breaking 80.

[Scottjd1]

jocko,

like you i seem melt under the pressure of holding a decent card in my hand, 3 rounds on the bounce i was stood on the tenth with a strong card all atleast 3under hc for the turn, but i didnt find it was playing carefully, just that my swing had turned to jelly... swing thoughts, card thoughts etc all running through my head.

Now im putting this down to getting to the turn consistently beating previous personal best. the first week was +4 (3 less than hc at the time), following week after a cut was +3 (3 less than hc again) and the final week was +2 (4 less than hc) and this was due to two lipped putts, it was close to a level par front 9. It was simply put a position i had never been in, and in the effort of chasing good cards melted like a snowman on a sunbed on 3 occasions.

Im going to master this if it bloody kills me, theres a single figure player hiding in there, or at worst a 10 capper, and my target for this year is to let him see daylight.

I am at a similar hcap level and stage in that I am gonna really give it a go this year to get under 10. One thing I have started to make an effort to do - and its hard - but just get my card out after the hole, mark my partners score, mark mine, back in pocket. I dont keep a running total above /below par or handicap or sford points. I leave that till the end then tot it up in the bar etc.

I am finding it tough as say on the 6th/7th I know what my scores have been so can quickly calculate where I am but then I stop myself and just focus on what my next shot will be - ie ive got a par 3 here, hybrid today, or okay here's a 15 footer - where's the break. I actually say these thing out loud in my head and I am finding at least in the last few bounce games that my scores are remaining solid around 78/79/80/81 without me playing great. I am eliminating the doubles and that I think is the key along with the mantra that each stroke is 1, whether its a tap in or a towering drive. its just a stroke.

If you dont already, give it a go, certgainly I think you atanding on the tenth NOT knowing you are 3 under handicap can't do any harm????

 

[Dave B]

A good friend of mine has a philosophy that any par 5 is parable using a 7 iron and to demonstrate the point he hit 3, 150-160 yd shots, took a wedge and the dropped the ball 2 ft from the pin for a very easy putt.

As with any good golfer he made it look so easy, however his next piece of advice was to use my handicap to my advantage and rather than breaking my neck trying to reach in 3, take 4 shots if required and then look for a 2 putt which is one over on one of the hardest holes on the course.

Breaking down holes in this manner and knowing where and when to lay up has taken more shots off my handicap than hitting super long shots which are impressive when they come off but are disasterous when they go wrong. In his words tere's a lot to be said about thinking your way around a course rather than hitting your way around a course.

 

[Oddsocks]

Some food for thought, I think the problem is when your a high capper it's easy to lose track on shots that have been dropped for example 7/8/9/10 over nine holes, but as your hc drops its easier to remember the few shots your dropping. Maybe I'm taking to much notice, but over 18 holes I know my score without even seeing my card.

Mmmmmmm

 

[chrisd]

Some food for thought, I think the problem is when your a high capper it's easy to lose track on shots that have been dropped for example 7/8/9/10 over nine holes, but as your hc drops its easier to remember the few shots your dropping. Maybe I'm taking to much notice, but over 18 holes I know my score without even seeing my card.

Mmmmmmm

That can be the problem OS. It's easy to get fixated when, and at which hole, that you should/shouldn't drop shots. I just try and par every hole, if I get a birdie its a bonus! It's only at the end of the round what it tots up to that is important - on a good day you win and on a bad day you don't


Chris

 

[Oddsocks]

Focus focus focus - got ya.

Sunday could in interesting, on my possible new course with a new approach, odd socks checking in to blowup city!

 

[HawkeyeMS]

U

A good friend of mine has a philosophy that any par 5 is parable using a 7 iron and to demonstrate the point he hit 3, 150-160 yd shots, took a wedge and the dropped the ball 2 ft from the pin for a very easy putt.

As with any good golfer he made it look so easy, however his next piece of advice was to use my handicap to my advantage and rather than breaking my neck trying to reach in 3, take 4 shots if required and then look for a 2 putt which is one over on one of the hardest holes on the course.

Breaking down holes in this manner and knowing where and when to lay up has taken more shots off my handicap than hitting super long shots which are impressive when they come off but are disasterous when they go wrong. In his words tere's a lot to be said about thinking your way around a course rather than hitting your way around a course.

All comes down to the same point though, if you're not comfortable hitting the shot, don't hit it.

 

[Oddsocks]

See here's where it gets weird hawkeye, if I stand over a shot I'm not 100% on, I'll normally walk away and start my pre shot routine again, if it still don't feel right I change my club choice. The point of the thread was more to see if single figure golfers approach their game differently.

