Minimizing the not-so-good rounds - there is no good answer to it.

[Luchnia]

I was trying to find out some stats on the difference in strokes on the better golfer's bad rounds to their good rounds to an average "hacker" player, but in my search I did not find any good analysis. I found this and got me to thinking about my game. "Golfers who card 90 lose an average of more than nine shots per round due to awful shots compared to just under five for 80-golfers."

For example, I played what I consider a fairly good round for my cap Saturday at 82, but then yesterday I struggled with a couple bad holes that turned my round into a practice round. Started off by parring the first 3 holes then I started to struggle a little. I was fatigued and probably should not have been playing which may have been the real problem, but even then I know I am still better golfer than that what I produced.

I dropped two in the water on one hole which killed my round then made some other stroke costing mistakes throughout the round. I recovered well, but still granted strokes to the card. This type of inconsistency makes me keep asking questions of how to minimize this type of ridiculous play. Doubles, triples, and possibly a quad makes for a bad day of golf.

I know the lesson here is to minimize the bad holes and reduce those average 9 "awful" shots (for me some days it is way more than 9 awful shots). I have yet learned how to reduce those bad shots. I practice a lot so that apparently is not working. I play just as good when I don't practice - go figure. It appears to me that the fix to a bad hole is nowhere to be found when you are in that bad hole moment even though the coaches would probably tell you that is what you need to do.

How many recover during a bad hole even though they are scrambling like crazy to get through it? I play with a lot of golfers and most cannot do anything about their bad holes, but hope to get through it to the next hole. Some are better recovery players than others. Most of the time I can pull off some unreal recovery shots and scramble through the bad hole which I think helps me. However the fact is I got myself in those recovery situations in the first place meaning my game is off some that day.

Is the answer taking more time, attempting some swing change (which I would not do), some different mental focus, or what? This is the question that I don't think has been answered correctly by anyone, nor do I think anyone will be able to answer it. I guess it is a question that will forever linger on. Pros have bad holes, but simply because of their level of skill and unfathomable amount of swing practice they can minimize better than we can.

IMO the real answer is to somehow build consistency in every possible situation, yet I don't believe that is possible because we are not machines. Curious about your thoughts.

 

[tahoebum]

I play with a lot of buddies that are between a 9-14 index and their misses are much larger than mine, leading to a couple blow up holes almost every round. Poor lag putting and club selection also certainly plays a role. Many of my buddies will attempt a hero recovery shot when the smart play is to punch it 50 yards sideways back into play.

I just looked up one of my buddies who is a 10.4 index and his high/low score differential for his last 20 rounds is 13 strokes compared to my 6 strokes.

 

[goalie]

I just looked up one of my buddies who is a 10.4 index and his high/low score differential for his last 20 rounds is 13 strokes compared to my 6 strokes.

I've posted a 52 and a 44 on consecutive weeks at league.

Hero shots for a 15 index golfer are hard, and when your swing isn't on, they're darn near impossible.

But, while posting the 52 I kept my cigar lit the whole time!!!!!

 

[Scorp]

I'd think it would be simple.
Be long and accurate off the tee.
Make good approach shots.
Have a short game that stellar for the saves.
Putt lights out

Of the above, I can do 1. Sometimes occasionally.

 

[Luchnia]

I'd think it would be simple.
Be long and accurate off the tee.
Make good approach shots.
Have a short game that stellar for the saves.
Putt lights out

Of the above, I can do 1. Sometimes occasionally.

I agree. To me what needs to be done is super simple. The act of carrying it out effectively not so much .

 

[alistaird]

I think for a lot of us medium to high handicappers it's ego that gets in the way. If we really wanted to score well - then we should only use the club that gets us into play 90% of the time. Don't pick one that doesn't no matter what the situation. Like most, I enjoy reaching for the driver or long iron in the hope of hitting a great shot instead of saying, this is SI 1 and a Par 4 - I get a shot here, so let's take the 7i off the tee and get it into play and then another 7i and see where we are... I loved the John Daly 'grip it and rip it' approach but never found it beneficial to scoring well. My best rounds have been without any woods in the bag.... But the joy of hitting a great drive past your playing partners on a narrow fairway is intoxicating I'm afraid .... even though 90% of the time it's in the woods


A

 

[BigMac]

I play with a lot of buddies that are between a 9-14 index and their misses are much larger than mine, leading to a couple blow up holes almost every round. Poor lag putting and club selection also certainly plays a role. Many of my buddies will attempt a hero recovery shot when the smart play is to punch it 50 yards sideways back into play.

