COMMUNITY

I carry a single digit handicap, and I can tell you that blow up holes just happen from time to time. I had one just yesterday as a matter of fact. Shot a 37 on the front at my club...parred the next two...then the 12th! I pushed my tee shot into the rough and trees on the right. I decided to play a low runner with a 1 iron punch shot and the grass grabbed the ball and it went 20 feet. Being the idiot that I am I tried again and then again...20 feet...then 20 feet. My stubborn nature carded me a triple.

My advice is this... if you ant to avoid the big number play smart and practice your short game (specifically your chipping).

I am probably no more accurate off the tee than when I used to shoot in the 90's, but I rarely miss a green from inside 120 yards and my chipping is deadly.

You will never totally avoid the blow-ups...just ask Harrington, but you can minimize their occurance.

PS...you probably slice late in the round from fatigue. When the round gets late my miss is a hook. I am conscience of it, so I really focus on my technique after the 14th hole.

Great advise thanks, yes it was in the mid 90's yesterday and I bet it was fatigue.. I do spend some time at the range and work on drvier alot. With the advise I am going to work on my scoring clubs a while as I usually miss the green short left from 170 into 100.

Note: I'm a 13 handicapper and not one to be giving advise but...I just have three points to mention and these have greatly helped me reduce the number of times I blow up (1) Accept that you will never completely eliminate them and if you acknowledge you may have one (or two or whatever) in a round you won't be as upset when it does happen and since you aren't as upset you will tend not to carry it over to the next shot or hole. (2) You need to be able to refocus immediately after a bad shor or hole. This is a mental challenge that you need to figure out how to achieve. Maybe you accomplish this by a preshot routine or a particular thought. (3)Don't add to a mistake by making another mistake. When you hit a bad shot, don't try to pull off the "miracle shot". Know your limitations and play your next shot safe, take your bogey or double and feel GOOD going to the next hole knowing that you just avoided a blow up.

Lyin is spot on. You need to assess your options realistically before attempting a recovery shot. Many times we get "hole conscious" when we're facing a tough recovery...by that I mean you might be in the deep rough behind a tree about 150 yards from the green, and all you see is the flagstick. So you try some miracle intentional slice around the tree, but it never works and you end up in more trouble. This was me for a long, long time, until I learned to quit being a hero. Punching out sideways and taking bogey is a hell of a lot better than a triple. So only go for the pin if you are absolutely confident you have the shot. Otherwise, just chop it out in the general direction of the green and move on.

As far as around-the-green goes, the main factor is having confidence in your shot. The problem there lies in the fact that we don't get to practice those shots on the practice green...there's rarely any rough or other weirdness around the chipping green. The only way to build confidence in your game around the green is to get out on the course and work it out. Try all different types of lies and see what the ball does out of each lie. Go play at a really empty day on the course, and drop a few extra balls around the green and try to get up-and-down with each one.

A little word of advice here. I looked on your profile and saw your wedges match the rest of your irons, the Callaway Fusions. While the irons are nice, I strongly suggest ditching the "matched" wedges and getting some dedicated forged wedges. The "wedges" that come with your set are only lofted like a wedge, they do not perform like one. Go to the store and try out what they have...Callaway makes a great wedge, as well as Cleveland, Titleist, etc. I suggest getting a gap (50 to 52 degrees, about 8 degrees of bounce), sand (54 to 56 degrees, 10 to 12 degrees of bounce) and a lob (58 to 60 degrees, 4 to 8 degrees of bounce) wedge. The design of a real wedge will help you perform all types of shots around the green. You will not believe how much easier it is to hit them from thick rough, out of bunkers, or wherever. Your wedges are your stroke savers, so don't be afraid to dump some coin on them.

Other than that, just accept, like Lyin said, that sometimes there's nothing you can do. Every once in a while I'll launch one OB and now I'm standing on the teebox hitting 3. The best I can expect is a bogey, but it's probably going to be a double or worse. Gotta let that go and get the strokes back on another hole.

I'm a single handicapper (7) as well and I agree with Leyinlewis, sometimes you're just going to have a blowup hole. It happens to the best. What I try to do to get over a bad shot is just to stop and take a breath to get it out of my system and think about the next shot, and then try to refocus on it. That seems to help me, try it and I hope it works for you. Good luck.

