As you lower your handicap what areas of the game become absolutely crucial?

[Robobum]

Also, be sure to keep stats - statistics don't lie.

Are you sure??

I miss all 18 greens by inches and leave my self short shots that I can putt.

I don't hole any of them because of an awful stroke and have 18 tap ins.

The stats will say to work on my long game because of my shocking GIR but tell me I am a putting genius!!??

Stats say exactly what you want them to - if you lie, so do they.

 

[Snelly]

Have any of you played some courses on the Costa Del Sol and if so which and how do you rate them?

I have played Las Brisas, San Roque, Marbella Club, El Rompido, Torrequebrada, Elmanara, Alcadeisa and El Paraiso - apologies for the spellings if they are wrong.

las Brisas and Marbella Club are my favourites.

 

[RaCs]

70% of your practise should be done on your "short game". Most people make the mistake of hitting too many balls at the range with the driver and neglect practising from 100 yards and in. Be sure to focus on chipping and putting and you will begin to see your scores lower.

However, you need to assess where you loose most of your strokes in a round - everyones' development needs differ. Do you loose 2-3 balls off the tee per round? If so, focus on developing your technique with the driver. Also, be sure to keep stats - statistics don't lie.

How many greens in regulation? How many fairways? How many putts?

Good luck!

Thanks for that Andrew. To be honest I dont lost more than 2 balls a round so my driving off the tee is quite consistent. Been hitting the 3 wood more off the tee lately and it seems that I seem to hit it straighter and on occassions, further than my driver! I need more work on my driver for sure so thats something I will be doing at the range tomorrow. My main focus tomorrow will be my short game for sure and hopefully on Monday's round I can try and shoot an even lower score!!

 

[Alex1975]

Are you sure??

I miss all 18 greens by inches and leave my self short shots that I can putt.

I don't hole any of them because of an awful stroke and have 18 tap ins.

The stats will say to work on my long game because of my shocking GIR but tell me I am a putting genius!!??

Stats say exactly what you want them to - if you lie, so do they.

Love this....

 

[Rooter]

For me, my priority is getting the ball in play from the tee initially, its no good being in the cabbage or 3 off the tee as a starting point. From there, my iron play i am happy with, course management could improve and took a harsh lesson yesterday in "clubbing up" as i left a fair few irons short. Then its "the scoring zone" 100yrds in. from 100 yards, i would like to see myself leave an easy 2 putt (with a chance of a 1 putt) 3 shots to hole out from 100yrds is not out of the question.So to do that, wedge play needs to be accurate and putting solid.

Its difficult to prioritize which is most important, as if you are 3 from the tee a lot, you will struggle to score, but on the flip, you can drive greens etc, then 3 putt or duff chips. so both are very important to me. When both click, i play well and shoot low scores, when one is off its below average, and like yesterday when both are off, i shoot a cricket score.

Get the ball in play off the tee
Set real distance expectations with shorter irons and manage the course better (and stay out of bunkers!!)
Chip well
putt well

that's what is critical to me.

 

[Slab]

Yes you are right. We just need to pop across the border to Spain in order to play as we do not have a golf course in Gibraltar. There are more than 15 coures withing a 30min drive from Gibraltar along the Costa Del Sol. There are some top championship coures just a short drive away from me e.g. Valderamma, Finca Cortesin, San Roque Golf Club and I am fortunate to be able to play at the spectacular San Roque courses (Old & New) on a regular basis.

Have any of you played some courses on the Costa Del Sol and if so which and how do you rate them?

Just had a look at the San Roque website, looks amazing, particularity the old course, holes 1 & 18 look really special. I'd give serious consideration to swapping with you...
(I might just be able to challenge you to a photo comp for best view though, I play at the Le Touessrok course)

Was in Gib for three years in the 70's but long before I took up golf and it wouldn't have been a simple task of crossing the border back then either

Sorry to go off topic

 

[RaCs]

Just had a look at the San Roque website, looks amazing, particularity the old course, holes 1 & 18 look really special. I'd give serious consideration to swapping with you...
(I might just be able to challenge you to a photo comp for best view though, I play at the Le Touessrok course)

Was in Gib for three years in the 70's but long before I took up golf and it wouldn't have been a simple task of crossing the border back then either

Sorry to go off topic

Yes, I prefer the Old course over the New for sure! They are tough little courses too! Your local is in Mauritius? If so the setting and location is truly spectacular! I certainly wouldn't mine swapping with you mate!