I just looked up one of my buddies who is a 10.4 index and his high/low score differential for his last 20 rounds is 13 strokes compared to my 6 strokes.

I'm sitting at 14.9 right now - my high/low differential in my last 20 rounds is 16 strokes (80 and 96, with an average of 86.2).

...How many recover during a bad hole even though they are scrambling like crazy to get through it? I play with a lot of golfers and most cannot do anything about their bad holes, but hope to get through it to the next hole. Some are better recovery players than others. Most of the time I can pull off some unreal recovery shots and scramble through the bad hole which I think helps me. However the fact is I got myself in those recovery situations in the first place meaning my game is off some that day.

Is the answer taking more time, attempting some swing change (which I would not do), some different mental focus, or what? This is the question that I don't think has been answered correctly by anyone, nor do I think anyone will be able to answer it. I guess it is a question that will forever linger on. Pros have bad holes, but simply because of their level of skill and unfathomable amount of swing practice they can minimize better than we can.

IMO the real answer is to somehow build consistency in every possible situation, yet I don't believe that is possible because we are not machines. Curious about your thoughts.

As soon as I hit a bad shot, I go into recovery mode - my first thought is "what do I need to do to minimize the damage?". I try to choose the option with the highest likelihood of success to a) get me back on the short stuff, and b) advance the ball forward as far as reasonably possible. Sometimes I have to go straight out to the side or even backwards, but I've learned that will usually cost me less strokes than trying that hero shot through a tiny window off a bad lie with a forced carry in front of me.

Sometimes I can recover during a bad hole, other times it's like I temporarily forgot how to swing a golf club - even if I try the safest shot I still botch it, getting me even deeper in trouble. Those are the ones that turn into blow-up holes and ruin the scorecard, and unfortunately it seems like I always have at least two or three doubles or triples on the card.

I can't make rhyme or reason of this game - some days I have it, some days I just don't, and there's no explanation for it. I've gone off the first tee ice cold without so much as even a warm-up swing, on four hours of sleep the night before, and shot good rounds. Other days I've warmed up on the range, chipped and putted, had a solid 7-8 hours of sleep, and played like it was my first time on a golf course!

 

[uitar99]

I'm an 18 capper and I know what that means. A low of 86 and a high 0f 100 this year.

I some how think folks play golf based on their own character.

My wife is an A type personality-goes for every shot which 90% of the time she can't make...but the thrill she gets when she makes the hero shot...priceless. Does not care about angles, swing...just hit the ball.

I'm a calm individual...don't play the hero shot...know my yardages and layup to save a stroke. Drive it 195 to 210 down the middle most drives. Occasionally skull a second shot and have a decent short game.

Knowing yardages, playing shots you can make 75% of the time, avoiding hero shots...helps me reduce doubles and triples...birdies don't really help me as much as reducing doubles and triples.

Golf is a game that really works on expectations.

 

[Daluteh]

I have posted 9 hole scores this year of 47 up to 61. 14 shot difference over 9 holes. I've had some over right around 50 and most have been in the mid-upper 50s.

If I have a day where my back, neck, shoulder, knee all seem to be functional at the same time I'm around a break 100 golfer. Problem is, my body has given up on me so I'm very frequently a barely hit the ball golfer. Even if I'm not consistent I know I can still have fun. I will likely never be down to a bogey golfer and I'm fine with that as long as I can have fun, keep it in play most of the time and don't kill it for the people around me.

 

[Jason89er]

I’ve learned that if I hit a poor tee shot, I’m playing for bogey. Hero shots are score killers. It’s a 60/40 gamble even on the PGA Tour. So most amateur players have no business playing a 1/50 shot. A 50/50 even isn’t worth it if your score is your endgame. Punch out, layup, find your money distance and get it on the green somewhere for some kinda par or bogey putt. I go 12/13 rounds without a triple most times. And my trips are usually when I screw up my safe shot.

