How much do you think Luck affects your scores

[User 105]

As the title says.

How much of a swing in your score do you think is just down to luck.

I'll give you an example.

Played about 3 times last week. My 'game' was pretty similar in all 3 rounds. Drove the ball about the same, hit good iron shots, chipped and putted ok.

But there was about a 6 shot swing between my best and worst scores.

When I thought back over the rounds I think the biggest factor was probably luck.

Two main factors.

1) As an amateur I'm going to hit a bad one every so often and it's then how lucky I get. Do I catch a nice clean lie with a route to the green, or am I stuck behind a tree.
2) Putting. I hit some decent putts. Sometimes they will drop, sometimes they won't.

Obviously the lower the handicap, the fewer bad un's you'll hit, therefore your not relying on catching a break when you do.

I know over the long run it will even itself out though.

 

[Imurg]

If I had Fragger's luck I'd be off scratch......

 

[chrisd]

Luck certainly plays a big part as far as I'm concerned. A ball that rolls off the green into a bunker, a tree struck with a drive can all give a favourable or awful outcome

 

[spongebob59]

A lot !
Being drawn to start at the 3 hardest holes on the course on your first medal in 8 months !

 

[Russ_D]

I seem to rely on luck too much at times. Hell, i sometimes feel like im trying to use the force some days! Problem is id make a crap Jedi, "you WILL land on the green......ok the trees will do just fine"

 

[Norrin Radd]

if it wasnt for bad luck i wouldnt have any at all

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Luck will always have a part in most rounds - the weather conditions is a big part of luck

 

[Junior]

Luck doesn't affect my scores as much as my shoddy putting.......but year, the odd bad bounce and crappy lie does have an impact. that said, it probably evens out.

 

[Capella]

More than I would like it to. I'd much rather do the Fairway hit, GIR, two putt thing than hacking my lucky or unlucky way through the wilderness as I usually do.

 

[Imurg]

that said, it probably evens out.

Excellent.. That means I'm in for a scorching round soon👍

 

[Ethan]

In any one round, luck, that is to say the random effect of chance rather than any mystical property affected by a rabbit's foot or stepping on a crack, can play a large part. Over the longer run it probably evens out. Tough if you get your bad breaks in the club champs and your good breaks playing your mate for 50p each nine.

 

[Slab]

Difference between any two rounds, I guess it might be up to a dozen strokes or more

Difference between the odd & even round scores over the last 20 rounds, not much difference at all (as you say it'll balance out)

The good breaks one week will be a bad break on another week

The margins are fine as we know, a foot either way (even a couple of inches) and its a totally different shot. Is that luck or is it just different outcomes some of which are more/less desirable then others

 

[Joff]

I just knew everyone would come in here claiming to be unlucky 😂

 

[WWG]

As the title says.

How much of a swing in your score do you think is just down to luck.

I'll give you an example.

Played about 3 times last week. My 'game' was pretty similar in all 3 rounds. Drove the ball about the same, hit good iron shots, chipped and putted ok.

But there was about a 6 shot swing between my best and worst scores.

When I thought back over the rounds I think the biggest factor was probably luck.

Two main factors.

1) As an amateur I'm going to hit a bad one every so often and it's then how lucky I get. Do I catch a nice clean lie with a route to the green, or am I stuck behind a tree.
2) Putting. I hit some decent putts. Sometimes they will drop, sometimes they won't.

Obviously the lower the handicap, the fewer bad un's you'll hit, therefore your not relying on catching a break when you do.

I know over the long run it will even itself out though.

Without doubt, luck pays a big part, and it's daft to think otherwise, especially when your rubbish like me. I can hit a great drive down the fairway, and still get a bad lie. I can hit a tree, and it may come out onto the fairway, but more often than not it will get stuck behind another tree. The list goes on and on. My mate believes he is really unlucky on the putting green, but I won't accept that !!

 

[Lord Tyrion]

I'd go 4-5 shots for me either way. Even more if you play on a links course as the bounces there can be a nonsense at times.

 

[Norrin Radd]

its all swings and roundabouts ,sometimes you get the swings ,others you get roundabouts ,generally it evens out ,but the rub is ,you dont remember the swings only the roundabouts .
you see it as pure skill that you holed that twentyfive footer but see yourself unduly punished when you have a slightly iffy bounce that puts you in the bunker and not on the green.
another day would see you lip out on that putt but you would get the bounce onto the green ,unlucky putt gets talked about ,not the lucky bounce .
my game has seen the best of luck and also the worst of it ,im sure we all have ,and im betting we have had rounds with more so called good luck than bad ,and vice-a-versa.
i just put it down to the golfing gods playing with me .

 

[User 105]

And I think that is the point I'm eluding too. We all get good luck and bad and depending on how much of each in any particular round can cause a huge swing in you 'expected' score.

It kind of changes your mindset a bit when you think about it, knowing that there could be a 5-6 shot swing in your score that is, in reality, out of you're control.

 

[User62651]

"The more I practice the luckier I get.." - words of Gary Player I think and so true.

Imo over the course of 18 holes luck will even itself out so be negligible to your handicap and score. The mind just focusses harder on the perceived bad luck and any good luck is forgotten about when you're bemoaning the missed 2 footer later on in the bar.

 

[patricks148]

it can have an effect. but i suppose it evens out, we always remember the bad luck but rarely acknowledge the good.

 

[fundy]

short term it has some impact, long term very little and certainly not as much as I moan about it on the course (and no where near as much as it affects something like poker!!!)