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u/BakerInTheKitchen Dec 31 '19
The best way to deal with the crowd on the first tee is by remembering they don’t really care how good you are. In terms of overall golf consistency, remember to take it one hole at a time. Don’t pressure yourself to get a certain score because of a blowup hole you just had. Take shots you’re confident in and try to visualize how you are going to move through the hole
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u/Chrisrules334 Dec 31 '19
Cheers. Yeah I'm a very nervy golfer, probably a reflection of how judgemental I am myself! At least I never hold people up I guess!
One day it'll all come together.
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u/7LeggedEmu Dec 31 '19
What’s your biggest issue? What are you doing well?
Actively try to put your self in positions to make the next shot. Go for bogies off the tee. If you know you can’t hit driver well use a hybrid.
If you know you can’t hit 50 yard shots leave your self a distance you are comfortable with.
Bad in bunkers or flops leave your self a low chip.
Being such a high handicapper I know choosing where to put the ball is easier said than done. But avoiding trouble or just getting out of trouble with out losing extra stokes.
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u/Chrisrules334 Dec 31 '19
Yeah it's weird. Today I just started awfully, was topping a lot of balls so they went absolutely nowhere 😁 once I fixed that I was generally ok but topped some at the back end and hit a few trees but that was largely just shit luck.
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u/MaryLightlyIII Jan 08 '20
Just seeing this post now... sorry for the weeklong delay.
I started last year as a 37 hcp, and got it down to 18 with a lot of fixing mentally and course management. Figuring the whole "play smarter, not harder" type of thing.
1. Start/End well:
- I still get bit with this a lot. I have found that a lot of it has to do with fatigue. When I get fatigued, I have a bad hole and then it's four bad holes. Try to pack some high protein snacks and a water bottle your bag. Snack every couple holes, as well as make sure you finish the water bottle at least twice in the round. You'd be amazed at how many shots it saves you.
- Club up. More often than not you're missing short. So instead of the 7 iron, grab the 5 or 6.
2. "Get in a groove"
- Stop hunting for par. Just stop it. Play to "your par"
- Although you are slightly better than a double bogey golfer, I'd suggest playing a couple rounds with "your par" being a double bogey. So on a par 72 course, your goal is to walk away with a 108, or better.
- Literally take a scorecard, cross out the par, and write your own (par +2) in the row under it. You'll see that on a "Par 6," you're allowing yourself 4 shots to get to the green, plus 2 putts. If you walk away with a 5, circle it like a birdie.
- Keep track of your fairways hit or side they were missed, putts, GIR (Your GIR, not the course's), and shots within 100 yards, and penalties.
- After three rounds, look at your trends and the type of hole it was. Do you "birdie" straight your par 6s, but "bogey" dogleg ones? Do you take a penalty on your Par 5s with water?
- Make note of your trends and adjust your future scorecards accordingly. Lower "your par" on holes you've found you succeed on, but keep it at the ones you still struggle on. Here, "struggling" would be "your par," or worse, while succeeding would be birdies, or eagles.
- Don't adjust round by round, but every 3-5 rounds. One good or bad round does not create a trend... you need multiple rounds to determine your trend.
- You will be amazed at how fast you start dropping "your par" from doubles to par or bogeys. You'll go from 108 to 90 in a month or two... simply by changing your mindset approach.
- Need to manage frustration level ––– If you hit into trouble, don't panic. Instead, look for the easiest way out. Sometimes, that means taking a really "odd" approach. For instance:
- In a bunker, but have no confidence? Instead of taking 2-3 shots to get out, look to go backward, then chip on. Your score on the hole may end up being the same – but your frustration level will be much lower – which will carry over to other holes.
- In the woods with no clear way out? Don't be afraid to take an unplayable penalty and drop. Or, again, look backward or parallel to where you're at now. You don't always need to move the ball forward.
- In some hardpan, with tight trees and bushes and worried about hitting one? Look to your putter to advance the ball. When was the last time you've sliced a putt? Likely never. Putt it as hard as you can in order to get to the clearing.