Ahhhh, the dreaded blow up hole, it happens to everyone, here is a little drill that I do, I used to have a couple of triple bogeys per round it was inevitable, ever since I changed my view and mental attitude I seem to have eliminated at least one of them, tipically it starts with a bad tee shot, and then from there we try to hit a miracle shot underneat the trees that once it has cleared the trees will elevate enough to carry the front green bunker, and this shot has some much spin that once it lands after the bunker it will stop within the three feet of green that we need it to stop, well wrong, wrong, wrong, now, once I hit a bad tee shot, my next ball regardless of where it lies, is a chip shot back to the fairway, I have even stopped trying to hit the chip shot forward, it has become a simple lateral chip back out to the fairway, from there I will evaluate my options, if I have an uncomfortable distance to the green, I will not attempt the shot, simply I will hit a club that I have confidence in, and from there pitch up to the green and hopefully convert the putt, I have come to realize that by doing this and taking this approach, my sevens on par 4's have turned into sixes, and sometimes five, and on par fives, instead of 8's I am now getting either my par or a bogey.

Wow thanks to all the feedback keep it coming and also thank you for even looking at my clubs to see what is in my bag. I do infact have the sand and Lob from the fusoin wide set and yes they are just like my other irons. I am right now looking at others you mentioned.

I hope this not only helps me but others too that face these challanges

i just found the Cleveland CG 12 60 degree wedge on rockbottomgolf.com and received it last week. I paid $79.99 for it. I would be shocked if you could find a better deal somewhere else.

When you hit a bad shot don't try and make up for it by trying to hit a great shot. play one shot at a time and pick the best and safe shot to set up your next one. Not every shot has to be on the green to be a good shot. Keep a cool head. getting mad at your self is not good for your next shot.

Wow! You have a 1-iron. "Not even God can hit a 1-iron."

More food for thought. I gave you an example of a blow up hole from a round this week. As mentioned before I carry a single digit handicap so just to make you feel better I will share with you this very true and upsetting story.

I played in my first ever US Hickory Open this year (I play hickory clubs and in hickory golf tournaments in the US and abroad).

The US Hickory Open was held at Mimosa Hills CC in Morganton, NC this last July.

During my practice round I shot a 77 and felt good. The next day (the first round) I hit the range and hit fantastic shots.
I get to the first tee and hit a slight push off the tee. I step back shaking my head, when I hear "pssst...pssst."

Another players says, "do you want to know what you did wrong?"

I replied..."no thank you."

He decided to tell me anyway that my feet were aimed dead right. (By the way his advice was a rules violation).

I parred the first hole, but on the second I could not get his voice out of my head. I hooked the ball OB and took a triple. The next hole...hook OB and a double. Next hole another damn double! So in a 4 hole span I had pretty much shot myself out of the tournament shooting 7 over par in 4 holes.

I licked my wounds which were mental (my weakness more than anything).

On my 18 hole score card I did something I have never heard of. I shot for the cycle...I had an eagle, a couple of birdies, a couple of pars, a bogey, a double, a triple... and when we reached the 18th tee box I said to my playing partners...to bad I didn't get a hole in one because that would have completed a weird round. Well I didn't get a hole in one on the 440 yard par 4. I hit a push off the tee...had to play lateral into another fairway then hit a fat shot, then my approach found the greenside bunker, then I bladed a delicate bunker shot OB...and ended up with a quadruple!!!

So I shot a 93 with everything from an eagle to a quadruple on my scorecard.

Blow up holes happen...blow up rounds happen.

After the US Hickory Open I took a month off from golf. I have decided to revamp my swing and take 2 lessons a month for at least a year until I can get to a scratch player with hickory clubs. Since then I have flattened my swing, and my round yesterday even with the blow-up hole was a 77.

Flattening out my swing should help me eliminate the right side of the fairway. At this point in my game I need to have a consistent miss.

I agree...It sounds simple but bad shots WILL happen...but you need to focus on every shot...so one you need to put the bad shots out of your mind and focus on the shot you have now. And that is correct about fatigue, the more tired you are the easier it is to loose focus...On around the 12th hole I make sure I tell myself to be sure to stay focused.