Broke 80, now off to Sleaford

Curls

Curls

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After a few near misses I finally broke 80 on my home course Wednesday night, thinking about spreading my wings and seeing what Sleaford is like - anyone played there?

Advice? Review? Distance card? (okay so that last one is ambitious)...

Thanks chaps, well chuffed with myself, 3 birdies, a nice few pars and nothing worse than a bogey. And yes, I came home and thought "half of those bogies could have been pars", which they could (particularly over the last few holes when I did my best to throw it away), but I did have a laugh to myself, we always think about the ones that got away and not the ones we saved.

Feels like a barrier has been removed, I know its completely psychological but now I've done it I don't have to do it again, I can just go out and play and hopefully score well. After a difficult transition period with a new swing and clubs I'm back loving the golf again...

Hope everyone has a great weekends golfing ahead of them, whether its breaking 70 or 100.
 
Thanks Aztecs, as I slated it's management not so long ago I best not say where I play :-) To be honest I'm looking for a new track, hence the Sleaford trip, but I wanted to be comfortable enough to play, didn't want to go out and hack around like I've been doing on and off.

romsyam I played off 10 as a junior and then found women and beer. Last summer, 15 years later, I picked up my old clubs and broke 90 on and off for the summer, wasn't putting too much effort in truth be told (was only playing once or twice a month). Watched the Ryder Cup and something changed, I got the bug. Bad. Decided to go for lessons, pro changed everything about my awful swing and its still very much a work-in-progress. Bit of range time over the winter and then got fit for new bats, a quantum leap in quality from my 20+ year old cheap clubs. New swing, new yardages, balls going everywhere (and what about your shots badum-tish). Started playing again in March, anything from 85 - 95 for a while, really inconsistent everything but I was trying hard to stick to what the pro was teaching me rather than falling back on the old comfortable swing (a swing of compensating errors, nothing was right but one wrong would balance out another wrong to allow me hit the ball). Then slowly came together and scores down, a few 83s, an 81, and 80 (with the odd 90 thrown in!). The difference the other night, and I don't think I played particularly brilliantly, is that I managed to keep the doubles/triples off my card. Yes a few birdies really helps, but its the scrambled bogies out of the trees that made the score. Towards the end (and I hadn't added up, I knew i was 3 over on the front 9 and that was enough to worry me :-) ) I started thinking "this will be close", and finished bogey-lucky par-bogey on 3 easy holes I'd par in my sleep normally. When I added up to 79 I was delighted, but had I known I needed that finish I'm not sure I would have made it.

Pure head-game. I love it. Such a artificial limit to set yourself but we all do it, from now on I'd like to think I'll rank my rounds in terms of how well I handled tough situations and not the number at the end.

I'd like to think that, but...
 
Thanks Aztecs, as I slated it's management not so long ago I best not say where I play :-) To be honest I'm looking for a new track, hence the Sleaford trip, but I wanted to be comfortable enough to play, didn't want to go out and hack around like I've been doing on and off.

romsyam I played off 10 as a junior and then found women and beer. Last summer, 15 years later, I picked up my old clubs and broke 90 on and off for the summer, wasn't putting too much effort in truth be told (was only playing once or twice a month). Watched the Ryder Cup and something changed, I got the bug. Bad. Decided to go for lessons, pro changed everything about my awful swing and its still very much a work-in-progress. Bit of range time over the winter and then got fit for new bats, a quantum leap in quality from my 20+ year old cheap clubs. New swing, new yardages, balls going everywhere (and what about your shots badum-tish). Started playing again in March, anything from 85 - 95 for a while, really inconsistent everything but I was trying hard to stick to what the pro was teaching me rather than falling back on the old comfortable swing (a swing of compensating errors, nothing was right but one wrong would balance out another wrong to allow me hit the ball). Then slowly came together and scores down, a few 83s, an 81, and 80 (with the odd 90 thrown in!). The difference the other night, and I don't think I played particularly brilliantly, is that I managed to keep the doubles/triples off my card. Yes a few birdies really helps, but its the scrambled bogies out of the trees that made the score. Towards the end (and I hadn't added up, I knew i was 3 over on the front 9 and that was enough to worry me :-) ) I started thinking "this will be close", and finished bogey-lucky par-bogey on 3 easy holes I'd par in my sleep normally. When I added up to 79 I was delighted, but had I known I needed that finish I'm not sure I would have made it.

Pure head-game. I love it. Such a artificial limit to set yourself but we all do it, from now on I'd like to think I'll rank my rounds in terms of how well I handled tough situations and not the number at the end.

I'd like to think that, but...
Click to expand...

:D

No problem mate, if you want to PM me where you play, I'll keep it schtum. I'm from the area originally and have played most the local courses, so I might be able to help recommend a new home for you if I know what I'm comparing it to.
 
I liked that read :) and can relate to a lot of it bar breaking 80! I think keeping the doubles off is key. As you'll always pick up some pars. My swing is the same as in its work in progress with weekly lessons. Had a couple of 83 but that's it. Don't think I'll do it soon finding too much cabbage off the tee atm. Well done its a real mile stone that. Good to re evaluate your goals as it would seem a tough task to say break 70 now. Dunno what I'd set myself after tbh
 
Cheers chap, yeah 70 is light years away, every chance I'll never do it at my current rate of practice/play, maybe when I win the Lotto...

So no point in setting that or any other score, to be honest there's no point setting 80! Easier said than done I know, but if you go out and play well and you add it up and its 79, great. If its 80 and you're happy with how you played, great. If it's 75 and you played crap, you're Rory McIlroy. My point would be don't add it up, gives you the shakes coming down the home stretch and its just a number all said and done.

As Ryan Giggs often said, its not about the score but how many holes you're happy with.

Or something.
 
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