Just how bad am I?!

BRISTOL86

BRISTOL86

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Hi All

Today I played my first ever "actual round" of golf. Previously I've only been to driving ranges. It was only a par 3 course, so obviously the par is 54, and it took me 84 strokes to get round, so +30, which I'm very embarrassed about! :o

I started golfing around 6 weeks ago, and have only had one lesson (just yesterday) - is it normal to be shooting such a high score as a total beginner? I was hoping I'd be able to get round in under 70 so a bit disappointed to be honest!

Amazingly, I didn't make par on a single hole, but managed one birdie (lol!)

I had a couple of nightmare holes that gave me 6's due to very poor tee shots, but the majority were 4's and 5's.

Overall I had:

6 on 3 holes;
5 on 8 holes;
4 on 6 holes;
3 on 0 holes, and
2 on 1 hole.

Is there hope for me yet, or am I clearly not cut out for this golfing lark!?
 
Dont sweat it! Everyone has to learn somewhere, relax and just enjoy learning the most frustrating game ever invented ;)
 
Mate we all start somewhere and if you keep going you will defo improve. I been playing a year however it been busy year and i just started to break 100 however got plenty time off coming up and thanks to good advice on here and watching few pieces on glutube Im going for lessons soon and will be joining a club next year to get my 1st official handicap. I will then set myself a realistic goal but wont let mysolf get down if I dont hit it as lets face it we all here to play for fun.
 
Our course is par 70.
The first card I ever submitted for HC purposes was 140+
I asked the pros not to look at it until I'd driven off.
As I got to the car I swear I heard hoots of laughter from the shop.
:(
 
Sounds like a half decent first time out tbh, par 3 courses are rarely easy. If you find your ball after the first two shots on a hole there is always plently of chances to drop shots within 150 yards.

Out on a full course things are different, most people make it too hard by losing the shots before they get inside 150, giving them no chance. Get within 150 in two shots on a par 3/4 and 3 shots on a par 5 and you have every chance of scoring well.
 
To be honest i think you have done well as i think theres more pressure playing a par 3 course when you start due to the length and the expectation of hitting the green in one. Im a member of a club which is par 60, its only got 3 par 4s and the rest are par3s and you have to be accurate. I hit my handicap more on the longer courses locally i play than my own :D. And congratulations on the birdie
 
Six weeks! My god man give it time. I'd say though you need to get out on the course more. Range is all well and good but you'll never can't get a handicap there.

The 2 shows what you can do ;)
 
Thanks everyone! Looks like I might be being a bit overly critical and expecting too much too soon...don't we all! :D

Don't give me credit for the birdie, ironically it was one of my worst tee shots that led to it! I duffed the shot and caught the top of the ball, going all of about 3 feet in the air before running along the ground for about 90 yards and ended up 2 foot from the pin! Still, they all count I guess!!

Hallsy - it was the Thornbury par 3!
 
BRISTOL86 said:
Thanks everyone! Looks like I might be being a bit overly critical and expecting too much too soon...don't we all! :D

Don't give me credit for the birdie, ironically it was one of my worst tee shots that led to it! I duffed the shot and caught the top of the ball, going all of about 3 feet in the air before running along the ground for about 90 yards and ended up 2 foot from the pin! Still, they all count I guess!!

Hallsy - it was the Thornbury par 3!
Click to expand...

You can't see a video reply from a score card ;)
 
Congrats on your first round. My first time out was just under a year ago and I can still remember how dreadful it was. Don't be too hard on yourself. Mind you, I need to learn that myself as my Pro keeps telling me!
 
BRISTOL86 said:
6 on 3 holes;
5 on 8 holes;
4 on 6 holes;
3 on 0 holes, and
2 on 1 hole.

Is there hope for me yet, or am I clearly not cut out for this golfing lark!?
Click to expand...

No hope - give it up. :)

In all seriousness, I made plenty of 8s, 9s, and 10s on my first game (par 3 course) so if 6 was your worst you are destined to do just fine.
 
I started playing on a par 3 course and still do quite frequently; It has a par of 55 due to one par four and an average hole length of around 150yds. Even on a good day I only shoot around 75 as I find making par on a par 3 far harder than any par 4 or 5 as you basically have to be on the green in 1 to give yourself any concrete chance.

I'm admittedly still crap at golf however 84 seems good going for your first round if the holes are anywhere near as long as the par 3 course I play at. Off an unofficial 24 I break my handicap easier on a full length course than a par 3 course.

At least on a par 4 or 5 you can lay up, whereas on the par 3 course you are usually hitting a 7 iron or more onto a small green. Plus, the par 3 course also has far worse greens than any full length course so making those putts that aren't within 6 feet are all the more difficult.
 
Hallsy said:
Thornbury is a nice par 3 course and the greens are normally very nice.
Click to expand...

Yeah it was nice, although there was one where I had a lovely line on a putt for par and a big patch of barren grass sent it veering off course!

chellie said:
Congrats on your first round. My first time out was just under a year ago and I can still remember how dreadful it was. Don't be too hard on yourself. Mind you, I need to learn that myself as my Pro keeps telling me!
Click to expand...

Thanks! Yeah I tend to be overly critical of myself anyway and get frustrated which as we all know will make things much worse!

RGDave said:
No hope - give it up. :)

In all seriousness, I made plenty of 8s, 9s, and 10s on my first game (par 3 course) so if 6 was your worst you are destined to do just fine.
Click to expand...

That's reassuring, thanks!

DannyOT said:
I started playing on a par 3 course and still do quite frequently; It has a par of 55 due to one par four and an average hole length of around 150yds. Even on a good day I only shoot around 75 as I find making par on a par 3 far harder than any par 4 or 5 as you basically have to be on the green in 1 to give yourself any concrete chance.

I'm admittedly still crap at golf however 84 seems good going for your first round if the holes are anywhere near as long as the par 3 course I play at. Off an unofficial 24 I break my handicap easier on a full length course than a par 3 course.

At least on a par 4 or 5 you can lay up, whereas on the par 3 course you are usually hitting a 7 iron or more onto a small green. Plus, the par 3 course also has far worse greens than any full length course so making those putts that aren't within 6 feet are all the more difficult.
Click to expand...

Yeah I know what you mean actually, I probably only hit about 3 or 4 greens from my tee shots, so a lot of wasted stroked on 3/4 putts.

The holes varied from a couple as short as 80/90 yards to a few that were 180/200 with most around 120-150 I think.
 
I think you are being too hard on yourself. There are a number of things here. Get more lesson. Get the fundamentals sorted from the start and you will be set up when you head onto bigger courses. The second thing is that par 3 courses tend to have very small greens which makes accuracy a premium and sadly it a simple fact that none of us as beginners were good enough to control this.

Try and work on the short game especially the putting alongside other lessons. The better you can chip and putt the better you will score. Other than that, don't worry. IT WILL COME
 
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