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How Has Your Game Changed During COVID--And Why?

HarlettoScara said:
My game has been a bit of a rollercoaster, I had a whole new bag of clubs that arrived a couple of days before the first lockdown, meaning they just sat in my hallway looking hopeful for weeks and weeks! Once things opened up, I played as much as I could on the course and also the range and made every second count, and I was playing better than ever. The new lockdown is upon us, and whilst the courses are open here, my course is too frozen to be able to play and the range booking has become so restrictive that it's tough to get a bay even for half an hour. Obviously short game will have suffered, with the weather and restrictions, there is nowhere to practice that at all, and my greenside skills were already shaky at best.
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THP Experiences...:D
 
jfrigo1003 said:
well covid's had no affect on my game..... but being recently married and now having a 4yr old step son has plummeted my game lol. No more indoor putting green and no going to the range whenever I want (which was usually 4x a week). I hit balls for the first time 2 weeks ago since October and I shanked about 50% of them
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One of the wonderful things about golf is that it is a sport for a lifetime! There are ebbs and flows in life. The time you are investing in that 4 year old son can change his life for the better. God bless you for what you are doing with him. You may even find a time in the future where the two of you can enjoy golf together.
 
Once courses opened up I played a lot more and joined a club for the first time on a long time. Overall it has been good for my game.
 
my game has improved...dramatically...but it's not like the bar was set high in the first place.
 
TCB2010 said:
I am a terrible chipper. It made me practice on my short game and I did probably from April till August. It was nice.
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I was having problems with my short game pre covid. Then the driving range and golf courses closed down for a few weeks around here. I got bored so I'd take my ball shagger and bucket of balls out to a park a few blocks from me. My short game did improve with that. My overall scores didn't show it at first, but I could tell my game was improving. And the short game today is much better. So are my scores now.
 
It’s harder to book tee times now with every course being so crowded. So I am only playing on Sunday mornings.

Pre-covid I could walk on at several courses as a single when I had some free time to get out and play.


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Yup
tehuti said:
It’s harder to book tee times now with every course being so crowded. So I am inly playing on Sunday mornings.

Pre-covid I could walk on at several courses as a single when I had some free time to get out and play.


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Yeah, seeing that here as well. Getting on anywhere as a visitor is almost impossible, and even as a member you have to be hovering over the book button the second it opens up. All tee times for the day tend to be booked solid within about 10 mins of the sheet opening up.
 
HarlettoScara said:
Yup

Yeah, seeing that here as well. Getting on anywhere as a visitor is almost impossible, and even as a member you have to be hovering over the book button the second it opens up. All tee times for the day tend to be booked solid within about 10 mins of the sheet opening up.
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If I don't book a week in advance at most courses I am looking at 3:30 PM or later tee times on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Plus some courses will only let you book twosomes or even threesomes and above.
 
tehuti said:
If I don't book a week in advance at most courses I am looking at 3:30 PM or later tee times on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Plus some courses will only let you book twosomes or even threesomes and above.
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Sounds familiar. Big issue here is that during this time of year it’s dark by about 5pm and doesn’t really get light enough for a game after work for a long while yet. And weekends are just booked absolutely solid, and we have two courses at our club. Crazy times.
 
Mine did not change as courses were open around here as normal since last April. Our indoor simulators at the club are also open this winter after installing a large are purifier/HEPA filter and I'll be using those several times a months in February and March to get ready for the new season.
 
I improved a lot, over recent years. Golf was one of the few things we did on a regular basis. I golfed more last year than any year before I had kids (last 8 years). We went out as a family at least once a week, and sometimes I could get a few 18 holes in during the week (in under 2 hours). It was super nice being 12 minutes away and just being able to walk on and play anytime. My handicap when down 5 strokes this year, to a 13.
 
I have played a lot more since COVID started. I guess I have gotten slightly better/more consistent, but that is likely due to the frequency of play. I have also started making a point to walk more when I play.
 
