Predictions - how well can you judge your own form ?

[Scadge]

Even though I have been playing for 30 years and I have been playing quite regularly recently, have an active and probably accurate handicap and have a good feel for where my swing is at I haven't a clue what I might shoot tomorrow.

I know we all get bad bounces, weather changes and all that but even so in general I don't think I can predict my scores within 5 shots with any great reliability, say better than 50:50.

Do you think you can ? Why not respond to this thread with your prediction for the weekend and own up on Monday or after the round to see how you did.

I'll start with a prediction of 85 and my 5 shot range is 82-87.

 

[martybhoy1888]

Even though I have been playing for 30 years and I have been playing quite regularly recently, have an active and probably accurate handicap and have a good feel for where my swing is at I haven't a clue what I might shoot tomorrow.

I know we all get bad bounces, weather changes and all that but even so in general I don't think I can predict my scores within 5 shots with any great reliability, say better than 50:50.

Do you think you can ? Why not respond to this thread with your prediction for the weekend and own up on Monday or after the round to see how you did.

I'll start with a prediction of 85 and my 5 shot range is 82-87.

I play very regularly through season and over the winter months and have been playin quiet well the last few weeks and predicted a 76 / 75 score
But i feel that through the real season when having the score card in the back pocket i make too many silly mistakes with putts or trying to the hit the ball that bit harder.
I will be playing tomorrow morning and im going to predict a 80 playing off my handicap of 12 for a nett 68

 

[garyinderry]

im pretty consistant. i didnt shoot below 30 points in comps last year. i have a tendancy to be a slow starter then shoot the lights out on the back 9 to crawl it back.

i have the ability to rack up a big number on any hole but id say my short game saves me more than anything.

if i can get the ball in a decent position off the tee then im ok. the driving is very hit or miss.

 

[HawkeyeMS]

It's impossible to predict, that's the beauty of it. A couple of years ago I remember playing 4 times in a week. I remember it because I shot 74, 76, 74 for the 1st 3 rounds, rolled up on the Saturday a for a comp and shot 96!

Happy to guess for the fun of it though and I reckon my game is at about 83 gross at the mo so I'll go for that which equals 33 points.

 

[Scadge]

I play very regularly through season and over the winter months and have been playin quiet well the last few weeks and predicted a 76 / 75 score
But i feel that through the real season when having the score card in the back pocket i make too many silly mistakes with putts or trying to the hit the ball that bit harder.
I will be playing tomorrow morning and im going to predict a 80 playing off my handicap of 12 for a nett 68

What is your 5 shot range 75-80 ?

 

[Fader]

Whenever I try to predict my scores it goes horribly wrong as I then start trying to focus on the number rather than just trying to play decent golf so have now given up predicting and just roll with the punches of what happens out there and try to deal with it as it arises. I've found doing this i've been much more consistent and scoring better as I focus on the shot more now than what the overall outcome at the end is.

Last time I predicted a score was club championship at my old club last summer I predicted i'd shoot 78-81 in first round to leave me around par/-3 for first round, went out and shot the 2nd worst of the comp 89 and left myself no chance of getting near anything as I was to focused on hitting that.

 

[duncan mackie]

Do you think you can ?

nope, and I have no better chance of predicting it after warming up, or even playing the first hole!

and with a combination of the weather and Mother's Day I have decided not to play at the weekend either

 

[MashieNiblick]

I know one thing, hhitting it great on the range is no guarantee I won't have a 'mare on the Course.

 

[SimonC]

Not very well, so far this year I've been 3 under gross at best and 14 over gross at worst. As you can probably guess I'm quite inconsistent at the moment.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I will go for an unspectacular 86 (30 points) tomorrow and come good in the pairs wth Hawkeye and shoot 84 (32 points). Therefore I'll go 84-89 tomorrow and 82-87 Sunday but I'm prepared for Hawkeye to dazzle me with his swing changes, better technique and astonishing short game and putting and drag me along on his coat tails. That or we'll fail to gel as a pair like normal and play the same holes well or badly and not "Ham & Egg"

 

[North Mimms]

Haven't a clue which of my 4 radically different golf games will turn up on any given day

 

[garyinderry]

i like to get on the putting green and hit a few short putts then if its quiet ill play quite a few longish putts to get the speed of the greens. chances are, if i get to the green in reg il be left with a long putt. its essential to get down in two putts so working on long distance putts is my top priority!

if i can nail that down then ill do ok!

 

[bladeplayer]

I have no idea mate , if i played two rounds the same day i wouldnt know


Prediction for the weekend? with new swing hope to play to my handicap or buffer , but i doubt it .. il go for 85 nett 78 & the dreaded .1

 

[Andy808]

I can't predict how my game will be hole to hole let alone over 18 holes!
Today in the Friday 9 hole comp I blobbed the first then wen't par, bogey, bogey, par. I then blobbed the shortest hole on the course that I love playing then went par, bogey, par to come in with 19 points! All I can say is I scrambled well today.

 

[pokerjoke]

Due to weather and course conditions im sure we will be playing stableford.
Even though i have been struggling a bit lately.i can see new shoots coming through.
I predict 36 points and 3 birdies

 

[Scadge]

Isn't it strange that although a handicap is supposed to be an indicator of how we are playing and so many forum members are practicing with the aim presumably of getting better and more consistant and some are entering competitions where we have a fair idea what will be required to win, very few have enough of a grasp on their form to confidently predict scores within a 5 shot band.

It also seems odd to me that someone would say that having a score in mind makes them play bad because I would have thought that with handicaps and the par measure we would all be thinking about score all the time either consciously or subconsciously.

 

[Mattyboy]

75 - or if the last putt rims out it'll be 76.

I need to over come my comfort zone, and having expectations as above isn't helping!

 

[duncan mackie]

Isn't it strange that although a handicap is supposed to be an indicator of how we are playing and so many forum members are practicing with the aim presumably of getting better and more consistant and some are entering competitions where we have a fair idea what will be required to win, very few have enough of a grasp on their form to confidently predict scores within a 5 shot band.

It also seems odd to me that someone would say that having a score in mind makes them play bad because I would have thought that with handicaps and the par measure we would all be thinking about score all the time either consciously or subconsciously.

your second paragraph relates to 'living in the future' or, more specifically, not living in the present when playing each shot. the impact is set out in nearly every document on the subject and all agree it's 'not good'.

the first seems to slighty miss the basis of handicapping (as the thread suggests applies to most!) which predicts that there will be significantly greater variation than most believe as competence decreases. Put another way, 5 shot bands are more appropriate to cat 1 in known conditions. Most commenting aren't cat 1, and I don't think anyone is in the consistent, known, conditions situation this weekend - let alone playing regularily. For many we are getting to the time of year when it's a matter of relating winter range work, maybe lessons, or transferring from mats to grass, temporary greens to greens, winter teeing grounds to normal etc (few will be moving from yellow to white/blue tees yet - but for some it might be the case.

 

[martybhoy1888]

What is your 5 shot range 75-80 ?

Yeah

 

[ScienceBoy]

I dont think I can predict my score, I could shoot anything between 75 and 105. Thats the beauty of golf!

I take any score under 95 as decent enough but as long as I am having fun nothing else matters much.