Secrets of How to Score

campilobaxter

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@SmiterofPV1X mentioned in another thread that he can go lower now than he could as a younger and more consistent golfer because now he knows how to score. He also mentioned that his scores are often higher than before for that same reason. That got me thinking about what some of the "secrets of scoring" might be. Of course, if I knew them, I wouldn't be asking. :act-up: I'm interested in any scoring "secrets" or tips you all might have.

Let's hear 'em!
 
Depends on what you count as scoring I guess. If you are talking about breaking par then I believe the best way to learn to go low is to go low. Start at the red tees and don't move back till you break par. I always have people say that is dumb and very easy so they won't do it but if it is easy it should only take 1 right, right?

My theory is get as close to the hole as you can without taking undue risk. All things being equal people who think they would rather be 120 yards out then 50 yards out are wrong or don't spend time practicing partial wedges. There are a few occasions where you would be better off with a full club but those type of situations are rare, especially if you play a public course.

Know your dispersion pattern for all of your clubs and pick optimal targets from that.

Get the ball to or a little past the ball on putts, especially sub 20 or 25 footers.
 
There are no secrets to scoring. The sooner you get the ball in the hole the lower your score. A sharp short game and strong putter are always a good start.
 
my secret to scoring low is a pencil and eraser
 
Some think that in the long term, GIR is the most important stat (GIR meaning on or very close to the green). If you hit the fairway with distance, you have a better chance at GIR. In the short term, a happy putter and wedge are good to have.
 
Great course management skills is a good and easy way to start. Uses your current abilities, so requires no extra practice or skill hoing, but has the potential to save at least a couple of shots during a round. Leave the hero shots, shooting at tough tucked pins or trying to hit a 4 iron on the green from a fairway bunker with a 3 foot lip in front of you to much more skilled golfers than us.
 
no one scores just because they want to. If that were the case we'd all be scratch golfers. We score as best we can as per the amount of shots we execute as per our ability to execute them.

But it depends whats being talked about here. Want to and need to score low? be aggressive and attack. But want to have lower scores more often on average overall? then play to strengths, avoid weaknesses when possible, manage a smart game, and therefore minimize blowups and lost strokes.

Id assume "smitero" was referring to the (former) aggressive nature when saying his scores are higher in general for the same reason. Hence my point that it depends what one is talking about. Two different things.
 
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I wouldn't call it a secret, more like advice.

Play the shot you are most capable of playing, not the one the situation calls for.

Example would be you need to hit a high flop shot to get it close, but you goof this shot up in practice. Just hit it somewhere on the green and take your medicine.

Another example is you are just off the green and the situation calls for a bump and run. Problem is you don't judge what club to use or the roll out of this shot very well. So, if your OK with wedging it hallway to hole, just hit that shot and make the putt.

Hit the shot you got in your bag!
 
Shorter and in play is always better than long and OB or in trouble.
 
I wouldn't call it a secret, more like advice.

Play the shot you are most capable of playing, not the one the situation calls for.

Example would be you need to hit a high flop shot to get it close, but you goof this shot up in practice. Just hit it somewhere on the green and take your medicine.

Another example is you are just off the green and the situation calls for a bump and run. Problem is you don't judge what club to use or the roll out of this shot very well. So, if your OK with wedging it hallway to hole, just hit that shot and make the putt.

Hit the shot you got in your bag!

I need to tattoo this on the back of my right hand so I see it every time I step up to the ball.
 
I play most of my golf with buddies who have index's in the teens and are mostly in their late 40's and early 50's. They are all being held back not by course management but mostly lack of flexibility and poor fundamentals. It's easy to let your flexibility go as you get into your 40's and very few of my friends, if any, have a golf specific strength/flexibility routine. All have lost distance since their late 30's and as Hank Haney likes to say, distance in golf equals potential. The other mistakes I often see are poor alignment and ball position. It's tough to hit it at your target when you're not aimed at it.
 
My 13 year old Son and I played in a church scramble a few weeks ago.

Some of those guys were 2-5 hcp players.
On the way home my Son told me he figured out the scoring.
The low caps don't hit shots any better than his.
If he goes for a green and it rolls off the back into water, it ruins that hole.
If the low hcp hits it, they land it short and let it roll up, or to the side and chip it close.
He is starting to realise taking chances, and course management.
About a month ago he shot even par for 9 holes.
Last week he shot -2 under, and his worst score ( in the past month) has been a 38.
I know he's only 13, but he is 6ft 2-1/2" & weighs 240.
He can kill the ball.
On a 460 yard par 5, I hit driver, 6 or 7 iron, and chip on green.
He hits driver and gap wedge - 9 iron.
That's him in my profile pic.

He's starting to really feel the game.
 
My 13 year old Son and I played in a church scramble a few weeks ago.

