D
Deleted member 21258
Guest
Does playing different courses help or hinder your golf scores ?
I would say that it improves my all round golf and certainly improves my scoring when I get back to my home club. I do not score better when I play away but I don't think that is a surprise as you are not used to the greens, the layout, where to hit your shots, how to come into greens etc.
garyinderry
Ryder Cup Winner
100% makes you a better player overall.
New challenges, new mistakes made, new lessons learnt.
New challenges, new mistakes made, new lessons learnt.
Orikoru
Tour Winner
I always seem to do better on other courses, then play rubbish when I come back to my home course. I'm starting to think that my home course is just tough and my handicap actually travels quite well.
HomerJSimpson
Hall of Famer
I also play better away from home, especially club matches on courses I've played before but not regularly. I think that with home courses and given how much I play my own, familiarity breeds contempt in the fact you know where the trouble is, what club to take on most holes etc and so perhaps don't always give the shot the respect and consideration it deserves. Away from home where you may not know the carry, where the trouble is etc you tend to be more focused
Crazyface
Tour Winner
Due to a change in my membership I'm playing a few different courses and it's making me look for danger off the tee and pick the right shot, which i'm taking back to my place and playing much better.
Orikoru
Tour Winner
You might be right there. Or another thing I've thought is that when you're playing a course you don't know as well, you're thinking more about the course itself - when you know your home course like the back of your hand the only thing to think about is your own game which doesn't always help.
D
Deleted member 21258
Guest
Do you find that you have to change your chipping/putting quite a bit between the different style of courses.
I ask, as am finding that the short game is the hardest to transition between different style of courses, links is super tight & easy/light lies near the green and parkland is super lush thicker 'deeper' rough near greens, as a result needing more speed in the chip to get it to go the same distance and what with the different type of greens grass and speeds, it is playing havoc with my up and down percentage(read as distance control on chips and long putts is were I am suffering). Up and down ratios must be on average 25% from within 3-4 yards of the green edge.
only thing i notice if i play parkland is i have to chip if you miss the green, at my home course, i can go round quite often never having to chip the ball, not the case at most parkland.
though i used to be a good chipper, i now rarely have to at Nairn so got out of the habit, really noticed this on the back 9 at BOG last week.
though i used to be a good chipper, i now rarely have to at Nairn so got out of the habit, really noticed this on the back 9 at BOG last week.
Grant85
Head Pro
A lot of people seem to say they play better on a different course. This seems very strange, but I have a theory.
People think they play well away from home as they have fewer expectations. Even if they haven't necessarily scored any better - they will probably rate a 70 more highly on a course they don't play often than a 70 on their own course, which they probably felt should have been a few shots better.
Also, some people actually do play better as they aren't scarred by previous problems at a course they are familiar with. On almost every hole at your home course you will have a memory of throwing in a big number and your round unravelling. Inevitable that this negative thought can always crop up and mean you are less committed to whatever swing you are making.
People think they play well away from home as they have fewer expectations. Even if they haven't necessarily scored any better - they will probably rate a 70 more highly on a course they don't play often than a 70 on their own course, which they probably felt should have been a few shots better.
Also, some people actually do play better as they aren't scarred by previous problems at a course they are familiar with. On almost every hole at your home course you will have a memory of throwing in a big number and your round unravelling. Inevitable that this negative thought can always crop up and mean you are less committed to whatever swing you are making.
maxy33
New member
100% this.
I play better elsewhere and I think it's because I think about things a lot more, and have to visualise where I want to put my shots etc.
I need to start doing this at my home course.
Orikoru
Tour Winner
Neither of those are really true for me. Last five scores at home - 92, 94, 94, 89, 93. Last five scores on other courses - 84, 90, 94, 87, 90.
Maybe some truth in the second part, but I frequently mess up holes I've never had a problem with as well.
Grant85
Head Pro
You're only averaging 1 shot better away from home. Which might match the course rating, or that you are playing medals at home and off the yellows away.
Plus as a 20 handicapper, I'm willing to bet you've messed up every hole at your home course if you've been playing it for a few years.
Slab
Occasional Tour Caddy
Yes and yes again.
As you say the type of grass, length of fringes, plus direction of cut on the fringe (some cut with while others cut against the direction to pin) the grain direction on the green has a big effect and throw in soil type where a clay soil needs a different shot from sandy soil
Cant ignore that the typical green size can be quite a bit different on another course compared to what you're used to and the results you get (chipping through a small green always feels worse than ball still on a huge green but further away) as well as the prevailing wind (heavy on your back) will effect your balance and stroke more as well as the subtle breaks and slopes
Lack of local course knowledge, not knowing if greens have been cut, rolled or even double rolled and cut and not knowing what the weather for the last couple of days has done to those greens since you last played it probably after different weather conditions (its so easy to forget the fringe might be soft under your ball even if it feels solid under your feet cos it rained the day before but you had no idea because its not your local course)
All great excuses for a thin/fat chip or a 3-putt
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Orikoru
Tour Winner
Who taught you maths? I got 92.4 v 89.
True about the different tees, but our home course is only 68 par as well and still shorter off whites than most other places we play. AND two of the away scores I posted were actually off whites as they were in club matches.Of course I've messed up most of the holes, that doesn't mean if I blob the 18th next week it was because I blobbed it 6 months ago and it was on my mind.
are you comparing the par or the SSS for away v's home course performance?
par is largely irrelevant when it comes to comparing scores
Orikoru
Tour Winner
What's the difference? Our course SSS from the whites is 68, the same as the par anyway.
what about the away courses?
plenty of courses the SSS is either above or below par, thats what you should be judging against.
for instance if you shot 92 around my home track, par 71, you would in fact be shooting 2 under your handicap
IanM
Journeyman Pro
- Joined
- May 18, 2009
- Messages
- 12,335
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- Monmouthshire, UK via Guildford!
I seem to play better away... and my home course isn't hard really! I tend to only play my home course on Saturday morning and rush to get there... need to change my routine!
Orikoru
Tour Winner
Err well Wexham is par 70, SSS 68 (I shot 90). Thorney Park I can't tell from the website so god knows. Bushey Hall I think is par 69, SSS 68 (I got 87). North Middx is par 69, can't find the SSS. They all seem to be comparable anyway.
