How do you judge success on the course?

If I hit 18 greens and two putted each green I would consider it a huge fail. Very few amateurs hit 100% of their greens. They don't chip it close all the time so saving par with a one putt is a success. Consequently, if I'm under 30 putts I know I did my job and save par with some solid putting.

Like I said when I opened the thread, everyone judges success differently. There is no one answer that is better than the next. I believe you said score. Well, what score?

Depends on the course. I'm currently playing to a 12, so generally anything under 82 83 I call a success. Statistics help me see where I need to improve, for instance, all my best rounds have come from higher GIR numbers. But those statistics tell me nothing about whether I've had a successful round or not. Like you say though, everyone is different.


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If I have fun, don't make any crazy mis-hits (you know the ones, a duff, shank etc) and my score is in the general vacinity of my capability, then I'm happy!
 
I am not sure there is one thing sometimes it could be score, how well I hit it, # of putts..etc. I have shot the same score on back to back days and considered one successful and one not. For the most part I just love playing golf so being out on the course doing something I enjoy makes it a success.
 
Keeping all of my drives in the fairway and any approach shots in play. Strokes right now are secondary to keeping things in play. Want more consistency shot-to-shot.

This is my mindset as well.
 
Overall

if I improve my handicap at a familiar course, I played well. If I shoot within 5 shots of my handicap at a new course, that's really well.

Under 30 putts is good putting day. 9 or more GIRs is a good tee/iron game day.
 
For me, it depends on how much golf I have been playing and the state of my game.

If I'm playing a lot and my game is good, score is a pretty good way to judge success.

If I haven't been playing a lot, then I judge success more shot-by-shot. Did I strike the ball well, did I scramble/recover well. I know when I haven't played a lot that I won't be consistent enough to score well but I'm looking for the building blocks that show me that if I play some and regain the consistency that I'll be back to where I want to be.
 
By score, and a sort of retrospective of how I felt striking the ball. I can have a crappy score but feel like I struck the ball well and therefore it wasn't so bad a day.

I'm getting less concerned these days with how I drive the ball and more with how I chip and putt, which puts my score closer to how I struck the ball meaningfully.
 
How do you judge success on the course?

From a pure golf perspective I would say success is avoiding general suckage (others, three putts, tee shots flying off the property, etc.). I have succeeded in that sense I think maybe once. :beat-up:

As for combined golf/social aspect. Well, since immersing myself here I have learned that general suckage can jump up and bite just about anyone at anytime. So at the end of a round I still feel like I got my money's worth and am figuring out when I can do it all over again.
 
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How do you judge success on the course?

so freddie, you succeeded yesterday!

for me, it's a good ball striking day. i want to hit a lot of good iron shots, some really good drives, and solidly struck pitches. the ball doesn't have to be all that close to the hole, i just want to feel solid contact.


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so freddie, you succeeded yesterday!

for me, it's a good ball striking day. i want to hit a lot of good iron shots, some really good drives, and solidly struck pitches. the ball doesn't have to be all that close to the hole, i just want to feel solid contact.


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Yesterday was fun and you hit A LOT of quality shots. We could ham n egg it around rtj if we wanted
 
Personally, if I've minimized mistakes/penalties during the round I consider that a success. That has been the common theme in all of my good (for me) rounds.
 
I am not sure there is one thing sometimes it could be score, how well I hit it, # of putts..etc. I have shot the same score on back to back days and considered one successful and one not. For the most part I just love playing golf so being out on the course doing something I enjoy makes it a success.

I agree 1000% with this. I just love being on the course. It's my "woosah" as my fiancé says. I'd always like to hole a few more putts. Always fun when the putts are dropping!


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Yesterday was fun and you hit A LOT of quality shots. We could ham n egg it around rtj if we wanted

really good putting from you yesterday. such a pure roll.


