I'm rubbish in any medal i play!

[slugger]

Since i took the game up at the tail end of summer 07 i've developed into an ok golfer. I've not scored over 100 for a long time, i've been shooting mostly low 90s and have recently broken 90 for the first time (87). My handicap is 25 but my pro says he expects me to come down to 18 this year...

well not if i keep playing the medals like i did at the weekend! Shot 103. I only played two medals last season and had similarly bad rounds.

I don't feel any different when i go out and play, but i don't understand how i can be dropping at least 10 shots per round on medal day. I just can't explain it...

 

[bobmac]

I'm sure the mental gurus will have all the answers for you and will use phrases like 'Positive Mental Attitude'
but i.m.o. it all boils down to confidence and experience.
If you feel you can play well, confidence is high and you have done it before, then why not play well?
The more Comps you play in, the less worried you will be and realise it's not life and death.
All the cliches are true.
Try and stay relaxed over each shot, deep breaths slow down the old heart rate and go for it.
If the shot doesn't come off, give a wry smile and move on to face the next challenge.
And remember, It's only a game, not your living
Enjoy

 

[TonyN]

You think that is bad, I shot my PB about 4 weeks ago, a 78. That was after carding two 87's and an 89 for my H/C.

I was put off 19. A little high I felt as I play to around 15 off the yellows normally and do occasionaly shoot lower. I am normally around mid to low 80's in bounce game when I take it remotely serious.

First qualifier of the year I shot a 96. highest in a loooooong time!

 

[Tommo21]

It's the same for most of us. Nerves, medal tees, scoring a card. One thing for sure the more medals you play the more relaxed you will play. When I play a bounce game, from the yellows, I use a club that would leave me a second shot similar to the medal tees. That way it’s no shock when playing off the medals to find you have another 20/30 yards into the greens. Relax and commit to your shots.

 

[krokodil]

When I started playing medals I was obsessed about not hitting OB or losing a ball and having to walk back to the tee to reload....it killed my game, then for whatever reason I had a more laissez faire atitude in 07 and won a board comp and won 2 more last year. In all honesty it was more about thinking I had no chance of winning and just focusing on getting the hdp chopped.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

The thing with medals is there is nowhere to hide. A bad stableford hole is just no points but a chance to recover. An 8,9 or worse in medal is hard to come back from. I think you may be making unreasonable shot selections especially after a bad hole and trying to get back lost shots. Take your punishment if you hit a bad shot and get back into play.

If you treated every hole as a par 5 and played to it that would be 90. What you lose on the 5's and longer 4's you'll get back at the shorter 4's and 3's. It takes the pressure off and gives you a more realistic figure than par for the course to shoot at

 

[ColinR]

Slugger

I was exactly the same as you last year. The only way to get through it is to keep on playing them. Try to play with people you know and can feel relaxed with, this will help. There is nothing worse than playing with people who take it so serious that they hardly say a word through 18 holes, it just helps build up tension. I had a few of these matches last year, now I go out of my way to play with people I want to play with. After all, it's my precious weekend time and I want to enjoy myself.

Keep at it, it will get better.

 

[Parmo]

Slugger, I started about the same time as yourself and have just been given 23 hcp for my first official one. I tend to shoot 80s-early 90s off white with friends but in comps I go to jelly, my 3 cards where 105, 92 & 97 another card of 106 wasn't handed in!!!

I am finding that people who have regular playing partners are ok but when you have to phone up and join strangers its tougher to get used to it, I was even thinking of quitting competitive golf the other week because the stress was not just ruining my enjoyment of the game but made me not want to play.

I decided after shooting 43 on 9 holes on Sunday that if I start again to take it too seriously then I will only play friendly games or practice until I find a regular team to play with.

Stick with it, smell the flowers on the way round and its not the end of the world to shoot a bad score.

 

[Cernunnos]

Homer makes a good point, though few of us ever put this into practice. Many of us also have shots in hand on certain holes, but treating all holes as a parr5, or saying accept 2 over on every hole & you may get bogeys & parrs. Try too hard & it could be doubles, triples or worse. No point in adding pressure to a game we are supposed to enjoy.

