A Glorious Mis-hit

[pitchperfect]

I remember playing golf last autumn at pitch-and-putt in Lichfield. I'd messed up the first hole and came to the second tee with a sense of foreboding. However, the shot I hit to the green was unforgetable. The ball flew low with a slight fade and trickled upon to the green within a foot of the hole. Was I happy with this outcome? No.

The reason for my unhappiness was simple: the shot was a blinding mis-hit. First, my club selection was wrong. I really should have gone with a 9-iron or even a pitching wedge - the green wasn't too far away. Second, what I'd planned for the shot was a high, straight pitch that should have dropped and stuck to the deck. As I swung, I felt the club twisting in my grip. My posture was tense. On the downswing I honestly thought I'd scuff the shot. But no. In the end, it worked out.

But I wasn't pleased. For me, satisfaction comes from planning a shot and then executing that plan with precision. I couldn't bring myself to cheer this fluke.

Does anyone else feel this way, or do you consider a mis-hit that works out a bonus - sporting karma - in what is an already devilishly hard game?

 

[cbetofop]

Gawd! I posted the other day that my best ever was 87 (no gimmies!)but there were several "Radcliffe's" in there, a few monster putts and a few lucky breaks off trees and pathways......if it hadn't been for these the score would have been 100+ for sure.......them's the breaks!

 

[USER1999]

No, I hate playing that way. For me, it has to be a perfect strike, exactly as I envisaged it, or I am not happy at all. Yes, I will take luck like that (as if you get a choice), but there is next to no satisfaction in it. I would rather have middled the wrong club, and blown it through the back. At least it is a golf shot.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Totally agree. I posted elsewhere yesterday I'd rather hit the ball well and not score (miss a few putts/greens) than nudge the ball round with badly struck shots and maybe fluke a good score

 

[Adi_Dassler]

It's not how, it's how many.

 

[Herbie]

I had a round a few days ago, played off the whites and came in with a 78 gross, but I wasn't all that happy because I mishit 50% of my shots and played recovery or an extra chip shot on about 15 holes and very few shots made me feel I had hit them well. It never gives me much satisfaction if I just get a little lucky throughout the round rather than my play doing the job.
The round before that one I shot 80 off the yellows but felt I had played great because very little luck was involved and very little recovery needed.

 

[pitchperfect]

of course score is important - especially at professional level. But if I went around a course and finished par by way of every fluke and lucky bounce there is, I'd have a sense of hollowness about the round. No low score, in my book, compares to a crisply hit golf shot.

When all is said and done, it's about the golf, not the numbers.

 

[jammydodger]

Depends what you want out of golf , if hitting wonderful shots all day but flying them through the green or coming up short on most of them is what makes you happy then go for it.

Personally i'll take the score and the better handicap that it brings and be very satisfied. You wont go low if you cant play the game though

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I wnat my cake and eat it. Of course I want to play to my maximum and off as low a handicap as I can get but I also want the satisfaction you get from a great ball striking round.

 

[Smiffy]

I had 37 points round Bearwood Lakes last Sunday, but really didn't deserve them. My driving was not good, my iron play was a bit scruffy, I scrambled to be honest. Two or three times I got up and down to save par when really I should have been looking at bogie. My short game saved the day. I was happy with my score, the scorecard doesn't paint a picture. But my driving in particular was giving me cause for concern, so no....I wasn't 100% chuffed with the outing.

 

[pitchperfect]

Me too. Good, clean ball striking will nearly always translate into a low score. Just an extra thought: isn't it strange how in golf good luck can be just as frustrating as bad?

 

[Robokolo]

yes i would rather have a good shot with a bad bounce leading to an average result than a bad shot and a good bounce leading to the same result. If i get i lucky bounce or kick and the result is good off a bad shot i feel guilty and dont think that i played that shot.

i would rather play well and score badly than play badly and score well, just seams unfair to others.

 

[madandra]

I once had an 81 with ZERO fairways hit in regulation and 5 G.I.R but 28 putts helped.

 

[fat_crocodile]

a friend of mine in dublin had a hole-in-one from a mishit 8-iron, went all along the ground right up to the hole and in! he wasn't too bothered about that strike

 

[TonyN]

I had a 130 yard eaglw with a slighly thin 8 iron, I would rather have hit it well and drained the birdie put looking back but at the time it won me the hole.

 

[Imurg]

As I've said in another post I used to get furious if the ball didn't travel exactly as planned.

These days I honestly couldn't give a toss how it gets there. Sure if I hit a good shot I'm pleased but I'm also pleased if I thin a wedge and still get it where I want it.

 

[Region3]

If you're playing for a living then you want all the good results you can get from bad shots.
For me at least - playing for enjoyment - I want it to happen how I intend it to.
I think that's the reason I've never liked using game improvement irons. If I make a bad swing I'd rather know about it than the ball fly like I hit it perfect and I'm none the wiser.

I can understand the other point of view though, each to their own

 

[Adrena1in]

For me, satisfaction comes from planning a shot and then executing that plan with precision. I couldn't bring myself to cheer this fluke.

I'm sort of the same. I've never had a spectacular miss-hit as flukey as yours, but I regularly thin the ball and get away with it. My playing partners will say, "Great shot!", but I'll admit it was a thin and I got lucky, and not really be that happy with the shot, though can't not be happy with the result.

Remember, it's not about how good your good shots are...it's about how good your bad shots are.

 

[Spoff]

Was having a discussion about hole in ones/chip ins yesterday and I think I would rather not have them.

Getting the ball in the hole from 100+ yards is luck, leaving it within a couple of foot is skill.

 

[USER1999]

I kind of see your point, but I would view hole in ones as skill too, provided it was a good strike. I don't see it as more skillful than putting it close, but the same.