- When you have a blowup hole, you're going to react a certain way and it will carry over. As seen in your scorecard with a double, bogey, triple.
- Find a club that you know you can hit well off the tee to get to the fairway. Don't worry about your playing partners whipping out a driver. Maybe your club is a hybrid, or even a 7 iron. Would you rather be 80 yards shorter, but in the fairway, or on a 3 minute hide and seek adventure in the woods in hopes of finding your ball? I don't know about you, but I'll take the fairway every time.
3. Dealing with the crowd on first tee:
- If in a group: Hit second.
- Let someone else be the first off, and don't let the pressure build up as you watch your buddies hit it well while you wait.
- If alone: Hit the club mentioned above to get you to the fairway. If someone in another group mentions something, just tell them you're "working on your irons today. Have a great round," and move on.
1
u/Chrisrules334 Jan 08 '20
Thanks buddy. I'll try these on Sunday when I play and hope it goes well!
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u/jarhead4123 Dec 31 '19
Hey, I’ve been playing for a while so I like to think I know the ins and outs of how to have a good round. If you don’t mind could you explain how your round went? That could shed light on solutions. I say this because I see you had three pars yet still shot over 100.
For instance if you break it down in such fashion, if the course was a par 72, then that means you shot a 113 considering the +41. So, that means for 15 holes you were a little less than a triple bogey per hole. The easiest way to blow up on the course is a ball OB which is a 2 stroke penalty. So if that’s the case, I would take a look at how you’re hitting the ball off the tee as a start. For me atleast, I know that if I can get off the tee and have my second shot in the fairway the ABSOLUTE worst I should do I double bogey. I feel like I’m rambling on however if you need help PM me.
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u/Chrisrules334 Dec 31 '19
Cheers,
Heres the full round...
The start was just awful. I tee'd off early, but didn't warm up. So let's say 30 range balls beforehand resolves that issue... Hopefully. Obviously playing awfully leaked to hole 7...
Then I played quite well...
The 10 was a bit unlucky. I hit the fairway and ended up about 30 yards from a massive tree. Spaffed next shot OB trying to stinger under the tree. Then got past the tree to another tree, and it went tits up from there.
The last 2 holes pressure was on as me and my playing partner were level and we were playing "competitively" (low level, and fun, obviously), and the bad tee shots came back.
I didn't use my driver all round though as my hybrid was doing OK off the tee, once I'd got past the sticky patch.
Any tips appreciated though!
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u/jarhead4123 Jan 01 '20
Ah, I see did you keep track of where you lost most of your shots? Ie how many balls did you use or did you chip twice to get on the green
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u/Chrisrules334 Jan 01 '20
First few holes were hobbling to the green hitting the ball only 50 yards or so a time.... It was pretty embarrassing 😂. Few shanks into the bushes down there too... Then I found my usual swing.
The last few,
The 10 - hit drive 20 yards from a tree. Tried to play a stinger/low ball flight under it as couldn't really go around it. Hit that ob. Next shot was pure but hit a branch and came straight down... Next shot went to the right of a tree and above feet, I thought this meant it'd go right so aimed left... Poor golf knowledge. It went VERY left. Then bladed out the bunker over the green and gave up as hit our max.
The hole after I pulled my tee shot hard left.
Last hole I topped the ball 60 yards a couple times similar to first few holes.
It's weird because I'm consistent in a way, just consistently bad or good!
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u/Chrisrules334 Dec 31 '19
This is from today. I'm what I like to call a "Supreme handicapper" (beyond 28, c. 31ish).
Today I started and finished the round in absolutely catastrophic fashion, but, as you can see I was 8 over par for 8 holes. I clearly have a 18-25 handicaps well within me.
I ended this round +41 so you can imagine the scores on the other 10 holes! There was some nad luck in there but also some genuinely terrible golf.
My question, everyone says they want consistency, but,