How do you want to play golf...

[DaveyG]

Long story short I played in a society recently abroad...

My 3 playing partners were off 10,11,14 which I would consider a decent golfer.

I am currently playing to about 16/17 with an official handicap of 19 after a few recent cuts... I would class myself as an improving golfer and I hope to be a single figure golfer in the future... I am putting in alot of practice and have been told I have a nice looking swing due to me picking up the game 3 years ago with lessons as a beginner.

I know we have all said or heard "Its not how, its how many" and "There are no pictures on a scorecard" etc

BUT WOW...

One of the blokes I don't think he caught the ball flush the whole round and the other two's swings looked like something you would get from a Claw machine too... now this post isn't supposed to be about having a pretty swing and I appreciate its where the ball goes that matters. I don't care what mine looks like I care about where the ball goes though and its flight!

All three of them scored well but it just seemed like every shot was a miss-hit... I have thinned an iron to 2 feet before and although I will always take that but it just doesn't feel right... I would be much happier with a well struck iron that rolls through the green.

As an example the one bloke used a 3 wood from 150 yards and everytime grass cut it up to the green and 10 foot from the pin... it just looked like one of those shots you turn round and laugh about where as your pp all then rib you for being a jammy *&(*&(

The score is ofcourse important to me but I do consider playing well as striking the ball well... I have played on a saturday and sunday before taking the same score but having very different feelings about the way I played after... I am not saying putting and short game isn't important because it clearly is but if I have struck the ball well I will more than likely walk off happy with how I played knowing that the extra practise I am now putting in will make my all round game come together


So my question is am I alone in thinking thats not how I want to play golf... each to their own if you are enjoying it and I probably didn't have a right to feel cheated but seeing sum really ugly slices/thins/stabs at the ball come off time after time felt hard to take when I played well but scored modestly

 

[louise_a]

We all want to hit the ball cleanly, but sometimes when we do we don't get the result we think the shot deserves, so if you don't hit one correctly but it finishes up well don't moan but accept the good fortune, it offsets the bad luck you will undoubtedly get as well.

 

[Foxholer]

I've been having a little trouble with my GW recently. It used to be my 'go-to' for chipping, but too many fats and thins meant I use my PW in preference.

Had the perfect GW distance for 3rd on Saturday to a pretty much front pin that skins oppo had a putt for birdie. Hit my chip/pitch beautifully, unfortunately allowing for the usual slight miscue, to 3-putt country, which I proceeded to do!

Very happy with the shot; not so happy with the result!

TFG!

 

[bluewolf]

Sounds like you've been watching me!!!

I played the front 9 at my gaff last week and hacked it round without a decent shot in the bag. Scrambling pars with a couple of bogeys thrown in. I was absolutely miserable about it as well.
I actually stood on the 9th tee and decided that if I didn't par the hole that I'd throw the clubs under the stairs and forget about them for a month. Hit a decent drive leaving 155 to the pin. Stuck a 7 iron to 6ft and holed the putt for a 1 over gross 9 holes... Other than the final putt I didn't enjoy a single second of the round.
Knocking shots left, right, duffing chips, high fades off the tee.. It's not a fun way to spend a few hours, no matter what the score is...

 

[DaveyG]

Sounds like you've been watching me!!!

I played the front 9 at my gaff last week and hacked it round without a decent shot in the bag. Scrambling pars with a couple of bogeys thrown in. I was absolutely miserable about it as well.
I actually stood on the 9th tee and decided that if I didn't par the hole that I'd throw the clubs under the stairs and forget about them for a month. Hit a decent drive leaving 155 to the pin. Stuck a 7 iron to 6ft and holed the putt for a 1 over gross 9 holes... Other than the final putt I didn't enjoy a single second of the round.
Knocking shots left, right, duffing chips, high fades off the tee.. It's not a fun way to spend a few hours, no matter what the score is...

Ha - I did similar today mate but when I looked back the score really wasn't too bad!

What I think I mean (and ofcourse I could be wrong as I only played with them once and saw the blokes playing another time) though is they seemed to crab the ball about on every shot... I just couldn't play the game like that! I know I am never going to be a pro but I want to play as close to one as possible!