It's actually improved our tee time situation here now. A lot of our usual winter snowbirds couldn't/chose not to make the migration south for the winter, so our course isn't nearly as crowded with them as it usually is. I just jumped on the online tee sheet and booked a 0900 tee time for tomorrow. Everything from 0945-noon was booked up by leagues, but it was pretty wide open before and after that. Usually this time of year the tee sheet is booked pretty solid all day long - as members we can make our tee times well in advance, but usually at this time of year you can forget about walking on if you decide to play at the last minute.
 
Despite courses being more crowded, I’ve actually played more. I also started taking lessons. My game is better than it ever has been, and I hope to improve a little more.
 
richhoff said:
I played the best golf of my life....so far. Being retired, I played 212 rounds last year. Covid made me much more cautious. I insist on a cart by myself. I would walk, but the club I belong to is very hilly with long distances between some holes and walking is not allowed on 2 of the 3 courses. I also sanitize my own cart with a spray bottle of bleach solution to be double safe. As long as I stay more than 6 feet from the guys I play with, I have no worries.
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jmix18 said:
212 Rounds!!!! @Jman has some competition! Well done - I'm very jealous!
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I wondered about that myself! His location is listed as St. Clairsville, Ohio, and I have no idea how you can play 212 rounds in a year in Ohio! @richhoff , what do you say? Do you live elsewhere during the winter?

My game didn't change very much, just the circumstances around it. Courses closed, then open again with single riders, then riding double, no pulled flags, etc. Also, more crowded. Talked to several courses who were just loving the COVID! They reported record years last year.
 
Buckeyegolfnut said:
I wondered about that myself! His location is listed as St. Clairsville, Ohio, and I have no idea how you can play 212 rounds in a year in Ohio! @richhoff , what do you say? Do you live elsewhere during the winter?

My game didn't change very much, just the circumstances around it. Courses closed, then open again with single riders, then riding double, no pulled flags, etc. Also, more crowded. Talked to several courses who were just loving the COVID! They reported record years last year.
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I spent 6 weeks of Jan and Feb in Orlando last year. I played almost every day. March was a decent month in Ohio and I averaged 4 to 5 days per week the balance of the year.
 
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Mine has gotten much better. But I went from 5 months of having played really to about a year and a half. And I also tried much harder to get better.
 
Before PA locked down and stopped golf it felt like it was going to be a good season. We had warmer than usual weather so I was golfing in Feb and early March. My scores were high 70's to low 80's. Then the stop of golf.
When I came back I developed a bad draw. Very bad draw with every club. I killed me all season. Shot high 80's to low 90's most times out. The few times were everything clicked and I was scoring low 80's was short lived.
The health problems my wife developed didn't help but I wasn't making it an excuse for my bad golf even though my buddies said that was the main reason why I was playing badly & I just didn't want to realize it.
I have faith that 2021 will be kick ass
 
Our course was later opening because of the Provincial restrictions early on. Once it opened it was pretty much business as usual, save for the foam in the cups, no touching the flag stick, no rakes in bunkers etc. For the first month or so we had to enjoy our post round banter in the parking lot. Once the restrictions eased the patio opened, but we were never allowed inside the clubhouse at any point during the year except for pro shop and washrooms.
My game had the typical slow start due to the extended off-season lack of play, but things came around by mid-season. Overall rounds were down as my usual week-long trips were cancelled. We tried to make up for it by doing a couple extra weekend trips, and as a result got to play some new courses and revisit some past faves.
I was in the market for new irons, and as soon as the fitters were allowed to reopen I got in, got fitted and placed my order. 6 weeks later I had my new sticks.
So far 2021 is looking like it's going to be a repeat of last season - no golf travel, so it's a question of when the course is allowed to open. More to the point of the OP, I think the difficulties of 2020 led to me enjoying the game a little more. I definitely became more involved in THP during the year.
 
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