Some of those guys were 2-5 hcp players.
On the way home my Son told me he figured out the scoring.
The low caps don't hit shots any better than his.
If he goes for a green and it rolls off the back into water, it ruins that hole.
If the low hcp hits it, they land it short and let it roll up, or to the side and chip it close.
He is starting to realise taking chances, and course management.
About a month ago he shot even par for 9 holes.
Last week he shot -2 under, and his worst score ( in the past month) has been a 38.
I know he's only 13, but he is 6ft 2-1/2" & weighs 240.
He can kill the ball.
On a 460 yard par 5, I hit driver, 6 or 7 iron, and chip on green.
He hits driver and gap wedge - 9 iron.
That's him in my profile pic.

He's starting to really feel the game.

I'm thinking the Commissioner is going to be sending someone with a pee cup in the near future.
 
Build your swing/skill sets up so that you have no penalties, no two chips/pitches, and no three putts.

If you can do all of those in one round and are playing from the correct tees you should shoot at least high 70's to low 80's.
 
Distance, one way miss, touch inside 100, confident putter. 99% of PGA tour winners right there.

If (when you are playing your best) you can get your driver to roll out to 275 (which with today's drivers only takes around 105mph swing) and have every short game shot in the book... it's hard to believe that you couldn't play great golf.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 
Play the smart shot. Don't cut corners in dog legs. Aim for the middle of the green you don't have to go pin seeking on every approach.
 
For me, it's all about staying out of trouble off the tee and getting up and down around the greens.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
 
Shorter and in play is always better than long and OB or in trouble.
I'm starting to understand this.

Right now its any situation that will eliminate doubles and triples. Learning that there are better sides of a fairway to get a ball on the green. Taking enough club. Punching it out to a short grass next shot. Learning when to put the driver back in the bag.
 
I hope that I can help clarify since I made you think. I better understand what it takes to go low now. You have to take risks. Shoot at pins that you probably shouldn't, where the smarter play is to play to the fat side and hopefully two putt for par. Doing this will leave you short sided and a tough up and down if you miss in "x" direction. A smarter play would be to hit to "y" or z" location and take your two putt.

I've come to the realization that I will never be good enough to play at a pro level. Not even close. Golf is more fun for me when I go low. I've gone stupid low before because of this. I'd much rather an even par nine be an eagle, two birdies, 5 pars and 2 doubles then to have 9 straight pars. One of my kids once asked me "dad! When are you ever going to play good with me around??" This was after me telling him of past exploits. We were on the 11th tee and I was even par. I had 10 straight of them at that point. Good golf can appear pretty boring. Drive in play, second to the wide side, 2 putts.

Some of my best scores for nine are after I no longer really care. My best ever nine, I had put up a 44 on the front. I arrived at ten a little ticked and no longer caring. It's a short par 4 with a creek bisecting the landing area. The smart, and probably 95% par play for me is to hit a 3i to short of it and have a 3/4 wedge in. I didn't care about my score here and launched a driver to 8ft. Drained the eagle and 4pars, 3 birds, and another eagle on this nine had me at 29. I'd have never done that if I was one over on the front. Not in a million years. I'd have hit my normal 3i for an easy par. It easily could have been another 44 on the back though. If that drive wouldn't have cleared the creek by the 5ft or so that it did, it probably would have been.

In short you have to play pretty recklessly to really score. Fly a hazard, shoot to a do or die pin, etc. Which can lead to high scores. The reward though is having looks at birdie or even eagle that you normally wouldn't have. That's what makes golf fun for me. I hope my kids never have to ask that question again when I'm playing that well. I'd rather show them something spectacular, that has the risk of failure, than something mundane and safe.
 
Depends on what you count as scoring I guess. If you are talking about breaking par then I believe the best way to learn to go low is to go low. Start at the red tees and don't move back till you break par. I always have people say that is dumb and very easy so they won't do it but if it is easy it should only take 1 right, right?

My theory is get as close to the hole as you can without taking undue risk. All things being equal people who think they would rather be 120 yards out then 50 yards out are wrong or don't spend time practicing partial wedges. There are a few occasions where you would be better off with a full club but those type of situations are rare, especially if you play a public course.

Know your dispersion pattern for all of your clubs and pick optimal targets from that.

Get the ball to or a little past the ball on putts, especially sub 20 or 25 footers.

This is a great way to protect a score, IMO, but not a way to score. It's the "boring golf" that I spoke of above and when you are sitting at even on the 11th tee playing this way you'll probably be the only one in your group to know it. My local courses are generally short and super easy. I could (not will, but could) pretty easily shoot even par on them without ever hitting a wood. 3i to center of fairway, short iron or wedge to wide side, 2 putts. I'd be a better overall golfer if I could get behind this mindset, and I generally have when I have a good round going. That said I will never go truly low when I'm even at the turn. I'll play to try to get in at even or one better. For me to truly go low I have to stop protecting a score. When I do this, I might shoot a 40 but I also might shoot a 30. On short local courses if I play for par, that's usually what I'll get.