 

[Fader]

Pretty much as been said already. Course Management, Short game and then finally driving.

 

[cookelad]

Are you sure??

I miss all 18 greens by inches and leave my self short shots that I can putt.

I don't hole any of them because of an awful stroke and have 18 tap ins.

The stats will say to work on my long game because of my shocking GIR but tell me I am a putting genius!!??

Stats say exactly what you want them to - if you lie, so do they.

I agree - I think stats only work in pairs and in threes.

You could have a 0% GIR and think that the problem was your irons, so I would ask what's your FIR %age? if your FIR is high and GIR is low then yes the problem is with your approach, if your FIR is low as well then I would assume that your GIR is low because you're always chipping back onto the fairway!

If you're hitting 36 putts per round that doesn't sound great until you say you've also hit all 18 Greens in regulation which would suggest to me that the problem isn't the flatstick but your proximity to the hole!

 

[Slab]

Your local is in Mauritius? If so the setting and location is truly spectacular! I certainly wouldn't mine swapping with you mate!

Yeah that's the one, but you'll know too that its not all fun in the sun....just 99.99% of the time

 

[Alex1975]

Yeah that's the one, but you'll know too that its not all fun in the sun....just 99.99% of the time

Ok Ok shut up now!!!.... Na I am really enjoying it actually, just been looking Port Louis up.... Beautiful!

 

[A_McIntyre]

Are you sure??

I miss all 18 greens by inches and leave my self short shots that I can putt.

I don't hole any of them because of an awful stroke and have 18 tap ins.

The stats will say to work on my long game because of my shocking GIR but tell me I am a putting genius!!??

Stats say exactly what you want them to - if you lie, so do they.

Yes I'm sure!

I asked how many PUTTS he has per round not how many PUTTS PER GIR! You are confusing the two! A putt from the fringe still counts as a putt. The stroke was played with a putter - by definition that's a putt.

If you decide to hit a 3wood off the tee and miss the fairway,does that not count as a missed fairway "because it wasn't a driver?"

Plus if you had an "awful stroke" you more than likely wouldn't have 18 tap ins but that's another story!!

I think that statistics are excellent - you just have to use common sense when analysing them. The only problem is that common sense sometimes isn't so common.

 

[Robobum]

Yes I'm sure!

I asked how many PUTTS he has per round not how many PUTTS PER GIR! You are confusing the two! A putt from the fringe still counts as a putt. The stroke was played with a putter - by definition that's a putt.

If you decide to hit a 3wood off the tee and miss the fairway,does that not count as a missed fairway "because it wasn't a driver?"

Plus if you had an "awful stroke" you more than likely wouldn't have 18 tap ins but that's another story!!

I think that statistics are excellent - you just have to use common sense when analysing them. The only problem is that common sense sometimes isn't so common.

I've yet to see any stats recording system (from Genworth pro stuff down to Strokesaver and the likes for us hackers) that counts a putt from off the green as a putt. It also separates total putts for PPGIR.

I'm not sure what point you are making with missing the fairway with anything other than a driver?

If I have gone hunting every pin and left myself 10feet max, I'm sure that even the shonkiest of strokes will leave tap ins. It was hypothetical anyway

Finally, thanks for agreeing with me, stats cannot be trusted on their own and do need to be read with common sense - I'd say brutal honesty, but same meat different gravy eh?

 

[cookelad]

Yeah that's the one, but you'll know too that its not all fun in the sun....just 99.99% of the time

We're still waiting for the invite to a forum meet!

 

[Slab]

We're still waiting for the invite to a forum meet!

Open invite if anyone's coming out here, BYOB (that's bring your own balls)

 

[devonboy]

For me it depends on what you call a low handicap.

