Keeping it all together.

[Andy808]

On Saturday it was our monthly medal. Spent an hour beforehand doing my warm up on the driving range, chipping area and practice green. All was well as we teed off and I felt great with 3L of water and some bananas for the round. First hole was a nice steady 4 on the opening par 3 then another 4 on the second par 3. I pared the 3rd and bogeyed the 4th. Hit my first par on the par 4 5th in competition and so this continued through the first 9 holes with regular water intake and a banana after 5 holes. I hit the turn with my best ever 6 over par and I was feeling relaxed and confident as I teed up on the 10th. First shot OOB, no problem I thought I and hit another tee shot straight down the middle.....into a bunker. Still not worried as I was 20 yards short of the green and don't struggle out of bunkers normally. This bunker is so hard on the bottom I couldn't get my club under the ball and it took me 3 shots to get out. I thin hit my next through the green finally chipping on and putting out for a 10.
I took my time walking to the next tee to gather my thoughts and make sure I didn't do anything stupid so hit a steady 9 iron short of the green and chipped on to then 4 putt for a 6.
I tried my best to recover and at least put in a par to HC round which I was well on course for when on the 18th my first tee shot started left, stayed left and ended up in the trees. I put a provisional down which ended up just in the rough. WE COULDN'T FIND EITHER OF THEM. I finished the round with a second 10 on my card for the first time in a comp.
I have never felt so sick at the end of a round in all my life and I am thinking I don't have the mental ability to play cometitions as in practice rounds I normally play to 15-18 no problem but in comps I always implode towards the end of the round.
I love playing the game but I'm struggling to handle the stress of comps.
Any advice from you guys would be greatfully received.

 

[Foxholer]

Get fitter.

Drink more fluids than you think you need.

Take every hole (and every shot) as a 'new beginning'.

Don't anticipate any score!

Treat every practice round like a comp one and every competition round like a practice one.

If that doesn't help enough...Try playing for money - enough to sting. Really focuses your attitude and makes Medals seem 'easy'!

 

[Andy808]

Get fitter.

Drink more fluids than you think you need.

Take every hole (and every shot) as a 'new beginning'.

Don't anticipate any score!

I am fitter (quit smoking 3 months ago, using rowing machine every night to lose weight)

How much fluid more fluid? I drank 3L of water over 18 holes.

I do take every hole/shot as a new start and that I have been working on for a while and it worked for a while.

Believe me with my scores I NEVER anticipate a score as I have blown a round on the last 3 holes before.

My playing partners commented how well I handled it from their point of view. I kept my head up and my swing easy but it still went wrong.

 

[Piece]

Don't force shots or think ahead. Take Rory's recent advice and play each shot or hole on merit and don't think before the hole that you must make a birdie, etc.

Update: Ok, just seen your post!

 

[SocketRocket]

I really feel for you, you set off with a great attitude, I guess you need to look at where things went wrong.

One area was the bunker where you had problems. Why did it take so many shots to get out? I know you said it was hard on the bottom, maybe a lob wedge just under the ball may have got the ball out here.

The next green you made a 4 putt. Was this due to your state of mind after the previous bunker?

The two balls lost on the 18th were bad luck but maybe if you had not had the previous problems then you would still have been in a good position to play a safer shot with maybe a 3 or 5 wood to keep you in the short stuff and finish with a satisfying score.

Please don't take my comments as being critical Andy, I think you would do well to either take a lesson or two on course management and read through some of the books on the psychology of golf by people like Bob Rotella.

Don't give up, there is a way to manage these problems.

 

[Andy808]

Forcing shots is something that I used to do. I have a friend who used to be a teaching pro and he stopped me doing it by forcing me to club up and swing at 80%. Soon I was hitting the same club as before as my swing improved and my ball striking improved that much. I now hit down one club with the same 80% swing as I'm taking the ball off the fairway so cleanly. I hit 2 duff shots all round and revovered on both holes to only bogey them (These used to be my blow up holes which gave me a reason in my mind why it was happening).

 

[BLAM]

The only way to beat your demons is to face them down. Just keep entering competitions. And entering. And entering.

 

[Andy808]

I really feel for you, you set off with a great attitude, I guess you need to look at where things went wrong.

One area was the bunker where you had problems. Why did it take so many shots to get out? I know you said it was hard on the bottom, maybe a lob wedge just under the ball may have got the ball out here.

The next green you made a 4 putt. Was this due to your state of mind after the previous bunker?

The two balls lost on the 18th were bad luck but maybe if you had not had the previous problems then you would still have been in a good position to play a safer shot with maybe a 3 or 5 wood to keep you in the short stuff and finish with a satisfying score.

Please don't take my comments as being critical Andy, I think you would do well to either take a lesson or two on course management and read through some of the books on the psychology of golf by people like Bob Rotella.

Don't give up, there is a way to manage these problems.

I did use a lob wedge (60degree) but couldn't get any lift on the ball even when I took a good amount of "sand" with the ball. I normally use my 60 out of bunkers as I can stop the ball very quickly on the green with it.

The 4 putt was strange. First putt was from about 20 feet and I over hit it, next putt lipped out to about 18 inches and the third putt came off the putter face at a very strange angle. one of my playing partners was standing behind me and said my putter went through straight so I must have had something on the putter face but more likely the ball as I was tapping in.

