, I consider it a chance to get all my bad shots out of my system. Once I'm on the second tee I'm much more relaxed.
 
Starting with a hole like that can be pretty jarring. I started like that today too. Perfect drive, thinned terrible iron shot chunk a chip into a bunker with a horrible lie and hacked it out to 2 putt for a bogey on an easy par 5.

I try to clear the mind on things like that, make a good swing on the next hole.
 
For me...no. The first hole does not set the tone for the round. I have a very short memory when iit comes to bad holes......at least I try.
 
I hope for not getting a double bogey on #1 and can usually shrug off a bad swing by the 2nd tee box
 
I will hold off judgement on my round until four holes have been played. Divide the course in 1/4's. I can usually reset and salvage a decent round that way. Notice I said "usually".
 
I typically do not warm up except for a few putts, so the first hole is where I stretch out and see where misses may trend. I expect to shoot 1 or 2 strokes more than what I would normally do on that particular par. If I make a par or bogie, fantastic. If it is something higher, so be it. I will work on what my misses were on the next hole.
 
my first hole is usually my blow up hole then im usually ok from there
 
Generally speaking no, the first hole does not predetermine the rest of the round. I've had confidence issues based on the first tee shot, certainly. If I hit my first tee shot and it's a big ol' block, I've definitely had rounds where that shakes my confidence so much that I struggle off the tee the rest of the round. But that's a confidence thing, a mental thing. I've worked hard to get over that, and it rarely pops up anymore.

And so, I had a round once where I hit a great tee shot, played the hole well, and had a good birdie chance but came away with an easy par. Shot 74, which would be about 11-12 shots below my average. Had another round where the first hole was a par 3 on a 9 hole course, and I got a HIO. That's 2 strokes better than what I'd normally get on that hole. Still shot my average score, which means I short worse than normal on a couple of holes.

So no, the first hole doesn't mean much for me, at least not anymore.

~Rock
 
No. I know that I will have some bad holes somewhere in the round, and if one of them is on the first, it's just that I got that one out of the way early.
 
Not for me. My thought is that there's plenty of golf left to be played. Especially since our first hole is the #3 handicap, rude way to start!

I've had some great rounds start with a bogey or double on #1, and I've had some not so great rounds start with a par or birdie on #1.
 
I usually plan for a bad first hole and get my initial anxiety out of the way. This isn't always the best plan either, but then I can get my jitters out of the way and focus on the rest of my round. :LOL:
 
I used to think so, but not so much now. I've had some horrible early holes, only to play good golf after that, the converse is also true. I've come to realize that each hole presents its own challenge to succeed or fail - I sometimes forget that and stress too much about how a "busted" hole will affect my score.
 
No, and it can’t. There’s too much golf left to play with plenty of opportunities to recover wasted strokes.
 
It's a no for me. My game is average at best, to horrendous at worst. A birdie or par is certainly welcome, but my game will typically circle itself back to the median.
 
No. Unfortunately, I’ve have a history of starting worse than I finish on league nights after work. I don’t get the chance to hit some balls prior to playing, so I arrive rushed and stiff. Takes a few holes to get going.
 
It can. It depends on a lot of things.
 
It doesn't make much difference for me. Last time out I birdied #1 and #2, time before (different course) I started double bogey, bogey. I ended up +7 both days (good score for me) and I think my mood was essentially the same throughout both rounds. I know that most rounds will have a real good stretch or two and probably a stretch or two of poor play. I never know when they'll pop up just know they almost always do and hopefully the bad stretches aren't too bad or too long.
 
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Hell, it takes me 2-3 holes just to figure out what swing I brought that day.
 
It shouldn't. I've birdied the 1st hole several times, and immediately thought "Today is going to be a special day"......... It was in fact, not a special day. :ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:

Based on that, a triple at the first shouldn't ruin the day either. People always regress to the mean. I used to work with a guy that went to Q school in the early 2000's. Two years in a row he made a 10 on the first hole, and missed advancing by 1-2 strokes. Yeah he blew it on the first, but he was only a few strokes off where he wanted to end the day.
 
After careful observation of my game over several thousand rounds I can conclude with a fair degree of confidence that how I play the first hole has zero predictive power for how I'll be playing a couple hours later on the back nine. I don't ever practice or hit balls before playing (well, almost never) so those first three or four full swings of the day almost anything can happen.

It usually takes a couple holes for me to settle into any sort of groove and even then my game can change literally from one shot to the next. I can be playing great and suddenly can't make a decent swing or I can be hitting it horrible and suddenly start striping it. My game is amazingly random on almost a minute to minute basis.
 
Definitely not for me! Last full round started off the first two holes with perfect drives and approaches and easy 2-putts for par. Everything unraveled from there for about 9 holes before I finally got it back together. Personally I think the better the start I have the more complacent I am on the next few holes. Instead of keeping my swing thoughts I forget about them and start to lose it a bit until I refocus on my swing thoughts again.
 
I wish it would set the tone. That is the hole I probably have the best scoring average. Its a par 5 with water fronting the green. For some reason I hit the hybrids much better on the first few holes than later on. If I hit a decent enough drive there's a good chance I'm laying 3 under 100 yards to the hole. Today I hit a wedge to the fringe on my 3rd shot. A two putt par to start the round.
 
No, I'd say how well I play the first Par 3 is a better yardstick. If I'm playing the Par 3's well, I will likely be rewarded with a decent overall score.
 
I try not to let it set the tone; I try to play a shot to hit the fairway, and be in a spot for the green on the first tee....
 
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