Personally I'd rather have a chance at a hero round (or nine) and also occasionally shoot a score that should make me quiver in shame than to be even through 18 with 1 bird, 16 pars, and one bogey.
 
my secret to scoring low is a pencil and eraser

I like it! As far as I'm concerned, put down whatever you like. If you feel you should have a three, by all means put down a three the first time. No eraser needed. Just don't ask me to pay up and we'll call it all square :)
 
I hope that I can help clarify since I made you think. I better understand what it takes to go low now. You have to take risks. Shoot at pins that you probably shouldn't, where the smarter play is to play to the fat side and hopefully two putt for par. Doing this will leave you short sided and a tough up and down if you miss in "x" direction. A smarter play would be to hit to "y" or z" location and take your two putt.

I've come to the realization that I will never be good enough to play at a pro level. Not even close. Golf is more fun for me when I go low. I've gone stupid low before because of this. I'd much rather an even par nine be an eagle, two birdies, 5 pars and 2 doubles then to have 9 straight pars. One of my kids once asked me "dad! When are you ever going to play good with me around??" This was after me telling him of past exploits. We were on the 11th tee and I was even par. I had 10 straight of them at that point. Good golf can appear pretty boring. Drive in play, second to the wide side, 2 putts.

Some of my best scores for nine are after I no longer really care. My best ever nine, I had put up a 44 on the front. I arrived at ten a little ticked and no longer caring. It's a short par 4 with a creek bisecting the landing area. The smart, and probably 95% par play for me is to hit a 3i to short of it and have a 3/4 wedge in. I didn't care about my score here and launched a driver to 8ft. Drained the eagle and 4pars, 3 birds, and another eagle on this nine had me at 29. I'd have never done that if I was one over on the front. Not in a million years. I'd have hit my normal 3i for an easy par. It easily could have been another 44 on the back though. If that drive wouldn't have cleared the creek by the 5ft or so that it did, it probably would have been.

In short you have to play pretty recklessly to really score. Fly a hazard, shoot to a do or die pin, etc. Which can lead to high scores. The reward though is having looks at birdie or even eagle that you normally wouldn't have. That's what makes golf fun for me. I hope my kids never have to ask that question again when I'm playing that well. I'd rather show them something spectacular, that has the risk of failure, than something mundane and safe.

Got it, thanks.
 
no one scores just because they want to. If that were the case we'd all be scratch golfers. We score as best we can as per the amount of shots we execute as per our ability to execute them.

But it depends whats being talked about here. Want to and need to score low? be aggressive and attack. But want to have lower scores more often on average overall? then play to strengths, avoid weaknesses when possible, manage a smart game, and therefore minimize blowups and lost strokes.

Id assume "smitero" was referring to the (former) aggressive nature when saying his scores are higher in general for the same reason. Hence my point that it depends what one is talking about. Two different things.

Hello! Smitero here:) (I guess that's my south of border name?) My scores are about the same overall. I'm going to throw out random numbers here, but to arrive at an average of 80, most of the time I'll have a couple 90's and a couple 70's. In the past it might have been a couple of 77's and a couple of 83's to arrive at it. I don't have much fun trying to play for average results anymore. No guts, no glory. I'd rather go pin seeking. I'll still be conservative if my front nine warrants it but if that's off the table then I'll try to go low. With that I can possibly go low, but I can also go high. Most of the time this approach leads to a higher score, be warned. But it can also lead to spectacular results. Since I play for fun, having the occasional spectacular result is what I'm after. I'd rather tell someone of my one time 29 for nine score than tell them that I'd shot 36 on the back the last 4 rounds. Mileage may vary, and that's ok, we're all in this for different reasons. I'm at the pong where a few great shots/holes trump a round that's well executed but boring.
 
Depends on what you count as scoring I guess. If you are talking about breaking par then I believe the best way to learn to go low is to go low. Start at the red tees and don't move back till you break par. I always have people say that is dumb and very easy so they won't do it but if it is easy it should only take 1 right, right?

My theory is get as close to the hole as you can without taking undue risk. All things being equal people who think they would rather be 120 yards out then 50 yards out are wrong or don't spend time practicing partial wedges. There are a few occasions where you would be better off with a full club but those type of situations are rare, especially if you play a public course.

Know your dispersion pattern for all of your clubs and pick optimal targets from that.

Get the ball to or a little past the ball on putts, especially sub 20 or 25 footers.

I agree on all your points. Make it easy on yourself when just starting out. Work hard on your short game and putting. Those are the weakest 2 parts of the game for many players. I know that is where I fail, so that is what I work on the most.
 
I personally believe the secret to scoring better is
1. Being able to hit more fairways
2. Playing the tee boxes which enable you to have a chance to get a GIR on par 4 holes
3. Developing the ability to perform short pitch and chip shots onto the green and close enough to the pin for birdie and par chances
4. Learn when and how to properly layup
5. Proper strategy and course management
 
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