A different approach - no longer a game of 2x9's

Oddsocks

Oddsocks

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Ok so with all the talks of great front nines, but shoddy back nines and visa versa, after speaking with one of the pro's he said to break it down further,

3 x 6's
6 x 3's
9 x 2's

so i thought id try 6x3 break the game down into 6 lots of 3 holes, hoping to drop 1 shot per 3 holes., this may have been a bit of a hard target, but my theory was if i dropped 2 shots per 3 holes, i would still shoot level hc.

I failed, major thinking sessions and not moving on from each set of 3's, didnt start to bad.

1st Par, 2nd Bogey, 3rd Bogey (+2 on track for hc)
4th par, 5th bogey, 6th bogey (+2 still on track)
7th Bogey, 8th Bogey, 9th Bogey (+3 and now +1 over hc)

onto the back 9....

10th Double... with 4 putts :( , 11th Bogey, 12th bogey (+4 and +2 over hc for this 3)
13th Bogey, 14th Bogey, 15th Bogey (+3 and +1 for this set)
16th bogey 3putt, 17th bogey, 18th par (+2)

ok this may have proved to be unsuccessfull today, but i wasnt swinging well and my putting was dire... but does anyone else diverse from the usual front 9 back 9 set up....
 
i've tried these methods and it doesn't work,not for me anyway.

my last attempt was trying to break it down to 6 lots of 3 and either way your always thinking about your score,maybe even more so because your thinking about playing 6 lots of 3's.

the last thing i tried was don't think about the score at all,don't even think about trying to make birdie here there or anywhere.just concentrate on the next shot and think about that and that only.

on the tee think about the wind,how your hitting it etc and go from there.think about the yardages,almost talk to yourself.

"right i've got 165 to a pin thats cut at the back right and there's no wind...it's 150 to the front" and so on.

i did this for my last round of the year and played a blinder,this is a method rory mcilroy uses and i tried to implement it.i'll be using it next season and hopefully i have good results.

always think positive,never protect a score.
 
interesting.

ive thrown some good cards away this season protecting scores or trying to maintain them, instead of playing each shot. could be a new approach.
 
Oddsocks said:
interesting.

ive thrown some good cards away this season protecting scores or trying to maintain them, instead of playing each shot. could be a new approach.
Click to expand...

i did this so many times this year.i would be level par with 4 to play etc and completely fall apart.i then asked a friend of mine who is a pro and she came away with the 3x6 idea etc and it didn't work.

at the end of the season i tried the new method and i was -3 thru 9 and then missed a 6ft putt for birdie on 10 to go -4.now admittedly i fell apart from about 11 onwards with 4 bogeys and a double to finish +3 but i went from thinking about each shot to thinking about my score and then trying to protect it.everything was half hearted as ifi was too scared to fully commit......just incase i went in the tree's or ob.

i spoke to a friend about this and he said the mistake i made here was being reserved about it,he told me that he would instead of thinking "i need to protect this" he would be pushing to get to -4,-5 and so on.
 
i suppose on effect if attacking the course has got you to -3, even a mega blow up hole wouldnt be bad, if your in that mindset.

i suppose if you look at my game today, this kinda makes sense. i was fully committed to chips/pitching, and driving, but wasnt confident in iron play, which turned out to be my let down. positive has to have some effect.
 
If I feel/know I'm playin well from now on I don't add my score at the turn and also ask my partners not to tell me. I find that helps me concentrate still and kind of keeps my rhythm going
 
the problem is connor you always know roughtly in your head if your playing well or having a hot round. whether your hc is 5, 15, or 25, you know where your shots are/should be and you know when your saving them.
 
Oddsocks said:
are we trying to play the game as two halves instead of one complete card.
Click to expand...

Play as a complete card as the final score is what counts, not a good front/back 9.

I don't understand the concept of protecting a card UNTIL you come to the final green and have 2 putts for a personal best... then... AND ONLY THEN is it acceptable to lag the first putt.

If you're playing for h/cap then it's better to press on and make more birdies and get a BIG cut than it is to try and repeat a half decent round the next time, let's face it, it'll probably be .1 back the next time out :)

When you're on a good round it's practically impossible not to know where you stand, and if you're doing well then that's just a sign that what you are doing is working!, keep doing it... nothing wrong finishing with 3 birdies!
 
