Do we take it all too seriously?

[Parmo]

As a beginner I am starting to notice the over seriousness of some golfers on the course, don’t get me wrong I am very passionate about my golf. What I mean is that do you think some people are so blinkered by their own golf they miss out on the whole point of the game? I love early morning golf, in fact the earlier the better (depending on light), the early morning mist, the bunny rabbits running all over, the tracks left by yourself on the course and the crisp morning air and the sunrise (this time of the year).

I see some very serious people on the course on the back nine and even worse than that is they have their children & grandchild all looking very serious and I might be wrong but they don’t look like they are enjoying themselves, but surely for people to grasp the whole point of golf is to relax and be at one with the course and your surroundings?

Since I am a noob only time will tell if I take this fairway but what are your thoughts on this seriousness?

 

[John_Findlay]

Parmo, you have a point. However, I find that people are probably more serious around their home course than around a new course, the reason being that they are probably more concerned with their score than the surroundings and have forgotten to take in the views, the peace etc. They have become accustomed to the surroundings. How you're playing has a great effect, though. Let's face it, none of us like to hit bad shots.

Personnally, I just love to be out on the course, my home turf being a seaside course with great views.

I certainly relax more around a course I haven't played before and therefore make a point of playing as many away courses as possible. I make a point of taking the time to take in all the course has to offer.

 

[birdieman]

You need to focus for golf and maintain a degree of concentration. Doesn't matter what level of player you are if you are playing in comps it is to do your best and try to win.
Golf is great escapism from work and responsibilities so if some people get very absorbed and serious on the golf course it doesn't mean they're not enjoying it, they are just very focused on what they're doing.
Hard to explain but the pressure we put on ourselves on the golf course to do well can be quite intense, in a good way.
Would agree with JF that a new course is a joy, Kingsbarns in July was the most fun golf experience I've enjoyed ever probably.

 

[viscount17]

Parmo, that's almost poetic and well up to GM standards.
The day I can't appreciate the surroundings at my local - no matter how badly I play - I'll be dead.
We have lakes and the river, more wildlife than you could count (sometimes you almost wish the 14th club was a 12-bore!) and to see the early morning mist rising off the water.

I have to say, with all that I envy J-F, even after 25 years in the RN I have this thing for the sea. I have never yet played a coastal course but I will.

Playing strange courses can distract you from their panoramas but all have some piece of magic - even if it's a 4-ft water monitor challenging you for the ball!

Do we take it seriously - oh I hope so - all of it.

 

[Junior]

Serious . . hell yeah !, I guess each person is different, but i can't just play and not keep score.

Me and 3 friends play a 4 ball betterball for £1 most Wednesday evenings in the Summer after work (12 holes). We count the money at the end of the season and the loosers buy the steaks !!

It's played in great spirit but it's amazing how tense it gets. Also, because it's tense it's good prep for the medal rounds.

 

[Trueblue]

I agree with Parmo I think so many of us take it far too seriously and need to remember you are doing it for fun. I've got a mate who plays every spare second and is offf 1 but I genuinely can't see how he enjoys it - he spends the whole time in a rage about something even when it looks to me like he can't hit it any better!

When kids are involved you must make sure it's fun!

 

[Parmo]

I do take the game seriously very much so, but between shots (if someone isn’t up my behind with their cobra) I take in my surroundings, I think “boy I wish I could do this everyday” or “just think all week you dream of this moment” and they my golf improves and by the 15th or 16th I am thinking “damn if only I had another 18 holes left”.

BTW I forgot to mention, I had my ball stolen by a dog the other week!!! It wasn’t so bad because it was a Top Flite and a Mulligan so their was no evidence that my fluff ever existed mwahahahahaha

 

[madandra]

I find that when I play mt best I don't even notice anything going on around me. You hear the fan dans on tour and telly saying they are in the zone but in some respect they are right. I find myself slipping into auto pilot and just getting on with the game.

 

[Marko77]

I've been thinking alot about this recently and think for the level I will ever achieve - yes - I do take it too serious. I'm not committed to practice enough to justify the expectation I put on myself when I go out on the course so should just learn to chill a bit more. Some days the putts will drop, others (like today) they won't.

 

[AliB]

Get real. Golf is serious. That's just the way it is. But you're only playing shots for a fraction of the time that you're out there. Try to take a mental break, admire the view, watch the bunnies or whatever.
It's probably the only sport where you have that luxury, and you probably need it!
AliB

 

[brendy]

Its a funny game, golf. I have seen men take 5 1/2 hours on a monthly medal taking each shot like it was life dependent and end up mid-bottom table. But yet other fellas can go as quickly as the fourball in front allows and win silverware often.
I do take my game seriously though recently ive been going through troughs and peaks, started the year shooting 73/74 in non qualifying competitions so didnt get cut, then as soon as the weather improved and course conditions went to A1, I couldnt score, my drives were hooking, irons pushing right and putting was below average. Bushes and trees were my main enemy. Recently though Ive had some practice, made a few changes to my swing and all of a sudden im back well into the 70's again, pity as the season is over, sod's law eh?
So whats the moral of the story, concentrate but don't try too hard, take it seriously but not too seriously, try new shots but not on the course until you have them mastered, get your handicap down but know your depth... all this and its only on a saturday.
I still have to go through the entire working week thinking about how I can improve (and apart from my wife and two great daughters) I live for saturdays, so when one goes wrong and I shoot in the 80's I just cant help but feel a little depressed.....until monday when it all starts again, being ready for the next saturday. Do I take it too seriously? I just don't know.

 

[John_Findlay]

You sound normal to me, brendy! Take heart. It'll happen.

Have had a similar year. Started off at 8.9. Had a very mediocre start to the year but still got down to 8.3 but it has slipped back up thanks to erratic driving.