 

[wadesworld]

When listening to US Open coverage, they mentioned the two leaders from Friday had combined for 10 under. The next day, they combined for 10 over.

If they can't be more consistent than that, what chance do we have?

in all seriousness, there's both an element of luck and an element of clarity of thinking. An example from my last round was 78 yards short (front pin) of a par 5 in 3 (due to a poor drive). I hit my 56, which I typically hit between 70 and 80 yards. It completely flew the back of the green, hit on the side of the massive hill and shot into the woods. I chopped out with my 5th (all I could manage), got it on with my 6th, and two-putted for a crowd-pleasing triple.

I didn't hit the shot thin at all. I simply made a FAR better swing than I typically make and hit the club 10 yards farther than normal. So the question remains in my mind - given the extreme danger behind the green, should I have taken a club that had zero chance of going over the green (my 60) and likely come up short with my 4th? Probably so. I would have been able to chip or putt on and at worse, 2 putt for a double. But there would have been a reasonable chance of making a bogey.

 

[BuffaloPlunger]

There’s usually a direct correlation between my score and my game off the tee. When I’m finding fairways or not missing them by much then I tend to score pretty well but if I’m finding trees and water then it’s going to be a very long day. My best rounds have come from days where I’m driving the ball really well.

 

[dAS0]

I have been trying to work on focus and my mental game so that I try to hit the best shot I can even if it is for a triple or worse.

 

[Luchnia]

When listening to US Open coverage, they mentioned the two leaders from Friday had combined for 10 under. The next day, they combined for 10 over.

If they can't be more consistent than that, what chance do we have?

in all seriousness, there's both an element of luck and an element of clarity of thinking. An example from my last round was 78 yards short (front pin) of a par 5 in 3 (due to a poor drive). I hit my 56, which I typically hit between 70 and 80 yards. It completely flew the back of the green, hit on the side of the massive hill and shot into the woods. I chopped out with my 5th (all I could manage), got it on with my 6th, and two-putted for a crowd-pleasing triple.

I didn't hit the shot thin at all. I simply made a FAR better swing than I typically make and hit the club 10 yards farther than normal. So the question remains in my mind - should I have taken a club that had zero chance of going over the green (my 60) and likely come up short with my 4th? Probably so. I would have been able to chip or putt on and at worse, 2 putt for a double. But there would have been a reasonable chance of making a bogey.

I can relate to making a far better swing than normal sometimes causing a problem. We were in a match play in a tournament a couple weeks back and both of us drove the ball almost identically about 10 feet apart when they stopped. We were 205 yards from a waste area. I pulled out my 6 iron and went for about 170-180 and figured even will rollout I would be safe for my layup to the green.

Well I hit a better than average shot and wound up in the waste area at 207 yards. I told my buddy of all times to hit an extra good 6 iron I had to do it there. At any rate, I was able to pull the ball out along with waste area muck with a lob wedge and get the ball on the back of the green and salvage a bogey.

Watching the pros having 6-9 shots variation really tells just how critical the consistency is to the golf game. It just makes you realize that when we are within 10 between a bad and good round we are doing fairly well, but I think when I get around a 15 spread I am just not there whether it is mentally or physically. Most of my rounds will be within 10 stroke differential between good and bad rounds at most and usually more along the lines of 5 or 6 strokes.

Monday I was hitting great shots, but yesterday not sure who was in my body hitting. I was rehashing some of the issues during my round yesterday and the things that cost me strokes were:

• Tee shots - several topped balls adding 3 strokes and 2 in the water on one hole which is rare for me, but it still happened and really piled the strokes on that hole. I think this was my biggest problem yesterday. Monday I hit all but one fairway in regulation - amazing to think about it.
  