Course management is another area I have been working hard on. Several holes I would have tried booming a driver at I now hit an easy 6 iron then a wedge into the green. I think you may have something with the psychology of golf as this is an area not covered alot in most publications. As an avid reader of GM I had a look through my old issues and noticed there is very very little with respect to this side of the game.
I wonder if they should start a column on it.

 

[SocketRocket]

I did use a lob wedge (60degree) but couldn't get any lift on the ball even when I took a good amount of "sand" with the ball. I normally use my 60 out of bunkers as I can stop the ball very quickly on the green with it.

The 4 putt was strange. First putt was from about 20 feet and I over hit it, next putt lipped out to about 18 inches and the third putt came off the putter face at a very strange angle. one of my playing partners was standing behind me and said my putter went through straight so I must have had something on the putter face but more likely the ball as I was tapping in.

Course management is another area I have been working hard on. Several holes I would have tried booming a driver at I now hit an easy 6 iron then a wedge into the green. I think you may have something with the psychology of golf as this is an area not covered alot in most publications. As an avid reader of GM I had a look through my old issues and noticed there is very very little with respect to this side of the game.
I wonder if they should start a column on it.

Take a look at 'Golf is not a game of perfect' by Bob Rotella. I am sure there will be things in there that will help you as it has helped so may of us.

 

[Andy808]

Thanks for the replys. I have a funny feeling I know what my kids will be getting me for fathers day now.
Lets see if Bob can sort my head out.

 

[thecraw]

You should have had 3 cans of lager, 2 cheese'n'onion mccoy crisps, a twix and a dairy milk. The water and bananas were so so wrong!

 

[rosecott]

Several holes I would have tried booming a driver at I now hit an easy 6 iron then a wedge into the green.

Either you're a really big hitter or the holes are not very long.

 

[Andy808]

Either you're a really big hitter or the holes are not very long.

260-280 depending on how I catch my driver and IF it's straight, best drive so far is 310. So fairly big hitter but lack control hence dropping down to a 6 iron and a wedge safely on the fairway.

 

[User 105]

Andy this probably isn't going to help, but sometimes it doesn't matter how much\well you prepare and do all the right things before and during a round. S**t just happens.

I play my best when I'm not even trying or even thinking about things too much. Don't ask me how to do that as I don't know. It's a kind of state of mind thing that occasionally comes over me and everything seems easy and clicks into place.

Golf's a tough old game, you'll have more bad rounds than good, and you need to find a way to block out the bad otherwise it will drive you mental. Which it does seem to be doing . I do know that feeling.

 

[bobmac]

You should get a plan of how to play your course.
What club did you hit off the 18th tee for example ?

 

[Andy808]

Andy this probably isn't going to help, but sometimes it doesn't matter how much\well you prepare and do all the right things before and during a round. S**t just happens.

I play my best when I'm not even trying or even thinking about things too much. Don't ask me how to do that as I don't know. It's a kind of state of mind thing that occasionally comes over me and everything seems easy and clicks into place.

Golf's a tough old game, you'll have more bad rounds than good, and you need to find a way to block out the bad otherwise it will drive you mental. Which it does seem to be doing . I do know that feeling.

That's probably the worst thing. It was going so well and so smoothly. Nothing was bothering me and I was just driftiing through the round happy and joking with my playing partners. Then BAM the golfing gods took a huge dump on me. Looking at me card on HDID it was just those 2 holes that really ruined the round.
Still think I need to work on my mental ability on the course.

 

[Andy808]

You should get a plan of how to play your course.
What club did you hit off the 18th tee for example ?

Good Idea and I should make plan B different to plan A other than "don't hit it in the wrong place" kind of plan.

 

[bobmac]

Good Idea and I should make plan B different to plan A other than "don't hit it in the wrong place" kind of plan.

How far are the trees on the left on the 18th?
If you hit an iron, why choose one that reaches the trees ?
And on the 10th, why not just hit something 200 yds to be short of the bunker and practice that second shot onto the green.
And have a bunker lesson. If you cant get out of a bunker with a 60 deg , there's something wrong somewhere.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

2 words for you my friend...... COURSE MANAGEMENT.

Let's take the 10th as an example. OOB so let's take that out of play, aim down the safe side of the fairway. But you went OOB, OK no problem just make sure the next one is in play. Drove into the bunker! 3 wood or hybrid off the tee to make sure you are safely in play.

It sounds easy but the secret is doing it out on the course. Think carefully about every shot, before you hit the ball think where you want to hit your next shot from then focus and commit to hitting the ball to your target.

Good luck in taking it out onto the course :thup:

 

[Andy808]

How far are the trees on the left on the 18th?
If you hit an iron, why choose one that reaches the trees ?
And on the 10th, why not just hit something 200 yds to be short of the bunker and practice that second shot onto the green.
And have a bunker lesson. If you cant get out of a bunker with a 60 deg , there's something wrong somewhere.

It's a dogleg right so my "normal" left to right shot takes the ball nicely round the corner. I didn't expect to get anywhere near the trees as I was shooting into a strong wind. So sods law kicked in and I creamed one into the trees, then just missed the fairway with my second but the rough is so deep we still didn't find it. The bunker on the first is solid so it's really hard to get under the ball and I played a shot that normally comes up short.
It's not what I did that's the problem to me more how I mentally handled it.