I dropped from and unoffical 20 to 9.5 through improving FIR, GIR and penalties.

My FIR and GIR stats are almost Cat 1, but I can't seem to get up and down and my average putts are 36.something and these are the stats of a 28 handicapper !!

So inorder for me to improve and lower my "unofficial" handicap I need to stop going to the range and go to the chip/green areas !!

 

[MashieNiblick]

As a mid handicapper I'd say, short game then course management then metal approach. And I think they are all linked.

As you get to around 18 you should be able to get the ball up near the green (within 50 yards) in regulation a fair amount of the time. It's turning that into a par that is crucial. The guys I play with off 8 and 10 don't hit the ball better than I do but they get up and down more often.

As for course management that's often just about working out the best way to get the ball up to the green safely and not let a mistake turn into a disaster. If you do have a good short game it takes the pressure off trying to force everything as there's always a chance to salvage something just by getting the ball up in range of where your short game skills will rescue you, rather than trying hero shots.

The mental side is mostly simply about not letting your emotions get in the way of sensible course management.

I'm going against the grain with my reply as I believe it's an entirely personal topic.

For me to get lower

Driving

Mental side

Course management

short game

The reason I have them in that order is this. My shortgame is pretty good, putting is steady, irons and wedges are as good as they've ever been. My problem is getting the ball in play on the Par 4's and Par 5's. My driving has always been erratic, some weeks great, others shocking.

With my track being pretty short, accuracy is at a premium. I take the right club to take trouble out of the equasion, but often don't get the results I'm looking for. If I could get and keep the ball on the short stuff, or close to it, off the tee, I'm sure my scores would tumble.

The mental side comes from a poor drive. Hit a poor drive, head goes down. yes, I know it shouldn't and it's something I'm working on and have had a few lessons oon driving to help keep it in play.

Interesting post. Given the above (i.e. short course, accuracy at a premium, irons and wedges good, good short game, problem is keeping the ball in play off the tee) it sounds to me like the driver doesn't need to come out of the bag very often. Out of interest Gareth what club(s) do you normally use off the tee?

 

[Stuey01]

My opinion...
For a high handicap the first priority has to be not getting into trouble from the tee. Driving OOB or losing balls or hacking out from the trees is a very quick way to throw away a lot of shots.
I'm the worst for not playing conservatively, adey and jocko will confirm that I pull driver far too much and took on some silly tee shots yesterday at FoA, so I need to practice what I preach a bit more.

Once you're getting it in play the most shots can be saved with a sharp short game, chipping and putting. If you are getting up and down from around the green and avoiding 3 putts when you do hit the green then it's a lot of shots saved.

These are the areas I'm working on. My iron game is reasonably solid, could be sharper but it's there or thereabouts.

 

[Junior]

Yes you are right. We just need to pop across the border to Spain in order to play as we do not have a golf course in Gibraltar. There are more than 15 coures withing a 30min drive from Gibraltar along the Costa Del Sol. There are some top championship coures just a short drive away from me e.g. Valderamma, Finca Cortesin, San Roque Golf Club and I am fortunate to be able to play at the spectacular San Roque courses (Old & New) on a regular basis.

Have any of you played some courses on the Costa Del Sol and if so which and how do you rate them?

For me its off the tee. If I drive well I score well. It's easy to hit greens with short irons and wedges that 4 and 5 irons.

I've recently been over to teh Costa del Sol and playes Almenara , La Quinta ad real Club de Sotogrande. The condition of the course at Sotogrande and the clubhouse were superb.

 

[woody69]

As a high handicapper and the thing screwing my game and my biggest weakness is my ability to get down in 3 or less when inside 50 yards or less. Unless I have had a mare approach I'll be inside 50 yards after 2 shots. Ideally I want to be getting on the green and having a single putt or at worse a 2 putt for a bogey, but it'll take me 1 or 2 to get on and then 3 or 2 putts and sometimes god forbid 4 putts meaning my par/bogey is now a double or worse. My GIR is poor at around 18%, but my scrambling is even worse 7%. Short game is where it is at. Driving doesn't even come close.