• A number of short approach shots requiring short 10-20 yard pitches
• A number of left or right of green shots requiring short pitches

 

[OldandStiff]

Well it sounds like you scramble pretty well for your cap, so that covers my first reaction answer. Saving whatever score is good for you on a bad hole is usually done near the green in the end. It sounds like you think it's getting into bad spots to begin with, so my next reaction is somewhere in strategy/game management. If you want to be a really consistent player, you have to plan to minimize mistakes. I'll go on a quick side tangent about this though. It is and will forever be my position that the guys that are playing crazy steady out there, are not trying for their absolute best scores. I know a few, and they don't push it enough to break through with the crazy low rounds. They play steady. Which is great. But no one with a very small devaition in scores is going far in either direction, and when you play for that out there, you literally minimize on both ends a bit. Anyway, minizing mistakes with a part of your game to create fewer big scores and better/more consistent scores overall is a absolutely a good strategy, and recognizing while you're out there where mistakes might happen for you on a given day is a probably as much mental as anything. Changing aim points, or clubs, or shortening the swing when a situation dictates can be as much instinct as anything really. Seems like a lot of that just comes with experience, knowing yourself, and working out good math about it all. Bad holes still happen for the best players though. They're just not as bad overall.

 

[darthweasel]

For example, I played what I consider a fairly good round for my cap Saturday at 82, but then yesterday I struggled with a couple bad holes that turned my round into a practice round.



I practice a lot so that apparently is not working.

thoughts on the above two statements:

on the first, if you start counting rounds where you struggle as practice, you have a vanity cap...if you are not counting every stroke honestly and reporting it, you may inadvertently end up with inflated sense of current skill. I have a buddy who when he hits on OB in white stake drops where it went out, one stroke, moves on...rolls his ball often in fairway, cleans it after every shot even when not winter rules. He is about to play in his first tournament and is in for a rude shock...those mid 80s he has been throwing up are going to be mid 90s at best. He is not counting every stroke, not posting all his high rounds as he will start hitting practice shots to "get it right" etc...his ability is not what he thinks it is.

If you happen to go out and shoot a 120...not a good day, not fun, but honestly report it. Have a blow up hole or even series of them? happens. Record the scores, make it a legit round. Only matters if you play in competitions, but it does end up manipulating your cap to make bad rounds practice rounds.

On the second...practice is not always practice. If you don't have one specific, often surprisingly small thing you are doing, it will not have much effect. Going to the chipping area, hitting 100 chips, then 100 putts, then hitting the driving range and hitting a large bucket...you may not show much if any improvement.

Going to chipping area, working specifically on one club/distance (block practice with a specific area...say, distance control, ignoring direction), then working on say...3' putts, doing the clock drill mixed with 1 lag putt distance, that type of practice tends to show results.

You may already be doing these things, just thought would mention some of the stuff a lot of researchers have indicated helps.

 

[Scorp]

I agree. To me what needs to be done is super simple. The act of carrying it out effectively not so much .

I said it should be simple. I never said it would be easy. If it was, we'd all be doing that.

 

[Luchnia]

Well it sounds like you scramble pretty well for your cap, so that covers my first reaction answer. Saving whatever score is good for you on a bad hole is usually done near the green in the end. It sounds like you think it's getting into bad spots to begin with, so my next reaction is somewhere in strategy/game management. If you want to be a really consistent player, you have to plan to minimize mistakes. I'll go on a quick side tangent about this though. It is and will forever be my position that the guys that are playing crazy steady out there, are not trying for their absolute best scores. I know a few, and they don't push it enough to break through with the crazy low rounds. They play steady. Which is great. But no one with a very small devaition in scores is going far in either direction, and when you play for that out there, you literally minimize on both ends a bit. Anyway, minizing mistakes with a part of your game to create fewer big scores and better/more consistent scores overall is a absolutely a good strategy, and recognizing while you're out there where mistakes might happen for you on a given day is a probably as much mental as anything. Changing aim points, or clubs, or shortening the swing when a situation dictates can be as much instinct as anything really. Seems like a lot of that just comes with experience, knowing yourself, and working out good math about it all. Bad holes still happen for the best players though. They're just not as bad overall.

Good advice to know yourself and minimize on both ends a bit. I think sometimes the mental focus can turn into trying too hard and we might get more aggressive instead of being more stable with fundamentals that work (hope that makes sense). Trying too hard can make some golfers overplay everything turning what might be a bogey into doubles or even higher.

