Bad starts to a round

[nidge1976]

I need some help regarding bad starts to a round.

The other day I started off with a par on the 1st before going into immediate meltdown! I then followed this up with an 8 another 8 and then two 6's. Once I know I am not going to get near my best scores I stop scoring & end up feeling like I am playing for the sake of it.

What do you say to yourself to stay mentally motivated for the rest of the game once you have blown it so early on?

 

[Imurg]

I just accept it and play. Try to enjoy just being out on the Course.
It's all in the mind.
When you've been playing for a while you come to realise that it doesn't happen every time.
Sometimes relaxing and not worrying about it helps. I've started 7,7 (+5) in a Medal before and still won it by relaxing and not having any expectations of what's to come. Ended up dropping just 1 more shot all the way round.

 

[RGDave]

What do you say to yourself to stay mentally motivated for the rest of the game once you have blown it so early on?

Can't help on this one. I play so conservatively for the first few holes it doesn't happen. (maybe once a year?)
5 over after 5 is quite normal for me, then I start trusting myself.
I remember being 2 under gross once on the 6th tee.....that was too much for me and lost my nerve. 14 shots (at least) blown on the last 12 holes for 36 stableford points.....

 

[DrPepper]

I haven't been playing golf all that long but I was having the same problem as you until I changed my style of play. I now take each hole as its own, play it as best I can and don't even think about how I'm scoring. This has also given me some surprising score cards when everything is totalled up. Give it a try n see how you get on.

Doctor P.

 

[kev_off_the_tee]

try to enjoy golf more and dont be so hung up on smacking your first shot 300 yards plus. If you have a bad hole, forget it and start the next hole afresh. I used to think I needed to use a driver on most tees and have been putting in some horrific first 9s

I've been doing alot of thinking of late about planning my round and thanks to this months magazine have decided that certain holes dont require big shots, just better planning.

The 1st hole at garesfield is a par 4 282 yards off the yellows and I know I cant hit that 7/10 times with my driver so I'm gonna try a different approach. An easy 5 iron at 160 yards followed by a 9 irons should see me fine as I know my iron play is steady.

hope this helps

 

[bobmac]

I need some help regarding bad starts to a round.

Warm up properly

 

[DelB]

I used to be the same. Unless I got a Par or Bogey on the first hole or two, I'd mentally almost give up for the rest of the round.

That changed a couple of weeks ago when I scored an 8 on the first hole of a course I hadn't played before. Somehow, I managed to laugh about it and relax and then went on to shoot 40 for the front 9 and 44 for the back 9!!!

Ever since then, I haven't worried too much about getting a good start as there are plenty holes afterwards to get shots back again.

 

[patricks148]

Totaly agree with del, just relax and enjoy the round. Bad day on the course is still better than working.

I played in the medal at Nairn yesterday and shot 97 and that was all on the front 9. took 10 to get out of a fairway bunker on the 2nd. Played the last 7 holes in one under

It's only 0.1 after all

 

[Fyldewhite]

It's easier said than done I know but you really have to play one hole at a time. There will ALWAYS be bad holes where you mess up from a good position or just drive it into trouble. The challenge is to make the best of it then forget it. Don't let one bad hole become two or three which is (I suspect) what happens a lot of the time.
If the bad holes come early on it's difficult but you have to try to put them out of your mind. If they come at the end then it's very frustrating. But, they will come almost every round you play, you just have to learn to accept them.

 

[Matty]

Something Harrington said recently kind of applies here in my mind.

He said something along the lines of "it's better to birdie the last hole for a 70 than bogey it for 69".

He's kind of saying that last shot lasts longest in the memory since you can't 'clear' it until you next tee off on the first which for use could be a week or more away.

So, how do I get that to apply here? Well, if you blow up on the first there are still a load more holes to play on, score and average the blow up back out.

Case in point today, in a Stableford Summer league comp today I took a 6 on our par 3 first for 0 points. Still managed 16 points from the 9 holes - so averaging 2 points per hole over the remaining 8. Stableford format is great for getting this mind set as you know there are more points available on the next hole even if you blipped on the last one.

 

[G1BB0]

have to agree, the 1st can soon be forgotten although it can set the tone for the round if you let it.

Had an 8 on the 1st today after a great drive followed by a hero shot through tree';s that hit them, ball vanished so penalty, 4th shot flew the green as was annoyed, chipped on, 2 putted 8. 2nd hole bogey, 3rd par and then I relaxed a little... and still played crap

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Started 6, 8 (par 3 and a par 5) in the last medal and still went out in only one over my handicap for the front nine. It's about limiting the damage and trying to go as low as you can for the remaining holes.

I always hit some balls before I play so I have a feeling for the way I'm hitting it, try to get a decent tempo (fractionally below the speed of light is good for me) and to get nice and loose. If you get in trouble its about taking the shortest route back especially in a medal. Easy to say but not so easy to put inti practice when you are playing

 

[RGDave]

The 1st hole at garesfield is a par 4 282 yards off the yellows and I know I can't hit that 7/10 times with my driver so I'm gonna try a different approach. An easy 5 iron at 160 yards followed by a 9 irons should see me fine as I know my iron play is steady.

Now THIS is a plan.

 

[HickoryShaft]

I need some help regarding bad starts to a round.

Warm up properly

Went down the range for a bucket before my medal round last week . 1st tee - took a 3 wood not a driver for more control and the most embarrassing thing to happen to me in golf (so far) - airshot in front of the waiting groups!!!

Par 4 and hit a 7 - my whole game went to pieces for a few holes and ended up 4 over H/C going out - settled for the back 9 and came in 6 under H/C so got a cut of 0.8.

Game plan now changed as the 1st is makable with a long iron followed by a 7 or similar depending on roll. Tried this in 2 friendly rounds since and walked off with a 5 and a par respectively.

Even though I recovered eventually, in my eyes its better to get down the first safely. I reckon it wobbled me to loosing at least 4-5 shots in the first 4 holes.

Rather than inching toward my target H/C for the year I could have been there already

 

[nidge1976]

Thanks for some very good advice everyone. I definately need to take 1 hole at a time and not worry about it if it goes wrong. I definately shouldn't give up scoring after a bad hole otherwise I probably won't learn from my mistakes.

I have been reading some books on the mental side of the game which make a lot of sense but it's sometimes easy to forget while on the course. I will see how I get on this week.