 

[bluewolf]

Ha - I did similar today mate but when I looked back the score really wasn't too bad!

What I think I mean (and ofcourse I could be wrong as I only played with them once and saw the blokes playing another time) though is they seemed to crab the ball about on every shot... I just couldn't play the game like that! I know I am never going to be a pro but I want to play as close to one as possible!

I suspect that you, like me, will be miserable more often than you'll be happy..

 

[DaveyG]

I suspect that you, like me, will be miserable more often than you'll be happy..

HAHA very true!

 

[Imurg]

Everyone likes to hit the ball well, to call the shot and execute it to within inches of where you intended.
But golf ain't like that all the time.
Most of us will hit only a few clean shots each round.
I used to really want to only hit the "shot". It had to look right, it had to fly as I intended.
If it didn't then I hated it, even if the ball finished by the hole.

These days I couldn't give a stuff..!
If it finishes in the vicinity of where I intend I really don't care how it gets there or what it looks like. I still, obviously, take huge pleasure from "calling the shot" - Fundy can vouch for that (Rye Hill) but it can shave the grass all the way, take a lucky bounce or whatever - its where I wanted it to be.!

 

[srixon 1]

I will take whatever I can get without worrying about my swing. I have seen some truly shocking swings coupled with truly shocking ball striking but the players consistently get the ball round the course in just a few shots over par.

There is no consolation in having a swing like Rory if you are a 10 handicapper. Jim Furyk seems to have done alright with a swing that is not too pleasing on the eye.

Remember Rorys 3 wood during the US PGA this year. Hit it out of the heel to a few feet and then made eagle. 2 hours later and he had his 4th major trophy on the mantlepiece.

 

[MC72]

Long story short I played in a society recently abroad...

My 3 playing partners were off 10,11,14 which I would consider a decent golfer.

I am currently playing to about 16/17 with an official handicap of 19 after a few recent cuts... I would class myself as an improving golfer and I hope to be a single figure golfer in the future... I am putting in alot of practice and have been told I have a nice looking swing due to me picking up the game 3 years ago with lessons as a beginner.

I know we have all said or heard "Its not how, its how many" and "There are no pictures on a scorecard" etc

BUT WOW...

One of the blokes I don't think he caught the ball flush the whole round and the other two's swings looked like something you would get from a Claw machine too... now this post isn't supposed to be about having a pretty swing and I appreciate its where the ball goes that matters. I don't care what mine looks like I care about where the ball goes though and its flight!

All three of them scored well but it just seemed like every shot was a miss-hit... I have thinned an iron to 2 feet before and although I will always take that but it just doesn't feel right... I would be much happier with a well struck iron that rolls through the green.

As an example the one bloke used a 3 wood from 150 yards and everytime grass cut it up to the green and 10 foot from the pin... it just looked like one of those shots you turn round and laugh about where as your pp all then rib you for being a jammy *&(*&(

The score is ofcourse important to me but I do consider playing well as striking the ball well... I have played on a saturday and sunday before taking the same score but having very different feelings about the way I played after... I am not saying putting and short game isn't important because it clearly is but if I have struck the ball well I will more than likely walk off happy with how I played knowing that the extra practise I am now putting in will make my all round game come together


So my question is am I alone in thinking thats not how I want to play golf... each to their own if you are enjoying it and I probably didn't have a right to feel cheated but seeing sum really ugly slices/thins/stabs at the ball come off time after time felt hard to take when I played well but scored modestly

Its one of the things that surprised me most about the mid/single figure handicap guys at my club when I first joined. I initially thought they'd all be peppering the flags on every green but the truth was far from it.

With playing competition games with single figure and cat1 guys I've found that on a bad day they'll still get the ball round the course even if it doesn't look pretty. Their bad shots are nowhere near as disastrous or destructive as the higher handicap golfers.

you can't be great every time you play, but make your bad shirts better when you're nit playing well. When you're playing well things/shots should take care of themselves.

 

[DaveyG]

I hear what all three of you have mentioned above and I may be wrong but im not talking about the odd thinned shot which works out...

