Mental Errors / Course Management

[Airlie_Andy]

I think I have a problem but a bit of background info first.

I've played for a few years but very sporadically until I took the plunge and joined a club just over 2 years ago. I also started taking lessons at that time. Now swing has massively improved in that time and my ball striking is pretty good. However, my handicap hasn't come down all that much, I started on 16 steadily rose to 17.7 then got to a low of 14.2 but now sitting on 14.6.

The positives in my game are that I get very good distance and my ball striking is actually much better than my handicap suggests, as an example I stuck a 220 yard 4 iron to 4 feet on our long par 3 yesterday but missed the putt which sums my game up perfectly. I drive the ball pretty well (wont say any distances as that will just deteriorate the thread) and generate good back spin on my irons which would suggest I strike it pretty well?

The negatives are that my short game is awful and my putting isnt even that good. Now im taking steps to remedy that over the winter but I think that better decision making could also help me in the meantime. As an example on our 3rd yesterday I drove the ball into a fairly stiff headwind which left me with 80 yards to the middle of the green. The pin was on the front which was 60 yards and bunkers were protecting the front. I decided to hit an 80 yard shot which the wind would knock 10-15 yards off which should leave me fairly close to the pin. Now bearing in mind my bunker play is beyond rubbish is that a mental error and a bad mistake? As it happens the wind hit it harder than I anticipated and the ball landed on the lip of the bunker and dropped back in (I ended up with an 8). It just never occured to me to hit say a 100 yard shot which the wind would knock down to 80 leaving me an easy 2 putt and a safe par.

How do I change my mind set on the course to make good decisions and eliminate the danger? I can sit here now and realise that should probably have been the shot but how do I make myself do that on the course when my mindset is aiming at flags? Is it just purely concentration on my part?

 

[AmandaJR]

I suffer the same and also tend to not allow enough for conditions when it's windy. What has improved and means (usually) I hit a lot less greenside bunkers is hearing my coach say "is it a sucker pin?" - sort of in my head! So I judge it and if it is look to hit the heart of the green or at least the least risky landing spot which still gives me a chance of a one putt. If it's a 4BBB and my partner is safe then I'll play more attacking shots but generally in medal play I'll ask the question and plan accordingly.

Finally - if I make the mistake of my last glance taking in the (sucker) pin then I'll make myself have another good look at where I want to hit it and then go for it. I find if my last glance is taking in the pin then that's where the ball will head towards which may be not what I want if it's protected by the bunker and close to it.

 

[El Bandito]

Hmmmm...not sure this was a course management issue. Sensible thought process IMO. 80 yards is a tough yardage, and/or you misread the wind. How did you get to 80 yards short? Could you have taken a different club that would have left a full wedge? Rather than yards, I play to clubs. So I can play a fully committed swing for the approach. (Incidentally I also play to all sorts of impossible rough, but not on purpose..)

 

[GeneralStore]

Playing in the wind is a skill and you get better at it in my opinion. I wouldn't worry to much about a particular 4 iron or a particular wedge shot, I believe you have answered your own question already, according to you: "The negatives are that my short game is awful and my putting isn't even that good"

So, you cant putt, you have no short game and you aren't good in the bunker? Where do you expect to make your score then?
I have a friend of mine who swings the golf club like a drunken octopus falling out of a tree, he consistently plays to his 6 handicap and its because he can chip ok and averages 28 to 30 putts per round. If you can get the ball in play consistently off the tee then its time work on your short game. Course management isn't the issue, you considered the wind and the bunker, next time you might use a bigger factor for consideration, but its not like you werent thinking about

Best of luck

 

[chrisd]

I think that you're halfway there. The first step to solving the problem is to recognise that there is one, after that you just need to act upon it

 

[patricks148]

if you can reg hit a 4 iron 220 yards.. carry, not lucky bounce and run, then you are half way there.

If you have distance, just work on your short game.. , just putting alone you can save 3 or 4 shots per round.

 

[HawkeyeMS]

Simple, stop going at tight pins. The middle of the green is your friend. Whenever I'm faced with a shot such as you describe I forget about the pin and make sure I avoid the trouble. In this situation it sounds like the back of the green is a good place to aim for, chances are you'll be short which is the middle of the green, not the bunker

 

[Marl S]

Learn how to get out of bunkers. A lot of pros prefer to be in them rather than greenside rough. Most courses have a practice green with a few bunkers.£25 of short game tuition works wonders and winter is the best time to learn as you will have wet sand, dry sand and icy sand. When you are confident about getting out of bunkers you rarely go in them

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Learning about and improving the short game will definitely help the scoring. Have you considered a playing lesson with your pro?

 

[Airlie_Andy]

Thanks for the replies everyone. The short game is definately my Achilles heal and I intend to spend most of the winter working on it as the last couple of years have been spent working on the full swing pretty much exclusively. I'm just thinking that in the short term I can limit the damage by being much more conservative with shot selection. Yes I considered the wind in my example but maybe I should have completely taken the bunker out of the equation by leaving myself a much longer putt? Even a 3 putt would have yielded a nett par but the bunker was literally the only way I was going to make double or worse so should I take it completely out of play or is that being too negative? My instinct is to get close to the flag and it never even occurred to me to play for the back of the green with the wind holding it back towards the middle leaving a fairly simple 2 putt but that would have removed any chance of a big number which is what I mean by course management really? Once again thanks for the replies everyone.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

The problem with being conservative, as I know from experience, is you then start to swing with less conviction and try and steer the ball without letting your swing flow naturally

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Improve your short game and you will tumble down.

Learn to play it safe instead of going for pins - par is always a good score and a bogey is never a disaster.

