Contrasting golf.

[Losttheplot]

Following on from my good round earlier in the week I went and played 18 holes yesterday.
Bearing in mind I've been severely average for months and no where near my handicap, I was optimistic for the round.
Came off the course with an 82. 10 over playing off 8.1 and felt angry and disappointed??
The reason being it was such a mixed bag all day.
Had 2 birdies, 9 pars, 3 bogies, 3 doubles and a triple.
Don't get me wrong, playing to 10 after the year I've had is a great achievement but to let slip what could of been a great score makes me sick. 3 doubles and a triple......

 

[bobmac]

Talk us through those 4 bad holes.
Was it oobs? bunker trouble, tree trouble?
I have a reason for asking

 

[Losttheplot]

2nd hole Par 3. Had a 5. Hit middle of green off tee. Was on the middle of 3 tiers. Tried to just drop it down the slope and it stopped on the very top. I could of blown it and it could of gone down to the bottom tier. So 3rd shot went down and past the hole. I missed the 4th from 8ft and tapped in for a 5.

12th Par 4. Had a 7.
Tee shot just rolled off left of fairway onto slope. Tried to 'knock' a 7iron into the fairway to leave a 9 or Pw to green. Duffed it 15yards. Then tried to draw long iron around tree to hit the green. Topped it. Full Pw onto green and 3 putted from 40ft.
14th par 5. Had 7. Drive perfect to fairway. Tried to hit 5iron over brook to leave wedge to green. Again topped it leaving gap wedge to green. Put it into the bunker pin high. Out of bunker which had no sand in and put it just off green. Crap wedge into green (which is normally my strength around the greens with wedges) then 2 putt.
18th par 4 had 6.
Good drive but drifted off fairway behind some trees. Hit a low 3 iron through and hit a small tree 20yards infront and dropped tight behind another tree. Had no swing at all and took 2 to get out to fairway. Iron onto green and 1 putted.

 

[Imurg]

Steve
You're going to hit poor shots during your round. You're going to hit good shots too.
You've gone round in 2 over nett. Hardly a recepie for suicide is it. Yes it could have been better but equally it could have been worse.
Ask the single-figure guys on here (and the 10-13 lot too) what their worst score of the year is and 80+ will be a common theme, maybe more.
I'm off 9 and I shot 87 in a medal a few weeks back - +16. Its the game we play. Take the good from the bad days, remember where you screwed up and try to formulate a way to play smarter - say making sure you don't take 2 to get back into play from behind a tree. Learn from your errors.

 

[bobmac]

So on the 2nd hole you tried the cheeky one and 4 putted
12th duffed a knockdown 7 iron
Tried to draw a long iron
14th. 4 to get down from a bunker with no sand
18th. Tried to hit a 3 iron through some trees
Just one question.
How often do you practice the above shots?

I think the reason some golfers are low h/caps isn't because they hit every fairway and green, it's because they learn how to limit the damage by getting out of trouble wisely.
Maybe it just comes from experience and trial and error.
My suggestion is dont try shots on the course unless you've practiced them.

 

[Losttheplot]

Imurg... Thanks for the advice, your right about taking the positives out of the round, over the last 12 months I've tried to be a lot more positive and I know I shouldn't complain too much. Just fustrating at the some of the shots which should of been a formality.

Bobmac, you are right with the fact I don't generally practise shots like the long iron draw and the low 3 iron shots. Might be a bit inventive when going to the range next time. I read Seve's autobiography a while ago and it's something he used to do!

Thanks for the advice guys, much appreciated.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Be happy. I didn't even get to put the card in today which is kind of a blessing as I would have been close to nett 80. I had what is technically called a "bad day at the office" and at least you only had a few bad holes and could have been better with a few different approaches. Plenty to be happy about I'd say