Certainly from Srixon & Imurgs handicaps I imagine the majority of the time you are putting a good swing on it with a good ball flight? Im talking everyone of there iron shots knee high over 18 holes?

 

[Imurg]

Make no mistake, I've hit the ball like a God and scored poorly, I've hit the ball like I'm using a rake and scored well.
I think what was said earlier, a lower handicapper can, sometimes, get the ball round in a reasonable score even when chopping it, is correct. Plenty of times I've walks off the 18th wondering how I've managed to make a score hitting it the way I have.

 

[FairwayDodger]

As I've improved a notable development is my ability to duff it in a straight line. Not what you want but not generally destructive either. I've often been complemented by playing partners on shots that were actually completely mishit but I wasn't happy with those shots. I'll take them though. One of my best rounds last year included a birdie 2 where I duffed an eight iron shot that barely got off the ground and eventually ran up to finish 6 feet from the hole. No pictures on a scorecard, indeed!

 

[robert.redmile]

Daveyg you sound just like me! I'm totally crap, but am at a stage where I hit 3 or 4 snorters every round, that very few of the people I play with could hope to match (Saturday I hit a bunker shot from 40 yards that bounced once then stopped and spun on the spot so fast it looked like it was trying to drill itself into the green, - im not joking I had to sit down after I hit it I was so high!)- then I take 5 to get down from the fringe on the next. I was also 7 off the tee in a comp this summer - with the same ball!!!!!!!!
i just want to be good, and I'm such a competitive sod I can't bare being laughed at by my mates - I've just bet one of them a weekend at woodhall spa that I'll be off a lower handicap than him this time next year. He's off 9, I'm currently off 25 - I honestly believe I will win.(that's just how I am!)

 

[patricks148]

As I've improved a notable development is my ability to duff it in a straight line. Not what you want but not generally destructive either. I've often been complemented by playing partners on shots that were actually completely mishit but I wasn't happy with those shots. I'll take them though. One of my best rounds last year included a birdie 2 where I duffed an eight iron shot that barely got off the ground and eventually ran up to finish 6 feet from the hole. No pictures on a scorecard, indeed!

very true.

played with a few mates at the weekend around Moray Old, not the best start a sherman on the 1st to almost lose the ball, a blocked 3 wood on the 2nd to lose the ball. then 4 birdies and the rest pars. one memorable hole was a blocked tee shot into a bunker (that im not even sure was on the hole we were playing) a thinned 8 iron that never left the flag for a birdie.

Yes i would prefer to hit the middle of the club all the time and make good swings, but i'll take a good score from time to time swing poorly

 

[EuanRoss]

Yeah I hit a total duff at our Par 3 5th on Sunday but it's downhill all the way and made it to the right edge of the green. Boxed the 50-60 footer for a 2 to go -3. Yeah we all prefer to hit good shot after good shot but we moan so much when we get a bit of mis-fortune that we tend to forget the jammyness.

 

[garyinderry]

I would love to scab it round under par!

 

[Smiffy]

I posted along these lines a week or two ago.
My game has gone to the dogs at the moment, basically I'm scabbing it round.
I had 20 points (with a blob) on the front 9 at East Brighton, followed by 18 points (again with a blob) on the front 9 at Cooden the following week.
Did I enjoy it?
Nope.
My chipping and putting saved me on both occasions.
Topping or fatting the ball 30 yards gives me no pleasure.
Nor does missing the green on a short par 3, chipping up and saving par.
I played with a mate yesterday who was hitting the ball much better than me.
We both scored crap but he actually scored one point LESS than me.
Although I theoretically "beat" him, I took no pleasure from it.
I'd rather both of us had been hitting the ball fantastically and I'd lost 2&1.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

It depends. Social golf and I'd prefer to hit the ball well and not overly fussed about the score providing I know why I haven't scored well. Competition rounds and I'll take a good score any way I can and happy to get a cut however ugly the golf

 

[garyinderry]

Topping or fatting the ball 30 yards gives me no pleasure.
Nor does missing the green on a short par 3, chipping up and saving par.
.

definitions of scabbing it round will differ wildly. I will very rarely top or thin it 30 yards and make a score.

I will often miss greens with pulled and pushed irons and make up and downs.