Home Track Blues

[Vardon11LDN]

This year is my first year of competitive golf so buffering and 0.1’s are all pretty new to me. I was a little disheartened to see my handicap go up to 18.3. I had ideas of getting down to 15 this season. I have been in decent form having won all my matchplay matches at the club and recently getting 47 stableford points on a society day (at another course). But every time I play a qualifier at my course I struggle. I am thinking the course might be too tough for a hacker like me.

 

[stokie_93]

This year is my first year of competitive golf so buffering and 0.1’s are all pretty new to me. I was a little disheartened to see my handicap go up to 18.3. I had ideas of getting down to 15 this season. I have been in decent form having won all my matchplay matches at the club and recently getting 47 stableford points on a society day (at another course). But every time I play a qualifier at my course I struggle. I am thinking the course might be too tough for a hacker like me.

i've been having these troubles recently, playing really poor around our place, cant seem to get good tee shots away is my biggest struggle & also putting.

Played last night at a notoriously tough course and played the best I have for a few weeks and scored brilliantly.
Strange game.

 

[Deleted member 21258]

This year is my first year of competitive golf so buffering and 0.1’s are all pretty new to me. I was a little disheartened to see my handicap go up to 18.3. I had ideas of getting down to 15 this season. I have been in decent form having won all my matchplay matches at the club and recently getting 47 stableford points on a society day (at another course). But every time I play a qualifier at my course I struggle. I am thinking the course might be too tough for a hacker like me.

Golf life isn't about scores and handicap IMHO.

Go out and enjoy the fun of golf and let the handicap settle at where it is going to be. If you enjoy the course and playing partners it would be mad to move to a new club just because.

I on average have always played better in society and social golf than in comps(as an example this year I have had 4 +.01 and one - 0.2, no buffers). Some people need a different social/society handicap to official handicap I think as 47 is in bandit country :earsjoke!)

 

[louise_a]

You are probably putting too much pressure on yourself in qualifiers, relax, its only going to cost you another 0.1 at worst..

I had 13 .1s last season but still manage a small cut overall

 

[HomerJSimpson]

You're probably far more relaxed in society events and in matchplay an 8 can be good enough as long as the opponent takes 9 so playing to handicap isn't an issue. I think you're simply trying too hard and there's a possibility you haven't learned the nuances of your course yet. We have several holes where you can't miss in certain places and sometimes you need to know where these are and when to be aggressive and when the middle of the green and two putts is the best result.

Relax and enjoy it. I had handicap aspirations but in my case, health has gotten in the way, and while the handicap rises I hold onto the belief I have some good scores to come in competitive rounds. Of course the issue changes after many years. You become too familiar with your course and each hole and so there are times (at least I find myself doing it) when I don't treat each hole as a fresh challenge and reach for a certain club off the tee, same iron from the fairway etc and I get lazy mentally and then in my swing.

 

[Tashyboy]

i've been having these troubles recently, playing really poor around our place, cant seem to get good tee shots away is my biggest struggle & also putting.

Played last night at a notoriously tough course and played the best I have for a few weeks and scored brilliantly.
Strange game.

Stokie, one of the best rounds I have played in my life was at Anahita when the Mauritius open was being played. We went on half hour after the last pros had gone out. It was the last day and some or the pins were brutal. I had played three days earlier and it had proper kicked my ass.
The second time I was a man possessed. I used all my shots, got my drives away and there was no way I was hitting and holding greens from 160 yd plus, so I was laying up and mr Vokey wedge was on fire. I have never course managed a round so well. Yes the pros were playing off longer tees but some of the par threes and fours were the same and I cannot begin to tell you how smug my grin was looking at pars on my card and double bogies on the pros score board. Course management can save you many shots.

 

[Oddsocks]

Knowing your course well I'd say your rise has been bad course management over any think else. You need to know safe misses off the tee, safe misses on approach shots, greens like the 12th you need to know where not to hit on the green.

I've watched great ball strikers score terrible, and hackers shoot great scores over the years of caddying there as a nipper.

Holes like 8, 12 & 16 can be card wreckers, Learn to play the course, not to hit the ball.

 

[Vardon11LDN]

Knowing your course well I'd say your rise has been bad course management over any think else. You need to know safe misses off the tee, safe misses on approach shots, greens like the 12th you need to know where not to hit on the green.

I've watched great ball strikers score terrible, and hackers shoot great scores over the years of caddying there as a nipper.

Holes like 8, 12 & 16 can be card wreckers, Learn to play the course, not to hit the ball.

You should come show me the ropes sometime mate.

 

[patricks148]

Knowing your course well I'd say your rise has been bad course management over any think else. You need to know safe misses off the tee, safe misses on approach shots, greens like the 12th you need to know where not to hit on the green.

I've watched great ball strikers score terrible, and hackers shoot great scores over the years of caddying there as a nipper.

Holes like 8, 12 & 16 can be card wreckers, Learn to play the course, not to hit the ball.

What Baz says, you just need to learn to play the course.

i came down from 24 to 12 at a parkland , then joined Tain a links course. i had never played links golf up until joining there and didn't play to my handicap there for almost 2 years, think it sort of clicked overnight how i should play the the course.

 

[ScienceBoy]

Don't play any comps until you have beaten your handicap in a practice round.

 

[Oddsocks]

You should come show me the ropes sometime mate.

Based on my current form it would be more enjoyable driving your buggy with a coffee in hand 👍

 

[garyinderry]

Don't play any comps until you have beaten your handicap in a practice round.

Can't say I agree with that. Some wait all year to beat their handicap and when they do they smash it and win the comp. No point doing that in a bounce game and missing a cut.


Also some dont play their best golf until they get their competitive juices flowing. Even if they aren't playing well, pride pushes them forward to try to halt the incoming handicap increase.

 

[ArnoldArmChewer]

Don't play any comps until you have beaten your handicap in a practice round.

?? Why, practice/bounce games are not competitions, inevitably a different mental approach just like hitting balls at the range. Get stuck in play comps, if you go up 0.1 so what it might inspire you to do better next time.

 

[patricks148]

Don't play any comps until you have beaten your handicap in a practice round.

No, just no

 

[Vardon11LDN]

Based on my current form it would be more enjoyable driving your buggy with a coffee in hand 

I am sure that is not true. Have you played it with the new tee boxes?

 

[drewster]

Don't play any comps until you have beaten your handicap in a practice round.

Curious as to why you say that SB ??? Is there some logic/science behind it ??

 

[ScienceBoy]

Curious as to why you say that SB ??? Is there some logic/science behind it ??

Prove you can do it to yourself first, prevent the spiral of 0.1s we all complain about.

Once you have proven you can do it out of competition, you can do it in it. It's just a good mental approach.

 

[Vardon11LDN]

Prove you can do it to yourself first, prevent the spiral of 0.1s we all complain about.

Once you have proven you can do it out of competition, you can do it in it. It's just a good mental approach.

Not sure I fancy missing out on the the qualifiers

 

[Hosel Fade]

It might be a case of just not knowing the misses yet, the Addington is very tough when you miss it in certain spots

 

[Vardon11LDN]

It might be a case of just not knowing the misses yet, the Addington is very tough when you miss it in certain spots

I have sussed that the trees are not a good miss!