COMMUNITY

My guess is you got too quick. It's happened to me before and most golfers who are, or have been at your level. You hear Nick Faldo say a lot that you just need to slow yourself down sometimes. Whether it's your swing, your walk, your breathing, or your pre-shot routine, be aware that you aren't going too fast.

I have been golfing many years now and luckily have gotten my handicap down reasonably well in that time. However, there are still rounds where I can blow up on a certain hole and even Tin Cup it. All I try to do when the dander gets up is to back off, rethink what I want to do, and just try to keep it in play through that hole. Just try to limit the damage. If you can't, then spit happens at times and move on to the next hole.

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What he said!
I'm new also, and sometimes the train just goes off the track. The guys on this site have been of great encouragement to me, and will be to you also. Take a look at a few of my higher scores, it's ugly. My worst to date is a 13 on a par 3. 3 tee shots into the drink, one behind a tree, chip out, chip on green and roll off other side into bunker, one out of the bunker and then a 3 putt. It took all of 15 minutes. Make yourself s l o w d o w n.

I do the same thing, as does 99% of humanity. My general thought is that it all boils down to a lack of skill, talent, and hand-eye coordination. In other words, just a select few people on the planet win the "golfer DNA" lottery at birth. I cultivate other hobbies to supplement golf.

What really helps me to keep my scores low is to just get the ball back into play. If I get stuck behind a tree or in a tight situation I forget about the green. I try to just put the ball back into play. I try not to take high risk shots unless I am 100% confident that I can make the shot. Any doubt and I take the smart shot instead.

Randall... welcome to this obsessive, crazy game. Glad you can enjoy it. VERY simple to keep low scores and avoid 10s... just hit perfectly every time you swing, and it should never be a problem. Good luck Bro; easy solution. :)

As I was saying, the guys on here are very supportive and sarcastic.

All in good fun too, LOL. As most have said just slow down, put the 10 behind you and get onto the next hole. I shot one of the toughest courses in Washington State today and blew out on two holes, one front and one back. No matter how safe I played one bad shot just lead to another. I parred the holes after these just by taking a deep breath and slowing down.

The more sarcastic the better! Thanks, all. If nothing else, it's good to know I'm in good company.

The Tin Cup reference reminded me of this video on Golf Channel about the amateur who got a chance to redeem himself from years ago shooting a record worst score on the 17th at Sawgrass. Hilarious video---> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v..

On that par 4 I mentioned, I had a Tin Cup moment. After plunking it in the creek, I dropped back about 30 yards so I could play from the fairway (and giving me an even 100 yard shot level with the green- a nice 50 degree wedge for me). Another guy who went into the creek in a similar spot to me- he dropped down by the creek in the rough, with an uphill shot about 70 yards. Seemed like an awkward shot.

Proud of myself for playing what I thought was the smarter shot, he proceeded to put the ball inside 10 feet. I, of course, chunk into the same creek, and then have to play again- once again choosing to drop the same 30 yards back. Not my proudest moment!

Hey! I resemble that comment Vince!

As we learn to play golf, we should start by taking lessons. The goal should be to CONSISTENTLY propel the ball straight from any decent lie. We need to hit fairways from the tee and greens from the fairways.

Hitting a ball straight requires good swing fundamentals. Hogan said correctly that the golf swing is NOT "natural." Everything we would naturally do is wrong in golf. For example, the dominant hand and arm must be subdued. The golf swing is NOT much like a baseball swing. A good golf swing must be carefully learned and then ingrained by patient repetition because much of the swing movement occurs at the subconscious level, too fast for conscious error detection and correction. So good golfers are simply playing back what they have recorded, i.e. ingrained by rote repetition.

Every teaching pro is a good player, ergo, he had to undergo the same process you will need to. He knows how you must learn-- and if you are patient and persistent, he can make you a good golfer. But you will need to tell him you understand learning the golf swing is a process and that you will return for another lesson periodically as you achieve each incremental "prerequisite" step. Each level builds on the achievement of the earlier levels, just like we learn advanced math.

As you play the course, at first you should forget score and focus only on hitting fairways and greens. Once you are doing that, your score is meaningful and a reliable measure of your achievement. BUT, if you are missing fairways off the tee, if you are always recovering, your score is more about luck than golfing ability. And golfing like that isn't much fun. About half of all beginners quit before they ever become able to break 90. So focus on the fundamentals. Learn to do it right. Learn to hit the ball straight.

A few years ago I played Camp Pendleton as a single. They paired me with a Marine General and two privates who were strong but beginners. They were hitting it a LONG way into the trees and OB. After a few holes, the general said, "boys, if you can't just smoothly stroke it down the middle, walk in. You are embarrassing me and yourselves." They both shouted "YES SIR!" and they did exactly what he suggested. They were AFRAID to swing wildly again. They concentrated on making solid contact and propelling the ball straight, forgetting about distance. And at the end of the round both had broken 90--by far the best rounds of their lives!.

So maybe all beginners need an internal Marine General to control their urge to overswing.

Larry

I know that guy! Yeah, what was his name....wait a minute...it's all coming back to me now....he punched me in the stomach and called me a "twinkletoed worthless maggot puke"....sounded kinda like this, right?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v..

Not quite, ha. When a General speaks softly, that is pretty scary stuff for privates, ha.

Larry

Bill, not sure if you are going to see this as the greatest news ever, or go 'rats'. But the fact is every one of the 1% of the top golfers have experienced what Randall is going through sometime in their past.

They just didn't stay there.

When they were sperm.