Had a few highlights, playing some cracking courses in the 70's but nothing below 75. Then all of a sudden in September/October I'm shooting in the 70's all the time after a couple of very useful lessons (including a couple of 73's) and looking good for next year again. I'm even leading a wee Leaugue some mates and I hold and picked up a couple of trophies.

Serious? About my improvement? Yes. Undoubtedly. But I'm gonna smell the flowers and enjoy it on the way.

 

[brendy]

John, if I could keep the dreaded 6 off my card id be laughing, it just seems that a bad drive at one of a few holes that I seem to play badly at week in and week out kills me off, bad drive, chip out, play to the green, either hit it and have monster putt or ditch it outside a bunker and have to chip over it leaving me 20 feet past the hole etc. Nest year is going to be more irons off the tee, im not exactly short so most par 4s are still iron,iron to the greens. No more 6's, once you have one of them they seem to be catching so avoidance is imperative. I managed to score a reasonable round on saturday, 7 over gross but more importantly no double bogeys, no birdies either which was strange, but relatively a pretty trouble free round.

 

[BunkerMentality123]

If I could play a round week in week out hitting maybe 10-12 pars and the rest bogeys I think I'd be pretty damn happy. Interesting to note that the same holes seem to cause you problems in every round.

I have exactly that same problem I can be playing great but walk up to the 8th and 10th tee boxes every Saturday thinking just hit it down the middle nothing fancy just get it away. Invariably I'm playing my next shot from under the same bush every damn time or blocked out by the same row of trees with no shot.

That to me just goes to show how much of a mental thing this game is.

Frustrating but I love it, and yeah I do take it seriously but not so much so that I'm unpleasant (i think at least).

There's nothing wrong with a bit of focus, and when it goes really wrong I do try really hard to keep a smile on my face (honest!)

 

[John_Findlay]

You're spot on, brendy. It's the doubles (or worse) which are the killers.

Sorry to be a trainspotter...but I've been keeping stats of my rounds since the beginning of May using a program called Scoresaver. Very revealing about your game. It tells you everything. And it has made me a confident man for next season.

It turns out that between the beginning of May and end of August (4 months) I had played 31 rounds of golf. That included 67 double bogies, 12 triples and 7 "disasters" . So nearly 3 very bad holes every round.... but only 33 birdies....just one per round. My scoring average was 81.4.

Since beginning of September I've played 8 rounds. Only 8 double bogies and nothing worse!! 13 birdies. Scoring average 77.5. Thats a 4 stroke difference and would have me playing off 6 comfortably.

It's no coincidence that the improvement is due to 3 lessons from the end of August. Now if I can get from 1 double bogey per round down to 1 double every two then I'll be a happy chappy. It's all in the chipping for me. They save the disasters. And spotted what I'm doing wrong with them on video the other night, so here's hoping!

The goal is to get down to category 1 golf within 2 years and keep it that way so that I can enjoy my golf into my dotage! It's do-able, it's do-able. Isn't it?

 

[brendy]

For me its our 6th and 7th holes, an easy 340 yard straight away par 4 with woods left and fairway sloping to the right with a few more trees, not as thick as the left side, I usually hit driver and either over do the draw into the edge of the trees which requires a chip out or push it right along the edge of the other trees which leaves the green reachable but with so many bunkers round it its tough, the green itself is like a large cake paper, ruffles and drops away the whole way round. The 7trh is a 195 yard 4/5 iron par3 (depending on flag position) which in itself isnt hard to hit but it also slopes slightly to the right which is guarded by bunkers front, left and right, going long isnt much of an option as there is a fence 15 yards behind and the green slopes towards the tees. My problem here is again, over doing the draw and leaving myself a lob over a bunker onto a green runing away from me, easy bogey.
I think its just bad management, as I said its going to be a case of more irons of the tee next year so im not going to be as prone to miss fairways. My game is prodominently scrambling at the moment which Im getting quite good at, but it would be nice to beable to make use of the rare fairways that I do hit.

 

[John_Findlay]

How's your bunker play, brendy? Why not just aim for the greenside bunkers and get onto the green from there, guaranteeing nothing worse than a bogey each time?

 

[madandra]

The 2nd at Dalziel Park is 330 uphill with trees left and right and for the first two seasons I went at it with the driver ..... big mistake. Now its a 6 iron with 160 left. Play them as a par four and you will prosper.

 

[brendy]

How's your bunker play, brendy? Why not just aim for the greenside bunkers and get onto the green from there, guaranteeing nothing worse than a bogey each time?

Bunkers are not a problem, ive got a variety of shots I can play (im the only person I know that actually actively practices weekly with 30-40 shots out of our practice bunker) Im really starting to get the hang of the bunkershot that has a long green with the flag at the back and an accessible ball. Put the ball back in your stance around 3/4's and slam into the back of the ball with a 1/3 to 1/2 swing, the ball omes out pretty much clean but when it hits the green it takes one good leap forward then spins to a stop instantly beside the flag. I admit its taken a while to learn but the look on your playing partners face when they see this ball launching out of the sand and flagwards looking a bit too hot only for it to bounce once and stop dead beside the flag is priceless.

 

[brendy]

The 2nd at Dalziel Park is 330 uphill with trees left and right and for the first two seasons I went at it with the driver ..... big mistake. Now its a 6 iron with 160 left. Play them as a par four and you will prosper.

Exactly its the reality check expectation ive come to accept, ie hitting a driver doesnt mean birdie, hitting an iron doesnt always mean birdie either. But hitting an iron gives you a hell of a lot more chance if you can hit the ball close with your second totally unimpeded rather than maybe chipping over a bunker or bush from the rough then expecting the ball to spin to a stop...that never happens unless its sitting up for you.