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The lower the score, the more successful I feel. But in order to get that lower score I need to be able to hit the ball consistently well. I'm not talking strictly center face, big high draws, landing in a 3 yard target zone off the tee, every approach shot with 5 yards of flag, and every putt falls, those would be close to a perfect round.

My game is good for me and successful when the ball goes in the general direction I aimed off the tee, I'm on or close to GIR on most holes, and I can 2 putt if not 1 putt each hole.
 
Personally, if I've minimized mistakes/penalties during the round I consider that a success. That has been the common theme in all of my good (for me) rounds.

Do you find that this is taking more time on the course, the same or less? Also are minimizing through course management, taking an extra club? What?
 
Do you find that this is taking more time on the course, the same or less? Also are minimizing through course management, taking an extra club? What?

It's not taking more time, and it primarily involves trying to exercise smart course management and not being a hero. A lot of it has to do with squashing my ego, too. And by that I'm talking about going up a club when I'm fairly certain I can reach with a lower one.
 
Did I smile for most of the round? That's how I judge the success of my rounds. I know that doesn't make me cut throat, but I've tried that and I usually end up having a bad time. Life is too short for that.
 
I think for me it's a feeling of being in control or being out of control. I'll score better some days than others for sure but sometimes I feel like I'm just limping and grinding my way around and I wouldn't call that a success. Other days everything just flows and the game seems easy. The scores may be the same but I like to feel in control to feel successful.
 
Did I smile for most of the round? That's how I judge the success of my rounds. I know that doesn't make me cut throat, but I've tried that and I usually end up having a bad time. Life is too short for that.

With you I would think that smile is just just Gas!! :D
 
For me lately it is execution. If I can execute the shot I "see" is called for during most of the round I feel I have had a successful day. Additionally, if playing with THP'rs is involved, the day was a success before the first peg went into the ground.

JM
 
Ball striking.

Sure score is the ultimate goal, but I feel good about my round if I strike the ball well.

And fewer than 34 putts. My bar is low.
 
If I hit 18 greens and two putted each green I would consider it a huge fail. Very few amateurs hit 100% of their greens. They don't chip it close all the time so saving par with a one putt is a success. Consequently, if I'm under 30 putts I know I did my job and save par with some solid putting.

Like I said when I opened the thread, everyone judges success differently. There is no one answer that is better than the next. I believe you said score. Well, what score?

I understand what you are saying, but is the under 30 solid putting or solid iron and short game? Amateurs miss greeens and have to have a solid short game to put themselves in one putt range. This is a part of the game that I am working on; I need to A.) Hit more greens and B.) do a better job of getting up and down. I personally don't believe that you can solely look at putting numbers. Wouldn't it make more sense to look at performance putting performance for GIR and non GIR independently?

Tying this into what I look at for success is avoiding the big miss for the round. It isn't all about fairways, greens, and putts, I try to look at how many really bad shots did I hit during the round. It could be a big slice off the tee, overdrawn iron, or chunked or bladed chip.
 
I understand what you are saying, but is the under 30 solid putting or solid iron and short game? Amateurs miss greeens and have to have a solid short game to put themselves in one putt range. This is a part of the game that I am working on; I need to A.) Hit more greens and B.) do a better job of getting up and down. I personally don't believe that you can solely look at putting numbers. Wouldn't it make more sense to look at performance putting performance for GIR and non GIR independently?

Tying this into what I look at for success is avoiding the big miss for the round. It isn't all about fairways, greens, and putts, I try to look at how many really bad shots did I hit during the round. It could be a big slice off the tee, overdrawn iron, or chunked or bladed chip.

The goal of the game is to get the ball into the hole in as few strokes as possible. I am not a guy that hits a ton of greens. At my peak of +4 hdcp I was just above 60% GIR. Putting made me a good golfer. When I missed, I knew I was going to make my putts to save a round. I'm below 50% GIR and have no time to beat balls to get my iron game crisper. So putting is how I judge success.
 
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