During comps especially medal/strokeplay events we can put alot of pressure upon ourselves & can also be more nervous than we may think.

Breakthing can help, other mental excercises can help, but in reality all we have to do is play our own game. A good repeatable pre-shot routine can help many focus our mind on the shot in hand, remove un-needed disruption from our conciousness, give us desisiveness needed to plan our way around the course, by knowing where this shot needs to be in order to play the next.

We've nothing to proove to anyone, even ourselves. No-one is really that bothered what the other player is upto, its a round like any other.

Its so simple to say, play as you would normaly, though easier said than done, but essentisaly that's what we need to do.

And we all suffer from this affliction. Some of us even suffer with it in Stableford or Matchplay too.

All this is easier said & done & if I could do everything I suggest I would play a damn site better than I do. As my sig says my handicap is the 3 or so inches between the ears.

Just keep plugging away & enjoy it.

 

[Robobum]

What Homer has said is spot on, and is something that every player should do to some extent, regardless of ability/ handicap.

You can spend every waking hour on the range beating 1000s of balls into the yonder. You can get the best pro you can afford to model your swing into an instructor's dream, but you still have to learn to get round a golf course.

Hitting good shots is not the be all and end all of posting a low score. A playing lesson or two with your pro (or even a good low figure mate) is an essential part of learning how to play this game IMO.

 

[GB72]

My problem was, I think, that I would have in my mind what could go wrong on a hole to wreck my card and inevitably that was what happened. Recent improvements, ironically, have possibly been due to having a couple of dodgy holes early on. Once I thought that I had no chance of competing, I forgot about the card and started playing my normal game and have recently finished with a couple of decent medal rounds. Recently I finished with an 8 on the fourth hole, forgot about the card, relaxed, managed to play to my handicap on the front 9 despite the bad hole then played the back 9 in 7 over (off 27!!) and won the medal.

 

[golf_bug]

I shot 101 in the medal last weekend. I literally hacked the thing round and it was one of my least enjoyable rounds because I let it get to me. Towards teh end I was actually afraid to take a shot as I didn't want to lose any more balls.
As stated above, in a medal you know that every shot counts and it immediately changes your mind set, which effects the way you swing.
Its all about confidence and not letting it get to you too much. Approach every shot like you would if you were just playing with your pals, stay relaxed and forget about the bad shots - there is nothing you can do about them.

 

[heronsghyll]

My view (what works for me) is to remember to use your handicap - whatever that is.

If you have a shot on a hole (or 2) do not worry if you do not make a par. You have a handicap for a reason, so use it.

Play within yourself and do not "go for it" but play with course management in mind. Play away from the trouble - think about what you do before you do it.

In time you will see the scores improve and you might enjoy it more, less stress and more fun.

Remember a bad day on the golf course is better than a good day at work!

 

[bobmac]

Golfbug.
If you have a bad round in a comp, when you've finished the round and had a drink with your partners, dont go straight home.
Go back out and play 3 or 4 holes, just to prove to yourself you can do it better.
A bit like getting back on a horse when you've fallen off.

Who needs Karl Morris

 

[slugger]

thanks for all the advice. i'll try and bear it all in mind...

especially the bit about playing to handicap! seems so obvious, but it's amazing how we can forget the obvious stuff.

I know i can par 17 out of 18 holes on our course, it's just the effort of trying to put it all together than gets me. I think about the wrong things and hey presto... ruined card.

I guess i need to start thinking about the right things!

 

[jammydodger]

People have posted some very good advice to take note of. Of course it's always easier said than done , but playing well in competitions is something that you gain through experience. Confidence is a huge part of it and playing well enables you to play well the next time and so on until eventually it's just another round of golf and you're totally relaxed.

In the last 9 comps i've played i've won 4 with a 2nd and 3rd thrown in too. I much prefer the added pressure of comps because it concentrates my mind on the job in hand. My mates always laugh when we play in the week cos i'm usually pretty average but come the weekend I up my game and i'm always there or there abouts. i dont worry about bad holes or bad shots cos I know I can easily repair the damage with a good run of holes. Just focus in on the shot and then forget it and have a laugh with the other fellas then focus in again.