I used the par 5 as an example as it gave a good explaination of risk vs reward. with the situation of balls out to get as close as poss in 2, or lay up to a distance they like, because it's rare for me to ever see a single figure player lay up to any par4 just because it's a shot hole. Around my current course my weekness lies in my approaches, more accurately 6i/5i/4i distance, this is stuff im working on so this should help, I was more interested if as I go from cat3 to cat2, my thought process should change as my level of golf does.

I see lots of players get stuck around 11/12 which would indicate cat2 is alot harder to get cut in, I'm just trying to be open minded enough to consider different options in getting this hc lower, I've been as low as 10.6 when I was 22 ish, I want to get to that magical number of 9.4

 

[HawkeyeMS]

In my opinion if you use your shots in every round then you're never gonna find out how low you can go. To reduce your handicap you have to Play better than your handicap and you won't do that very often by laying up on par 4s because you get a shot. I'm not saying you take on a 1 in 10 shot, I'm saying you have to trust your ability and you have to believe you're better than your handicap. If you can reach a green and doing so doesn't mean taking stupid risks you should go for the green.

 

[Scottjd1]

See here's where it gets weird hawkeye, if I stand over a shot I'm not 100% on, I'll normally walk away and start my pre shot routine again, if it still don't feel right I change my club choice. The point of the thread was more to see if single figure golfers approach their game differently.

I used the par 5 as an example as it gave a good explaination of risk vs reward. with the situation of balls out to get as close as poss in 2, or lay up to a distance they like, because it's rare for me to ever see a single figure player lay up to any par4 just because it's a shot hole. Around my current course my weekness lies in my approaches, more accurately 6i/5i/4i distance, this is stuff im working on so this should help, I was more interested if as I go from cat3 to cat2, my thought process should change as my level of golf does.

I see lots of players get stuck around 11/12 which would indicate cat2 is alot harder to get cut in, I'm just trying to be open minded enough to consider different options in getting this hc lower, I've been as low as 10.6 when I was 22 ish, I want to get to that magical number of 9.4

Out of interest, when you play at Woldingham, do you go for any of the par 5's in 2? Also, how do you generally play the 12th?

I normally lay up to 80-100 on 5, try and get in the approach on the right on 9 about 50-60 out. On 16 I can sometimes reach but normally again 100 lay up. And 18 i try and gof ro with a good drive.

Cheers

 

[Oddsocks]

Out of interest, when you play at Woldingham, do you go for any of the par 5's in 2? Also, how do you generally play the 12th?

I normally lay up to 80-100 on 5, try and get in the approach on the left on 9 about 50-60 out. On 16 I can sometimes reach but normally again 100 lay up. And 18 i try and gof ro with a good drive.

Cheers

Hi Scott

We played there on the Thursday before Christmas, unfortunately 9&18 played into a head wind, but on the plus side 12&16 were wind behind.

9th - got a good drive away but a 5w hung in the wind and I ended up about 15 yards short, chipped to about 6ft and lipped the birdie put

18th - by time we got to 18 the wind had picked up quite a lot and we were quite far back off the tee, I think I hit driver, 3w wedge as the wind was cold and pretty strong.

12th , tees were mid way, but a corker left me 100 yards dead, hit a wedge to the back right slightly long, chipped on and lipped a 4 ft'er

16th, driver was a good drive, think I hit mid iron short to miss the trouble, wedge on as pin was back right and fring putted for birdie

Analyse me :thup:

 

[Scottjd1]

Hi Scott

We played there on the Thursday before Christmas, unfortunately 9&18 played into a head wind, but on the plus side 12&16 were wind behind.

9th - got a good drive away but a 5w hung in the wind and I ended up about 15 yards short, chipped to about 6ft and lipped the birdie put

18th - by time we got to 18 the wind had picked up quite a lot and we were quite far back off the tee, I think I hit driver, 3w wedge as the wind was cold and pretty strong.

12th , tees were mid way, but a corker left me 100 yards dead, hit a wedge to the back right slightly long, chipped on and lipped a 4 ft'er

16th, driver was a good drive, think I hit mid iron short to miss the trouble, wedge on as pin was back right and fring putted for birdie

Analyse me :thup:

Thats the thing with Woldingham, its very open but when the wind is up it changes, Ive been on the white teesat the second (166) in a medal with a stronge head wind and had to hit a hybrid, normally its a 6/7 from there. Sounds like you had a good round mate, its not always that easy !

You got your preview at Farleigh coming up - be interesting to see what you think as for me that or Selsdon Park would be perfect location wise.