All the golfers in the world when they are interviewed say " I am going to play one shot at a time, enjoy myself and see what happens" that is the only way, in my view, to approach the game. Smell the roses between shots, have a trigger to start your concentration, but most of all, relax and enjoy it




Chris
 
Oddsocks said:
Ok so with all the talks of great front nines, but shoddy back nines and visa versa, after speaking with one of the pro's he said to break it down further,

3 x 6's
6 x 3's
9 x 2's

so i thought id try 6x3 break the game down into 6 lots of 3 holes, hoping to drop 1 shot per 3 holes., this may have been a bit of a hard target, but my theory was if i dropped 2 shots per 3 holes, i would still shoot level hc.

I failed, major thinking sessions and not moving on from each set of 3's, didnt start to bad.

1st Par, 2nd Bogey, 3rd Bogey (+2 on track for hc)
4th par, 5th bogey, 6th bogey (+2 still on track)
7th Bogey, 8th Bogey, 9th Bogey (+3 and now +1 over hc)

onto the back 9....

10th Double... with 4 putts :( , 11th Bogey, 12th bogey (+4 and +2 over hc for this 3)
13th Bogey, 14th Bogey, 15th Bogey (+3 and +1 for this set)
16th bogey 3putt, 17th bogey, 18th par (+2)

ok this may have proved to be unsuccessfull today, but i wasnt swinging well and my putting was dire... but does anyone else diverse from the usual front 9 back 9 set up....
Click to expand...

I can remeber an interview years ago by Per Ulrik Johansson who did this. He set himself a short term goal of -1 for each 3 holes. The idea been if you have a bad 3 you can forget it and move on and if you do well you can stay out of your own way (I think this was why he adopted it) as some people set a ceiling on how low they can go (one idea being if you believe your a 10 handicapper and are 6 over with 2 to go you will find a way to get to 10 over). Of course taking each shot as it comes would be preferable.
 
Oddsocks said:
the problem is connor you always know roughtly in your head if your playing well or having a hot round. whether your hc is 5, 15, or 25, you know where your shots are/should be and you know when your saving them.
Click to expand...
I'm lucky (?) in that I am properly sh*t with numbers and blessed with a terrible instant recall memory. I'm very often blissfully ignorant of my score. Seriously, if you asked me what I'd shot after 9, I wouldn't have a clue without thinking about it.
So I have no idea how well I'm doing, but I do know if I've got a bad score... as do most people on the course (see the etiquette thread!).
I also ask not to be told my score at the turn.
Works for me!
 
Some people can handle knowing what their exact card is some can't. Some people that find out they are well under handicap will start to protect their card and go to pieces. Others will see they have dropped lots of shots and then try too hard to get them back making the card even worse. Many ways work well for different people. I have targets around the course and try to keep within them and I break my course down like this due to the holes that I will play and what score I would be happy with on them. Holes 1-5, 6-9, 10-15 them 16-18.
 
chrisd said:
All the golfers in the world when they are interviewed say " I am going to play one shot at a time, enjoy myself and see what happens" that is the only way, in my view, to approach the game. Smell the roses between shots, have a trigger to start your concentration, but most of all, relax and enjoy it
Chris
Click to expand...

I'm with Chris on this - most of the pro's claim only to think about the hole they are on at most, and what they can expect to score based on the current circumstances. It's also what most of the mind guru teach.

Persoanly it's easy - as trying not to blob the hole I'm on takes all my concentration:)
 
Last edited:
Bratty said:
I'm lucky (?) in that I am properly sh*t with numbers and blessed with a terrible instant recall memory. I'm very often blissfully ignorant of my score. Seriously, if you asked me what I'd shot after 9, I wouldn't have a clue without thinking about it.
So I have no idea how well I'm doing, but I do know if I've got a bad score... as do most people on the course (see the etiquette thread!).
I also ask not to be told my score at the turn.
Works for me!
Click to expand...

same here i was 7 over the front nine and 1 over the back, i didnt have a clue till my card marker told me. my best golf ever. i do try and play it shot to shot
 
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