I do scramble well as I am never out of a bad hole no matter the position I am in. If it is a bad shot I made, I take my medicine and determine what needs to be done since that last shot is history now. Being negative at that point is simply wasting energy.

I am always playing recover as smart as I possible can. I don't know how many times I have scrambled a bad hole and turned it around at the green to at least save whatever I can. I always tell my buddies, the hole ain't over yet and I can still make something out of it.

 

[RecGolfer]

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

 

[HarlettoScara]

There’s usually a direct correlation between my score and my game off the tee. When I’m finding fairways or not missing them by much then I tend to score pretty well but if I’m finding trees and water then it’s going to be a very long day. My best rounds have come from days where I’m driving the ball really well.

Absolutely one thousand percent this for me. If I’m driving well then I’m scoring well. My wedges are usually solid and distance control with irons is reasonable so if I’m playing from the fairway I’m staring a par in the face. Is then up to me to find a way to louse it up

 

[rollin]

This is almost like saying..."how do you get better (or more consistent?) at golf?

One can make safer less risky and smarter choices with higher percentage results . But that doesnt make one better or more consistent at golf. It simply just (sometimes) prevents one from making things worse. But it does not mean a higher capper will not fail any less at all his shots because if he didnt he would then not be as high a capper in the first place.

 

[BigMac]

Knowing yardages, playing shots you can make 75% of the time, avoiding hero shots...helps me reduce doubles and triples...birdies don't really help me as much as reducing doubles and triples.

And this is a point that bears repeating. For most mid/high handicappers, you’re not going to score better by trying for the birdies - you’re going to score better by playing smart and eliminating the doubles and triples on your card.

Five birdies in a round would be a hell of an accomplishment for most recreational golfers - and congratulations to you, you just knocked five strokes off your score. Now think about this - if you turned three triples into bogeys by playing smarter, higher percentage shots, you just knocked six strokes off your score. Which of those two do you think are more realistic expectations for most golfers?

 

[mson]

There’s usually a direct correlation between my score and my game off the tee. When I’m finding fairways or not missing them by much then I tend to score pretty well but if I’m finding trees and water then it’s going to be a very long day. My best rounds have come from days where I’m driving the ball really well.

I'm in the same camp. If I can hit fairways or first cut of rough with a clear second shot, I'm usually scoring better. I looked back at my best round of the year and I was only in real trouble off the tee on one hole that required a punch out to get back into play. I think there's also an element of building momentum and confidence starting with a good tee shot.

 

[JonMA1]

It's both the blowup holes and the complete inability to avoid them. In addition, we don't have the game to counter more than a couple of them per round. In other words, I can shoot one or two blowup holes and still salvage a respectable score (for me). But there's no way I'm hitting pars and birdies on the rest of the holes to drop into the 80's. I simply do not have that game.

My best golf consists of bogeys and pars with the occasional birdie. My best ever rounds - of which there are only a couple - include nothing worse than double. But my typical holes are close to 1.5 over par. So a couple of triples and quads and the round is done as far as a decent score.

While it's a popular opinion among better players, the idea of eliminating the blowup holes through a different strategy is unrealistic. It's not like the concept won't help to some small degree, but we can't approach a hole with the strategy of nothing worse than bogey or double-bogey and expect everything to go as planned. It just doesn't work that way.

In addition, there are rounds when I'm driving the ball, or hitting my irons, or my game around the green is like that of someone 10-15 strokes better. But it's never more than one or two of those skills - and the skills that are off are off by a lot.

 

[YukonLiving]

I play with a lot of buddies that are between a 9-14 index and their misses are much larger than mine, leading to a couple blow up holes almost every round. Poor lag putting and club selection also certainly plays a role. Many of my buddies will attempt a hero recovery shot when the smart play is to punch it 50 yards sideways back into play.

I just looked up one of my buddies who is a 10.4 index and his high/low score differential for his last 20 rounds is 13 strokes compared to my 6 strokes.

I learned two lessons last year.

1. Keeping the ball in play helps my score. Taking a more consistent club that goes 50 yards less is better than a longer club that nets more penalties.
2. Hero shots usually don't work out. Take your medicine, and get the ball back in play. Sometimes that means taking a drop.

I scored my best rounds ever when keeping those two thoughts in mind.