How do you play on your practice rounds?

[Dannyj1984]

Being still quite new to golf I happily go playing on my own quite a lot of practice. Yesterday played in my first club comp scored 98 (hcap 20) so quite happy but my driving was pretty awful. When I am out on my own if its quiet I hit maybe 3 balls and play with all them (also keeping score for each), playing yesterday made me wonder if this isn't a great idea, I had about 6 drives sliced wildly resulting in 4 going in the trees (2 on the wrong fairway) so 8 shots lost just on them, I am off this week so going to have a few rounds in the day and going to play with just 1 ball. The other thing I realised is that there are 4 holes on the course where a slice leaves you out of bounds where as all other holes a slice takes you onto another fairway/rough. So them 4 holes I am going to use the 19 degree hybrid and leave the driver for the more forgiving holes.

What do others do when out playing on their own?

Thanks

 

[Dasit]

I play on my own quite a lot and often play 2 or 3 balls.

I mainly do it so I am not catching the people in front and waiting.

If I play just one ball it takes me about 2 hours to play the round, so this is only an option if the course is empty.

When I do play 1 ball solo I usually shoot 5 to 10 shots better than I do in comps, guess it is a mental thing.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I play on my own from time to time. If I'm working on something after a lesson I might play a couple of balls, but if not I try and make it as realistic as I can and play one ball. I find keeping to a pre-shot routine, especially picking a clear target hard to do so try and use these rounds to improve that. If I do decide to repeat a shot, its usually around the green

 

[Ross61]

When I do a practice round on my own, I play one "scoring" ball ,but if I mess a shot up I play another ball/s until I play the shot to my liking. I then carry on from wherever my scoring ball ended up.
I will also play my normal sensible shot with my scoring ball, but then play a riskier shot with another ball that I won't take on in a competitive game. if I can do that shot confidently over time I know I can possibly take the risk with it in a comp.

 

[louise_a]

I will also often play one scoring ball too, and hit a 2nd if I hit a poor shot.

If there is something I particularly want to practice then if faced with that shot I may play it 3 or 4 times, providing of course that I am not holding anyone up.

As an aside, I was out once and had hit 4 drives off one tee when some guy playing an adjacent hole came over and told me off. There was no one behind me.

 

[GG26]

If the course is quiet I sometimes play with two balls and score them both independently (one yellow and one white to make it easy). Keeping track of three would be difficult. I try to take it seriously and score like I would in a competition. For me I don't play better solo, other than its off the yellow tees and not the whites.

 

[SteveJay]

I play solo regularly and sometimes play 1 ball to test my score/gauge improvement etc, but often put down a second ball for some shots.

If its quiet, I must try something I read about on here, and thats to play 2 balls but play the worst ball/worst previous shot, each time - sounds like could be useful practice.

 

[Roland]

I'm happy to play on my own but on those rounds what I'm really practising is how to play the course i.e. using a hybrid on some tees instead of a driver. If I want to improve my swing I get on the practice range.

 

[user2010]

What`s a practice round?

 

[Hobbit]

Unless it's a practice round on a new course prior to a special comp I don't see the point of a practice round. The practice ground, where I can hit reps of particular shots to groove a feel, is where I practice. The course is where I go for a game of golf.

 

[patricks148]

Unless it's a practice round on a new course prior to a special comp I don't see the point of a practice round. The practice ground, where I can hit reps of particular shots to groove a feel, is where I practice. The course is where I go for a game of golf.

same here

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

On Saturday morning in our roll up we were playing off our forward tees so I used my 3i for many of my tee shots - for practice and to see how I fared - as prep for the winter k/o (which is off forward tees). Used it 6 times and was actually rather successful (got 37pts). Managed in range 200-210yds and straight (which is main reason for using 3i off tee for me).

So on our difficult 17th - playing about 385yds to flag on Sat. Was on green level with flag with 3i and 6i, now for a difficult hole with lots of problems and L and R front bunkered green - that seems a sensible way to play it.

And that's my sort of thinking when playing a practice or sometimes a non-comp round.

 

[Ross61]

Unless it's a practice round on a new course prior to a special comp I don't see the point of a practice round. The practice ground, where I can hit reps of particular shots to groove a feel, is where I practice. The course is where I go for a game of golf.

where I play the practice area is either uphill or downhill. The range is short and off mats.
Also depends what you regard as a practice round. As far as I'm concerned if I get time after work or on a day off and I have a solo round I call that a practice round. I'm not necessarily practicing but enjoying a leisurely round of golf. If I want another go at a shot and not affecting anyone else i do.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

where I play the practice area is either uphill or downhill. The range is short and off mats.
Also depends what you regard as a practice round. As far as I'm concerned if I get time after work or on a day off and I have a solo round I call that a practice round. I'm not necessarily practicing but enjoying a leisurely round of golf. If I want another go at a shot and not affecting anyone else i do.

Likewise - and I try different shots out when out myself, or different approach to game and course management - as I did on Saturday.