 

[Oddsocks]

Scott I always shoot well there, infect I think it was the first time I broke 80. The wind plays a big part but on the plus side I was 10 yards short of driving the 4th :thup:

Re selsdon , we played there Saturday and it was mint, starting the round with a birdie on their first with a driver over the trees and a 6 iron to the pin was sweet, and a follow up par on the s1 put me -1 after 2.... Cue melt with bogey double bogey on 3 and 4 :rofl:

 

[Scottjd1]

Scott I always shoot well there, infect I think it was the first time I broke 80. The wind plays a big part but on the plus side I was 10 yards short of driving the 4th :thup:

Re selsdon , we played there Saturday and it was mint, starting the round with a birdie on their first with a driver over the trees and a 6 iron to the pin was sweet, and a follow up par on the s1 put me -1 after 2.... Cue melt with bogey double bogey on 3 and 4 :rofl:

Nice to hear Selsdon was good, how was the course condition, greens etc. Must get up there for a knock soon.

 

[Oddsocks]

Course was very good, tee's were poor, but fairways were nice, greens were true and pretty quick, only hole that was in bad condition was 12th green side to the right, let me know if it's a weekend Scott and I'll self invite, we could even get mattyboy involved

 

[Scottjd1]

Course was very good, tee's were poor, but fairways were nice, greens were true and pretty quick, only hole that was in bad condition was 12th green side to the right, let me know if it's a weekend Scott and I'll self invite, we could even get mattyboy involved [/QUOTE

Okay Ill try and get some times sorted and Ill let you know.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

In my opinion if you use your shots in every round then you're never gonna find out how low you can go. To reduce your handicap you have to Play better than your handicap and you won't do that very often by laying up on par 4s because you get a shot. I'm not saying you take on a 1 in 10 shot, I'm saying you have to trust your ability and you have to believe you're better than your handicap. If you can reach a green and doing so doesn't mean taking stupid risks you should go for the green.

So much for me playing with my sensible head tomorrow. Its all out attack mode then just to prove I trust my ability and I'm better than my handicap. Remember matey - you've brought this on yourself - be afraid

 

[Oddsocks]

Course was very good, tee's were poor, but fairways were nice, greens were true and pretty quick, only hole that was in bad condition was 12th green side to the right, let me know if it's a weekend Scott and I'll self invite, we could even get mattyboy involved [/QUOTE

Okay Ill try and get some times sorted and Ill let you know.

I think woodsman (see all the gear no idea thread) is local too :thup:

 

[HawkeyeMS]

So much for me playing with my sensible head tomorrow. Its all out attack mode then just to prove I trust my ability and I'm better than my handicap. Remember matey - you've brought this on yourself - be afraid

Just as well my new bats haven't arrived then isn't it!!! Mind you, with the weather sub zero and foggy I'll be surprised if we play at all.

Back on topic. There are times to be cautious and use your h'cap. What you did at FoA was the perfect way to play it, you played to your strengths. Match play is another time using your shots can be an advantage.

However, I think people get caught up with which holes they get shots on and it holds them back. Where you get your shots is irrelevant, golf is about how many shots you take not where you take them I'm a firm believer that you should try to take as few shots as possible on every hole regardless of whether you get a shot, if you settle for a bogey on a shot hole before you tee off, you're almost accepting you won't improve. Hit the tee shot and take it from there. After all, if I can do it hitting long irons\fairways into greens being one of the forums short hitters, all these other fellas driving the ball 300yds should have no problem at all :lol:

 

[MadAdey]

Re: braking 80.

Biggest problem I always see is that high handicap players try and get the ball too far down the hole all the time. They always think the driver is the better option so that they can have an 8 iron in hand. What is wrong with making sure you hit the fairway and have a 6 iron in hand?

The 11th at my course I can hit a driver onto the green. I see a lot of high handicap players trying to get too close to this green with their tee shot. But with there being a lot of trouble as you get to the green and it is very easy to be blocked out by trees. Most low handicap players hit a mid iron so you can then pitch one up. It takes out all the room for error and increases the driving zone by about 30 yards.

The 8th at my course is 530 yards. Yes if I really catch my driver I do have a chance of getting it on or very close to the front of the green. Instead I normally hit something down to about 50 yards short of the green to leave a little pitch as the green has a lot of protection around it. Too many people try to get too close and end up blocked by trees.

So 2 holes on my course that the aggressive approach can set up an Eagle chance, but I have walked off dropping shots trying to be aggressive. At the end of the day if you are on in regulation you have a chance of a birdie and a very easy par. Hit it in the trees and your looking at bogeys...........:mmm:

 

[Oddsocks]

I totally get your point on a safe approach, our 16th is like that. It's a dogleg right par 4 with a large bunker left to catch those trying to cut one round the corner and only about 10ft run off before you hit wood on the left.

A peachy 3w leave me a 7 iron in and around 60 yards maybe 70 of fairway to aim at, a driver on the other hand leave 30 yards max of fairway but only a wedge in. The amount of times I've tried to cut a drive and either nailed it straight meaning a chip out, or over cooked the fade cutting it past the bunker, but I still attempt it... Only in medals do I play my safety 3w