Good luck in the next comp and let us know how it went

 

[Herbie]

Slugger, sometimes it just happens and no matter how confident or capable you may be it just doesnt come togeather. The last medal I played I actually played some very good golf with a lot of very nearly greats in there but just 4 holes of mostly unfortunate bounces and unbelievable lies plus me giving up on said holes destroyed the round, but for 13 holes I played good solid golf and one hole reasonable golf.

Ive played loads of medals and had as many good ones as bad, its just that you can get a string of them at times which can make you feel crappy. Dont put yourself down, if you are capable of better scores they will come if you just accept that what is, IS!

 

[Dave3498]

If you treated every hole as a par 5 and played to it that would be 90. What you lose on the 5's and longer 4's you'll get back at the shorter 4's and 3's. It takes the pressure off and gives you a more realistic figure than par for the course to shoot at

I couldn't agree more with this. Whenever I play off my 15 handicap, I always count to fives. I know that with my CSS being 73 I have to come in at two under fives to play to my handicap. If you count every hole to five, it won't be long before you're counting to fours.

 

[RGDave]

Slugger, I've been there and it's a common problem.

I'd like to say I'm over it, but that would be a lie.

On Sunday, I was so p***** off about things I blew out massively on three hole 15/16/17 that I regularly par off the yellow tees.

I wasn't interested in making a boring bogey on these holes, I just wanted to prove to myself that I couldn't actually par them off white (which I can't).

The last 14 rounds I've play I've averaged one over par for these 3 holes. On Sunday I went 8/10/5 for a staggering 12 over par for 3 holes!!!

Why am I telling you this.....because ANYTHING is possible if your head is in the wrong place. Try too hard, try things which have only a 1% chance of success, etc. all will bite you where it hurts.

It's almost certainly the damage from the bad shots that'll be costing you.....learn to minimise these with good course management and a realistic approach.

My personal approach (when I'm chugging along accepting bogeys the same a birdies) is;


1. Only hit your driver when you know the worst that can happen is a chip-out from the trees. Don't use it on holes with OOB or lakes or anything even vaguely resembling trouble.

2. Play conservatively with almost "any" club (2nd shot) off the fairway if you can't get home. For me, it's normally a 5 wood or rescue BUT, I'll think twice about this if there is trouble right of left at the "expected distance". I'll give you an example....we have a nasty 440 yarder at mine which I often find myself 210 to go. IN bounce games, I hit my 5 wood and often get on. In medals, I have pulled it left or sliced it into the trees and walked off with 6 or 7 so many times, I hit a 5 iron. I then bump it on with a 7 iron and 5/10 times have a short-ish put for par.....

3. Develop a sixth sense for "where" the bad shot will go.
I'll give you an example (again). I played at TonyNs and have messed up the 15th par 3 every time. This week I didn't even try to hit the green, I just hit a relaxed 5 wood at the green, knowing it would fade and come up short. (better than gripping it strong and pulling it into trouble.)
From there, I chipped and made the 1 putt......I reckon there's more chance of my paring that hole if I just relax and accept that some costly things are almost sure to happen at times when I try to create a miracle, so don't even try.

I didn't even "try" with my tee shot (hybrid/rescue) on the short 8th par 4. I hit a very poor tee shot and had 120 to go when I could potentially drive up to short of the apron. Guess what, another par....

4. Don't get "cute" around the greens. Sometimes, it's just easier to knock it on, have 2 putts and walk off with a bogey than try to analyse the chip/pitch and mess it up....find 2 shots that work for you, I use a 7 iron runner and a GW pitcher. That's it.....I don't risk any of the other "trick" shots unless I have no choice.

5. Keep the ball on the course at all costs, sometimes short of the green is better than greenside, pin high. I don't mean under-club, I mean *if* the shot left (long iron from the rough say) has risk (OOB, water, killer bunker)...take it easy, club down so the hazards are out of reach.

This sort of stuff.....you have LOTS of shots to spare, if you keep your mind in the right place....just a few thoughts.....

Good luck....

 

[bobmac]

Dont try and do what you think you can do.
Only do what you know you can do.

Write that on some paper and stick it to your golf bag