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When you are closing in on a possible PB?

chile

chile

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@Snowman 's thread got me to thinking about a few weeks back when i was looking at a PB on a course that i don't really play well at...i don't know if looking at my scorecard got in my head but i know i started trying to playing smarter which led to a FEW blowup holes when i was overthinking recovery options and not just hitting the simplest shot that would've gotten me out of trouble in the first place during my last tourney....

so...does approaching a PB or just a good scoring round get in your head? or do you just go with the flow and "let it do what it do" and final score be damned...i thought i was "final score be damned"...apparently i am not.
 
Just let it go, I don't really look at my total score until after I'm done with a round, or at least 9 while doing an 18. I try not to really overly try-hard since I think that would only lead to more possible blow up holes.
 
I go shot by shot and I believe that with every fiber in my body! Good score, bad score, I try to make the best shot I can to score well on the hole. I sometimes don’t even know what my score is since Arccos does the heavy lifting (and math) for me. I did get nervous when I shot my PB earlier this year because I was live posting here :LOL: but it didn’t affect my shot process on the course. Sometimes it’s good not to have extra brainpower 😵
 
I wouldn't say it necessarily gets in my head, but I generally know where I am at score-wise on the golf course.
 
i went on a stretch where i was par-bird-par-par-bogey that went from the 8th hole into the 12th where i thought i was "trending in the right direction" to close out (regardless of that bogey...for me, bogeys are semi-okay)...after that,

 
I try not to think about it, but you generally have a pretty good idea when you're having a good round. I try to just keep the score out of my head and keep playing, I've psyched myself out of PBs a few times by getting too wrapped up in it.
 
My concentration level and strategic thinking definitely increase when I have a really good round going. Try not to put extra pressure on myself but it definitely exists down the stretch during these rounds. Fortunately, I have been able to close it out more frequently than I have stumbled.
 
MY PB are long ago when I could golf my ball....If I wear near it now I'd be in an altered mind state so no problem.
 
My PB is 79 before that it was 82. While I was getting closer I knew in my head I was getting close and the pucker factor started to rear its ugly head. Thankfully I survived but other times I was not so lucky.
 
i should probably caveat that phrase "at a course that i don't play well at" with i don't play ANY course very well.
 
Even though I usually post my round in the live thread I never take the time to add up the numbers. I don't keep a scorecard and just let Arccos keep score so I'm always a little surprised (good or bad) at the end of the round.
 
Part of the reason breaking 80 was such an accomplishment was that I had been close several times but choked down the stretch, knowing I was on pace and just needed X score.
 
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I shot my PB earlier this year. I didn’t realize I was on track for it until the 17th hole. I didn’t feel like I was playing my best. As soon as I saw where I was at earlier on the scorecard, BOOM bogey on 17. I did par 18 but I missed a birdie putt there that I should have made. After the round I realized that while I only had 50% GIR, I also only had 27 putts and 2 missed fairways. 2 of those putts were birdies from just off the green.

Just goes to show, you can miss greens if your short game is on.
 
It might affect me a little bit, but if I am playing well, there is a good chance it will continue through the round. I won't change my routine, but may spend more time reading putts.
 
sure i check the scorecard all round and if i'm getting in the realm of PB, i'm guessing i would get a little tight but hopefully still make the shots i have been making all round.
 
I have always tried to just keep doing what's working on that day. If that's playing smart and safe then I stick with that, if that's being aggressive and going hard then I stick with that. My logic is if that style of play has gotten me to a position of potentially going really low, no reason I should change that approach. That would be like going into prevent defense in the last 2 mins of a football game to avoid the big play rather than sticking to what gave you the lead in the first place.

Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't, but I think I can live with the results and the logic a little better this way.
 
Oh it definitely has been able to get in my head. I'm not a score watcher unless playing for something, but it's hard not to have that realization moment that you're doing something you don't normally do and have a chance at a new score territory.

In fact, I remember the first big time it happened to me like it was yesterday. Lake course back in NE. Good front, and then somehow went birdie birdie on 2 tough holes to start that back. Realized, and said it in the Live Round thread (I believe my words were HOLY ****!) that I was -6 through 11 from the tips of a course I normally struggled at. Can't unknow something like that, and the excitement and opportunity definitely got to me. Ugh, especially off the tee I think. Which was just stupid. Pretty sure I went +1 or +2 on my way in after that. :confused2:

I was still chasing a lot of things then though, and was less used to pressure when playing. It doesn't get to me, at least to how I play, these days really. It can help actually. Little adrenaline shot to keep from fading.

There's no way to just completely block out that something you want is in front of you, once you realize it imo. Just gotta control the rhythm and steady on. And practice/experience with it definitely helps.
 
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For me it actually helped that I needed to be aggressive. I needed to birdie my final 2 holes to break mine and I was able to get it done, which was a great feeling. I wasn’t really even thinking about it until the last few holes.
 
I usually try not to change what I’m doing. There may be some holes where I play slightly conservative, such as on a par 5, but I try to keep going with the flow
 
chile said:
@Snowman i started trying to play smarter
Click to expand...

That's pretty much rule #1 on what not to do. Lol You could make it anything. Started trying to play ______er. Gotta stick with what's been working usually.
 
I can't tell you how many times I'll looked at the scorecard on like 16 and realized I needed to go par bogey over the last 2 holes to break 80 and end up going bogey double to shoot 81! I've tried to stop looking.
 
The first time I broke 80 I didn't even realise until I was adding the scores up after we finished - I was just writing the scores on the card and wasn't even thinking about the total

As I use my watch to record my scores, it gives me my score after each hole so I always know where I am at, so I can't really get away from it, it then becomes a game of how well you can ignore the potential and just focus on playing the shots
 
chile said:
@Snowman 's thread got me to thinking about a few weeks back when i was looking at a PB on a course that i don't really play well at...i don't know if looking at my scorecard got in my head but i know i started trying to playing smarter which led to a FEW blowup holes when i was overthinking recovery options and not just hitting the simplest shot that would've gotten me out of trouble in the first place during my last tourney....

so...does approaching a PB or just a good scoring round get in your head? or do you just go with the flow and "let it do what it do" and final score be damned...i thought i was "final score be damned"...apparently i am not.
Click to expand...
I used to try to not think about it, but I find it better to actually think about it and process it. It leads me to much more intelligent play down the stretch
 
chile said:
@Snowman 's thread got me to thinking about a few weeks back when i was looking at a PB on a course that i don't really play well at...i don't know if looking at my scorecard got in my head but i know i started trying to playing smarter which led to a FEW blowup holes when i was overthinking recovery options and not just hitting the simplest shot that would've gotten me out of trouble in the first place during my last tourney....

so...does approaching a PB or just a good scoring round get in your head? or do you just go with the flow and "let it do what it do" and final score be damned...i thought i was "final score be damned"...apparently i am not.
Click to expand...
When I start thinking about what I could shoot, it can go sideways real quick. I try to take it a shot at a time/hole at a time as much as I can.
 
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