It clicked...what I learnt today

[barrybridges]

I've just got back from a pretty drizzling day where I'm really pleased and thrilled to have posted my best ever round, of 82. Considering this is my first full round of the year I'm really happy that the practice and work I've been putting in is paying off.

More importantly, this is what I learnt today:

It really is all in the short game.

Today I only hit 4 GIR, but for 5 of the others I was able to chip it close enough to 1-putt.

If you think you might miss, work out where the best place to miss is.

Even though I only hit 4 GIR, I recognised my weaknesses and - in most cases - came up short/long/left/right with my approach in a safe area, away from bunkers or other hazards.

It's better to be short off the tee but keep it in play

I didn't hit a single driver in my entire round today - and hit 12 out of 14 FIR as a result. I used my 3-wood twice and the rest of the time took my 20 hybrid, which was more than long enough.

I'm not going to try the hero shot again

2 of my pars today came on par 5s where - in the past - I've messed up trying to reach them in 2. Today I could have tried to attack them, but I know I would have been in trouble, so instead I took a 7 iron and PW which left me with a good chance at par and no damage on the card.

I also learnt some other very important things that I need to work on:

Today was the first round of golf I played where the shots I messed up on were messed up not because of technique (although it's still got a lot to improve) but because of experience on a golf course. I wasted 2 shots when chipping out of semi-rough and not realising how it would affect the ball flight and trajectory.

I also need to learn my distances because a couple of times I came up short despite thinking I was going to overhit the green.

Lots to learn and take away from today, even if I did get soaked. It serves as a really good reminder to me to recognise my weaknesses and play in a way that minimises their effects, rather than trying to be a hero all the time and play shots which I can't pull off.

Or - in other words - I'm making a public promise to myself not to learn to take my medicine and to remember I'm a lowly fair-weather golfer and not Rory McIlroy!

 

[SatchFan]

Well done. Straightforward good course management.

 

[HawkeyeMS]

Even though I only hit 4 GIR, I recognised my weaknesses and - in most cases - came up short/long/left/right with my approach in a safe area, away from bunkers or other hazards.

So were you not going for the green?

 

[HomerJSimpson]

You don't have to go for the green. At the FoA where there were 6 par 4's over 400 yards, I refused to attack any of them in two and relied on a pitch and a single putt, two at most. End result, 11 out of 12 points on these holes.

 

[HawkeyeMS]

You don't have to go for the green. At the FoA where there were 6 par 4's over 400 yards, I refused to attack any of them in two and relied on a pitch and a single putt, two at most. End result, 11 out of 12 points on these holes.

I wasn't saying you ave to o for them, just didn't understand if Bazza was saying he went for the green and mssed in the right place (which IMHO for us club golfers is mostly luck) or whether he deliberately played to a safe area off the green

 

[pbrown7582]

Well done. Straightforward good course management.

Spot on course management can save shots every round As can knowing distance you hit clubs and distances to front middle and back, hence the benefit of GPS or range finder. Good work and keep it up scores will tumble.

 

[barrybridges]

I wasn't saying you ave to o for them, just didn't understand if Bazza was saying he went for the green and mssed in the right place (which IMHO for us club golfers is mostly luck) or whether he deliberately played to a safe area off the green

I was going for the green but thinking carefully about what would happen if I didn't execute the shot properly. For example, if I was uncertain about what club to take, I'd err on the side being shorter if I knew that the bunkers were at the back of the green. Similiarly, I didn't 'play to the pin' like I normally do; I directed things to the wider part of the green.

I know this sounds stupid but I also think the past fortnight - where I've been really practising my chipping around the green daily - was really helpful, because it made me think about contours and 'where I could miss'. E.g. on the 7th where I play, the green is surrounded at the back by a steep bank, so I knew that if I took a club that was slightly too long, an overhit shot would still be ok because I could use the bank to bounce it back to the green (as it happened, my shot DID hit the bank but didn't bounce back, but I ended up saving par by chipping it close anyway).

That said, it did make me realise how inexperienced I am as a golfer because I didn't handle the situations on the course as well as I should. On one hole I came up short and right of the pin, in some fairly whispy rough grass, with the shot going 'with the grain' as it were. I took my 52 wedge thinking I would give it a fair whack, but even with effort the ball just popped out about 15 yards and was still short of the green. Other silly things like not knowing how to handle uneven lies, so being aware that when the ball is below my feet it'll produce a fade.

 

[Stub]

Understand what you are saying but my biggest difficulty in course management is failing to convince myself not to go for the miracle shot. One day I might stop myself...but there again, one day the miracle shot might come off.

Maybe another reason I'm stuck on 28 handicap!