 

[Airlie_Andy]

Learning about and improving the short game will definitely help the scoring. Have you considered a playing lesson with your pro?

I've had my first short game lesson on chipping so I've made a start and I'm going on a golf trip to Spain with my pro and a small group of other students in the new year to work on short game and course management which should hopefully be really beneficial to me. In the meantime I'm spending 30 mins to an hour every night putting and chipping in the house. I know it's not the same but my biggest problem is that it just feels unnatural to me and I much prefer hitting full shots so I'm working on being comfortable over the ball and making good contact.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

I've had my first short game lesson on chipping so I've made a start and I'm going on a golf trip to Spain with my pro and a small group of other students in the new year to work on short game and course management which should hopefully be really beneficial to me. In the meantime I'm spending 30 mins to an hour every night putting and chipping in the house. I know it's not the same but my biggest problem is that it just feels unnatural to me and I much prefer hitting full shots so I'm working on being comfortable over the ball and making good contact.

Every time I went to the driver range me and my mate used to play horse at targets up to 100 yards - massively improved my distance control and short game.

We then used to pop to the putting green and play matchplay on just putts. Improved my putting

 

[Airlie_Andy]

Every time I went to the driver range me and my mate used to play horse at targets up to 100 yards - massively improved my distance control and short game.

We then used to pop to the putting green and play matchplay on just putts. Improved my putting

Funny you should say that as myself and my brother have started to have a weekly session at the range and we were just discussing doing the exact thing you mention. Fortunately the range has just opened a floodlight chipping area that also has a bunker so that's me sorted for the next few months.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Funny you should say that as myself and my brother have started to have a weekly session at the range and we were just discussing doing the exact thing you mention. Fortunately the range has just opened a floodlight chipping area that also has a bunker so that's me sorted for the next few months.

Perfect then - just get yourself a bit of competitive edge and enjoyment into it. After a while you will just naturally pick up a club depending on the distance

 

[Airlie_Andy]

Perfect then - just get yourself a bit of competitive edge and enjoyment into it. After a while you will just naturally pick up a club depending on the distance

The main reason I got thinking about how I play is one of my regular playing partners is off a very similar handicap to me but is a good 75 yards shorter off the tee. He chips and putts like god though. So on a long par 4 I can get there no problem whereas he might still be 75-100 yards back. Invariably he'll hit a nice wedge to 10-15 ft and hole his putt for a par or bogey at worst, he never loses a ball and never attempts to hit a green from a long way out preferring to leave himself around 50 yards out or more so that green side bunkers are never in play and he very rarely even has to hit a green side chip. I'll usually go for the green from distance and sometimes I'll pull it off and leave myself a decent chance at birdie but invariably I'm looking at a long 2 putt or a chip and a putt or even a bunker shot all of which are currently the weakest parts of my game so I'm considering trying something similar to his approach on my next few rounds and seeing if I score any better.

 

[JCW]

I think I have a problem but a bit of background info first.

I've played for a few years but very sporadically until I took the plunge and joined a club just over 2 years ago. I also started taking lessons at that time. Now swing has massively improved in that time and my ball striking is pretty good. However, my handicap hasn't come down all that much, I started on 16 steadily rose to 17.7 then got to a low of 14.2 but now sitting on 14.6.

The positives in my game are that I get very good distance and my ball striking is actually much better than my handicap suggests, as an example I stuck a 220 yard 4 iron to 4 feet on our long par 3 yesterday but missed the putt which sums my game up perfectly. I drive the ball pretty well (wont say any distances as that will just deteriorate the thread) and generate good back spin on my irons which would suggest I strike it pretty well?

The negatives are that my short game is awful and my putting isnt even that good. Now im taking steps to remedy that over the winter but I think that better decision making could also help me in the meantime. As an example on our 3rd yesterday I drove the ball into a fairly stiff headwind which left me with 80 yards to the middle of the green. The pin was on the front which was 60 yards and bunkers were protecting the front. I decided to hit an 80 yard shot which the wind would knock 10-15 yards off which should leave me fairly close to the pin. Now bearing in mind my bunker play is beyond rubbish is that a mental error and a bad mistake? As it happens the wind hit it harder than I anticipated and the ball landed on the lip of the bunker and dropped back in (I ended up with an 8). It just never occured to me to hit say a 100 yard shot which the wind would knock down to 80 leaving me an easy 2 putt and a safe par.

How do I change my mind set on the course to make good decisions and eliminate the danger? I can sit here now and realise that should probably have been the shot but how do I make myself do that on the course when my mindset is aiming at flags? Is it just purely concentration on my part?

I have read the thread and replies ........short game will come with lessons to correct your faults then its the right practice to improve it and your confidence , keep it simple always , next , putting , same again a few lessons then its practice and practice drills with the 3 footers being important , many hours banging these in will improve you , head still and all that , clubs and what club to hit ........to have control you have to be able to hit a 100 yard wedge shot with say an 8 iron , a full wedge shot hit flat out with a wedge will not be as control as the same shot played with more club , how do you learn this , again practice in the winter or evenings where you take out a haft set of clubs and hit shots , one rule , if its a full 9 iron shot and you only got a wedge or 8 iron with you always hit more club , next week you go out take out the other haft set of clubs to get even wear on the clubs , this in time will teach you shot making and the art of hitting a more control shot ,do this in swindles and roll up too in the winter or evening knock arounds lastly the course management , always sit down after your round of golf and quickly go through your round , see where your drop shots and why , was it shot selection or club selection or both and see if what your score would have been or could have been , would you play it different next time then move on , course management takes time and looking at your card after each round will help you in not making the same poor call again , hope this helps ...................EYG