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Improvements don't show on the scorecard?

Posted in: General Golf Discussion

ilya Amateur
Go to Last Reply 48 Views 10 Replies 1 Like
I think many of you can relate to my story.. I've been golfing for about a year now, and I've come quite a long ways from where I was. I never had a professional lesson, but luckily I have several friends who are scratch golfers, played on the amateur tour etc, so they've helped me a lot. That, reading a good golf book, reading good articles, watching good videos, etc, and being patient and realizing that golf improvements don't happen overnight has helped me improve quite a bit. I'm much more confident in my swing, know why the ball goes where it does, and have a better understanding of the game overall. Still, these improvements don't necesarily translate into scores. I've shaved off some strokes without a doubt, but I still don't consistently break 100, for instance. Usually what happens is I shoot bogey golf or a couple strokes under on about 13-14 holes, but the others are triples or higher. In fact, I think stracka's statistics show my "others" at like 25%. That's obviously quite a bit. How have you guys dealt with that in the past (or now)? I know I'm capable of playing better than I score. In fact the last 2 rounds I played were probably the best rounds of my life, as far as PLAYING goes, but the scores didn't show that. One thing I've started doing is rather than setting score-related goals (ie: break 100), i set performance-related goals. My 3 common ones: no 3 putts, under 34 total putts, and 50% FW hit. Today I hit 56%, and 32 putts with three 3-putts, so I had 2 of the 3. So, as I asked earlier.. What are some other ways of dealing with this? Cheers
ilya Amateur
# 1 9/29/2008 1:34:49 AM
Funny you tell me to pick up tennis, i used to play that in HS and college for a few years haha. was decent at it, never great. I'm a once a week golfer because I have a full time job in the corporate world, so the weekend is the only time i have. I go to the range once, maybe twice a week outside of that as well i agree that it takes a lot of time and repetition, especially on those tough shots (ie: bunkers). When I had time this summer, I played about 27-36 holes a week, and those shots became just like any other to me. Since then, of course, I've found myself struggling in the bunker, in deep grass etc..
Goynes42 Professional Champion
# 2 9/29/2008 8:22:49 AM
ilya, I feel your pain, because I was a victim of the "others" for a long time, even after learning to strike the ball properly. And like you, I am primarily a self-taught player. After a long time of shooting in the high 80s and 90s, mostly due to "others," I decided to sit down and really figure out why those holes gave me the scores that they did. The answer, I found, really had little to do with ball-striking and EVERYTHING to do with course management. I would often try shots that were just wrong to do. That would put me into more trouble, and I would get frustrated, and scores went through the roof. So I started really studying and thinking about how to get around a golf course--what are the right shots to play, when to go for it, when not to, etc.--and lo and behold, my scores got better! I am now in the 70s, and even if I'm having a terrible ball-striking day, I can salvage a high 70s or low 80s score by playing the course well. I actually wrote a blog on course management, with some priming tips, a few weeks ago. Check it out for a start, and see if it improves your game! It is here: http://www.ushandicap.com/golf.. Also, Jack Nicklaus's Golf My Way II describes course management in detail.
Sylla Legend
# 3 9/29/2008 6:30:43 PM
You've been playing for only a year? There's one thing I learnt, and it's that golf takes time (I'm so wise now, I've been playing for two years ;). Granted, some people are naturally gifted. I know a junior who started the game less than a year ago and he's now shooting 75. But for the rest of us (and as adults who are trying to learn this beautiful game), it just takes time and practice and play and instruction and the more time you can devote to golf, the faster you'll improve. When I complained to my instructor that I wasn't improving fast enough, he simply told me: "Well, you just have to play 18-hole and practice every day and you'll improve faster". You need the experience to develop the feel. And this takes time. Hang in there :)
ilya Amateur
# 4 10/3/2008 1:01:54 PM
You guys are spot on when you say my course management could use some work. I'm fairly aggressive with everything I do, and it's no different on the golf course. For instance, last round I played, hit a 3 iron from about 200 out but pulled it to the left of the green, it ended up taking a bad bounce and went behind the tree. The tree was in the worst possible location, so that it was covering the path from the ball to the whole (and the green was fairly narrow). Thus, I tried to go over it with a LW, ended up hitting the top branch, ball falls under a tree. Take a SW to bump it on, hit it a bit short of the green, have to take another one (frustrated at this point), hit it thin, the ball ends on the other side of the green. Basically it was like a 5 stroke debacle. I probably should have played it safe and punched it under the tree the first time, to the far left of the green, and either had a 2 putt or another short chip and then a putt. Cost myself at least 2 strokes by not playing smart..

