Shakey
#TheGolfWhisperer
I play a lot of safe golf, but on occasion I've been known to go for a difficult shot if I was "feeling it". Sometimes you just know when you can pull a shot off.
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I think it would lower your scores and handicap. You would be a consistently better golfer. But you'd also eliminate your ability to shoot 8-10 shots better in tourneys.Would I (or you) be better off playing my casual rounds with that same "no double bogeys" and "don't try the crazy shot" mentality? Would it make me better in the competitive rounds? Should I save the 'crazy shots' for when I'm just working on my short game?
This is sort of a mental game question. I'm not even sure there is a 'correct' answer. But I'm hoping it spurs some discussion.
~Rock
I agree in a sense. I've found that if I takenit casual it usually causes a loss of focus which leads to poor play. When I play poorly I'm not happy with myself. But casual as in light hearted and joking around with my buddies. Sure, but I've got to engage in the shot.Practice is competition. Golf is never a casual game for me.
Edit: No offense intended, but this almost feels a bit like sandbagging. Why not play for the lowest score in non-competitive rounds? Consistently beating your number by 8-10 strokes seems off to me.
Guess I'm not sure why you think it would be sandbagging if someone was trying shots that, if pulled off correctly, would help their score be lower. Might not be the smartest play, but I don't see why making bad decisions should just invalidate a round.
That depends on whether the handicap thus obtained gives you an unfair advantage in competition. If that's is the case, then you are not employing the handicap system as it's supposed to be used, and your handicap does not reflect your true playing style. If you don't do it enough to have a significant impact on your index, then no problem.
If it happens often enough to start effecting their handicap, then I'd argue that it is that players true playing style.
Not if they never play that way in competition. The point is that playing differently in competition in order take advantage of what is essentially a manipulated handicap is sandbagging. This is not an accusation because I don't know you and have no idea what your playing style is. It's just a general statement on sandbagging. What we are discussing is essentially the definition of sandbagging. It doesn't matter whether you deliberately chunk shots to add strokes, outright lie about what you shot, or play a significantly different style of play. Anything you do to artificially raise your index is still handicap manipulation.
I've taken risk shots in past years rather than play safe, but never to the point that it affected my handicap or my tournament results. In fact I'm almost as likely to take the risk in a competition as in a casual round, especially if I actually feel that I need to take the risk to be in the hunt, or if I'm already out of the running and the tournament just becomes another round of golf. I'm not talking about padding my score, but something more like going for a par 5 in 2 where the safe shot is a layup. With my game, a layup can be as hazardous as going for it, so my score is rarely much different for taking the risk.
Edit: No offense intended, but this almost feels a bit like sandbagging. Why not play for the lowest score in non-competitive rounds? Consistently beating your number by 8-10 strokes seems off to me.
Guess I'm not sure why you think it would be sandbagging if someone was trying shots that, if pulled off correctly, would help their score be lower. Might not be the smartest play, but I don't see why making bad decisions should just invalidate a round.
That depends on whether the handicap thus obtained gives you an unfair advantage in competition. If that's is the case, then you are not employing the handicap system as it's supposed to be used, and your handicap does not reflect your true playing style. If you don't do it enough to have a significant impact on your index, then no problem.
If it happens often enough to start effecting their handicap, then I'd argue that it is that players true playing style.
So I'm curious, say this golfer makes the risky shots during the round and shoots a lower score than what he/she would if they played the way they did during competition. Would you want that golfer to record that lower score?
Also, I'm not saying any of this because of myself. My game doesn't change a whole lot from competitive mode versus casual, but I still record all my scores. I'm just saying that no golfer plays the exact same way every time they play golf. Also, I don't think McRock is talking about intentionally inflating scores for the sake of handicap. I take it as he's wondering if people take more risks during casual versus competitive rounds. If you take more risks and someone calls you a sandbagger, that's just ridiculous in my opinion. It's easier to take risks when there is nothing on the line, doesn't mean the round is invalid for handicap purposes.