Momentum Killer

[Vardon11LDN]

We decided on Sunday to get out for a quick nine holes. The conditions where atrocious and it rained the whole time. With low expectations I bogeyed the first and then pared the next 6 holes. We had been flowing through the holes pretty quickly and it was only when we reached the 8[SUP]th[/SUP] hole that we were held up by a four ball in front. It was at this time that I had a chance to look at my scorecard and realise that I was 1 over, which is uncharted territory for someone whi this time last years was a 28 handicapper. During this delay I decided I would stop attacking the flags and play conservatively to middle of the par 3 green. I stuck my tee shot in the drink and got a treble bogey. I am convinced that had I not been held up and had time to think,I would have played the last two holes better. My question is has anybody got any tips to avoid being affected by the score they could shoot?

 

[WWG]

We decided on Sunday to get out for a quick nine holes. The conditions where atrocious and it rained the whole time. With low expectations I bogeyed the first and then pared the next 6 holes. We had been flowing through the holes pretty quickly and it was only when we reached the 8[SUP]th[/SUP] hole that we were held up by a four ball in front. It was at this time that I had a chance to look at my scorecard and realise that I was 1 over, which is uncharted territory for someone whi this time last years was a 28 handicapper. During this delay I decided I would stop attacking the flags and play conservatively to middle of the par 3 green. I stuck my tee shot in the drink and got a treble bogey. I am convinced that had I not been held up and had time to think,I would have played the last two holes better. My question is has anybody got any tips to avoid being affected by the score they could shoot?

What a bummer, but you were still only 4 over. I dream of such a thing

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

Classic case of 1 shot at a time.

Don't look at your card, play each individual shot to allow you to play the hole in minimum number of shots, write your score on the card then repeat the process until you finish the round.

Then you can count up and see what your score is.

 

[Capella]

I think that is the main reason why people hate slow play so much. It just breaks your concentration. I don't think it was thinking about your score so much (even though I do try to avoid that at all costs as well, but it's difficult ... it's a bit like saying "QUICK! DON'T THINK OF A PINK ELEPHANT!" ... well? did it work?). It was probably more that your flow was broken by having to wait. Had you thought about pink elephants instead, the same thing might have happened. Try it out next time. Instead of thinking about your score, force yourself to think of pink elephants instead. Imaging them ice skating on a frozen lake or singing a duett or whatever. My guess is you will still find your game suffers from having to wait.

 

[Vardon11LDN]

Classic case of 1 shot at a time.

Don't look at your card, play each individual shot to allow you to play the hole in minimum number of shots, write your score on the card then repeat the process until you finish the round.

Then you can count up and see what your score is.

That works when your putting 4's, 5's and 6's on your card but when you par 6 out of the first 7 holes you know your score without seeing the card. Glad it happend on a social 9 and not a comp 18 as it was a good learning curve.

 

[rudebhoy]

We decided on Sunday to get out for a quick nine holes. The conditions where atrocious and it rained the whole time. With low expectations I bogeyed the first and then pared the next 6 holes. We had been flowing through the holes pretty quickly and it was only when we reached the 8[SUP]th[/SUP] hole that we were held up by a four ball in front. It was at this time that I had a chance to look at my scorecard and realise that I was 1 over, which is uncharted territory for someone whi this time last years was a 28 handicapper. During this delay I decided I would stop attacking the flags and play conservatively to middle of the par 3 green. I stuck my tee shot in the drink and got a treble bogey. I am convinced that had I not been held up and had time to think,I would have played the last two holes better. My question is has anybody got any tips to avoid being affected by the score they could shoot?

Don't look at your scorecard!

I was playing 9 holes a couple of weeks ago, and was going along very nicely. On the 9th tee, I looked at my card, and realised I was only 9 over after 8, and if I parred the 9th, I would score 44. My previous best was 48, so I was pretty excited. I promptly took a triple bogey and ended with a 47, which was good, but could have been so much better!

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

One shot at a time - after you have decided the shot you want to play do not think about what might happen; only think about what you want to happen.

You cannot play your next shot until you have played your current shot, so do not distract yourself in thinking how you will play a shot that in most likelihood will never have to be played.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

That works when your putting 4's, 5's and 6's on your card but when you par 6 out of the first 7 holes you know your score without seeing the card. Glad it happend on a social 9 and not a comp 18 as it was a good learning curve.

It's 1 number in 1 box......that is all you need to know :thup:

 

[UlyssesSky]

I'll be mean and say it wasn't knowing about your score that led to that blow-up hole, but your overall skill level. Not trying to p*ss you off, it's just that this is the most likely answer.

According to your sig, you're playing off 18. This means that your average 9 hole score should be slightly over +9. You brought home a +4 through 9 holes, which is still at least 5 shots better than could be expected from your handicap.

Except for seniors who simply lack the distance to par every hole, you'll rarely see an 18 handicapper shoot bogey on every hole to play to his handicap. It's far more likely to shoot some pars, some bogeys and the odd blow-up hole (or two, or three) to finally arrive at a score that's typical for your handicap.

If the blow-up hole happens just after you looked at your score it's always easy to attribute the bad hole to the fact that you suddenly were aware of what's possible, but the truth is, the overall result of your round would most likely have been the same if you had no clue where you stood.

Bringing home the +1 or even "just" a +2/+3 would have meant shooting between 6 to 8 shots under your handicap through 9 holes, which is extremely unlikely unless your handicap is terribly off. You still only played bogey/double-bogey on the last two holes, which is a lot more than you could have hoped for (statistically).

 

[Curls]

We've all been there, particularly when the pace of play changes from quick to slow. Apaprt from learning to adapt to the change of pace, you also started playing too conservatively. A serious positive - you played well to get to where you were, perhaps should have just continued playing and enjoying the run.

Lesson learned, next time you're in that position you will remember this time and change tack. Not that what you do that time might be right either, but it's all good experience.

 

[Vardon11LDN]

I'll be mean and say it wasn't knowing about your score that led to that blow-up hole, but your overall skill level. Not trying to p*ss you off, it's just that this is the most likely answer.

According to your sig, you're playing off 18. This means that your average 9 hole score should be slightly over +9. You brought home a +4 through 9 holes, which is still at least 5 shots better than could be expected from your handicap.

Except for seniors who simply lack the distance to par every hole, you'll rarely see an 18 handicapper shoot bogey on every hole to play to his handicap. It's far more likely to shoot some pars, some bogeys and the odd blow-up hole (or two, or three) to finally arrive at a score that's typical for your handicap.

If the blow-up hole happens just after you looked at your score it's always easy to attribute the bad hole to the fact that you suddenly were aware of what's possible, but the truth is, the overall result of your round would most likely have been the same if you had no clue where you stood.

Bringing home the +1 or even "just" a +2/+3 would have meant shooting between 6 to 8 shots under your handicap through 9 holes, which is extremely unlikely unless your handicap is terribly off. You still only played bogey/double-bogey on the last two holes, which is a lot more than you could have hoped for (statistically).

I think you make some very valid points here.

 

[palindromicbob]

My question is has anybody got any tips to avoid being affected by the score they could shoot?

Don't play. It's the only 100% guaranteed way to stop that happening.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Don't look at the card between shots and think about anything that isn't golf connected