ilya

Amateur

Go to Last Reply

48 Views 10 Replies 1 Like

I think many of you can relate to my story..
I've been golfing for about a year now, and I've come quite a long ways from where I was. I never had a professional lesson, but luckily I have several friends who are scratch golfers, played on the amateur tour etc, so they've helped me a lot. That, reading a good golf book, reading good articles, watching good videos, etc, and being patient and realizing that golf improvements don't happen overnight has helped me improve quite a bit. I'm much more confident in my swing, know why the ball goes where it does, and have a better understanding of the game overall.
Still, these improvements don't necesarily translate into scores. I've shaved off some strokes without a doubt, but I still don't consistently break 100, for instance.
Usually what happens is I shoot bogey golf or a couple strokes under on about 13-14 holes, but the others are triples or higher. In fact, I think stracka's statistics show my "others" at like 25%. That's obviously quite a bit.

How have you guys dealt with that in the past (or now)? I know I'm capable of playing better than I score. In fact the last 2 rounds I played were probably the best rounds of my life, as far as PLAYING goes, but the scores didn't show that.

One thing I've started doing is rather than setting score-related goals (ie: break 100), i set performance-related goals. My 3 common ones: no 3 putts, under 34 total putts, and 50% FW hit. Today I hit 56%, and 32 putts with three 3-putts, so I had 2 of the 3.

So, as I asked earlier.. What are some other ways of dealing with this?

Cheers

ilya

Amateur

# 1 9/29/2008 1:34:49 AM

Funny you tell me to pick up tennis, i used to play that in HS and college for a few years haha. was decent at it, never great.
I'm a once a week golfer because I have a full time job in the corporate world, so the weekend is the only time i have. I go to the range once, maybe twice a week outside of that as well
i agree that it takes a lot of time and repetition, especially on those tough shots (ie: bunkers). When I had time this summer, I played about 27-36 holes a week, and those shots became just like any other to me. Since then, of course, I've found myself struggling in the bunker, in deep grass etc..

Goynes42

Professional Champion

# 2 9/29/2008 8:22:49 AM

ilya, I feel your pain, because I was a victim of the "others" for a long time, even after learning to strike the ball properly. And like you, I am primarily a self-taught player. After a long time of shooting in the high 80s and 90s, mostly due to "others," I decided to sit down and really figure out why those holes gave me the scores that they did.

The answer, I found, really had little to do with ball-striking and EVERYTHING to do with course management. I would often try shots that were just wrong to do. That would put me into more trouble, and I would get frustrated, and scores went through the roof. So I started really studying and thinking about how to get around a golf course--what are the right shots to play, when to go for it, when not to, etc.--and lo and behold, my scores got better! I am now in the 70s, and even if I'm having a terrible ball-striking day, I can salvage a high 70s or low 80s score by playing the course well.

I actually wrote a blog on course management, with some priming tips, a few weeks ago. Check it out for a start, and see if it improves your game! It is here: http://www.ushandicap.com/golf.. Also, Jack Nicklaus's Golf My Way II describes course management in detail.

Sylla

Legend

# 3 9/29/2008 6:30:43 PM

You've been playing for only a year? There's one thing I learnt, and it's that golf takes time (I'm so wise now, I've been playing for two years ;).
Granted, some people are naturally gifted. I know a junior who started the game less than a year ago and he's now shooting 75. But for the rest of us (and as adults who are trying to learn this beautiful game), it just takes time and practice and play and instruction and the more time you can devote to golf, the faster you'll improve. When I complained to my instructor that I wasn't improving fast enough, he simply told me: "Well, you just have to play 18-hole and practice every day and you'll improve faster". You need the experience to develop the feel. And this takes time. Hang in there :)

ilya

Amateur

# 4 10/3/2008 1:01:54 PM

You guys are spot on when you say my course management could use some work. I'm fairly aggressive with everything I do, and it's no different on the golf course.
For instance, last round I played, hit a 3 iron from about 200 out but pulled it to the left of the green, it ended up taking a bad bounce and went behind the tree. The tree was in the worst possible location, so that it was covering the path from the ball to the whole (and the green was fairly narrow). Thus, I tried to go over it with a LW, ended up hitting the top branch, ball falls under a tree. Take a SW to bump it on, hit it a bit short of the green, have to take another one (frustrated at this point), hit it thin, the ball ends on the other side of the green. Basically it was like a 5 stroke debacle.
I probably should have played it safe and punched it under the tree the first time, to the far left of the green, and either had a 2 putt or another short chip and then a putt. Cost myself at least 2 strokes by not playing smart..

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