The difference a SLOW round makes...

dufferman

dufferman

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I recently joined Merrist Wood GC (par 72) near Guildford. It's a good course, bit damp after the rain, but really well kept. Tough old course too, killer rough and some long par 4s.

I got my handicap (1st official one) there last week; 22. Quite pleased, thought I'd start a bit higher. However, I think if the conditions are right, I could easily knock 5 shots off that if not more...

The 3 handicap card rounds were a slog. Saturday afternoons, 5 hours, 3 of us playing, just a long drawn out process. By the time the 13th came around (SI1) my game and head were gone, so the course really took a hold of me each time from that point on.

However, yesterday, me & my buddy get out for a round at 11am. Being fathers day (and both our fathers not around) the course was dead.

We went round, as a 2 ball, in 3 1/2 hours. I shot 86. No waiting, no hurrying, no nothing. I had about 4 birdie putts which I didn't sink, and the last few holes I'd got a bit cocky & made some bad decisions off the tee & with a chip or two, resulting in a couple of doubles.

The difference for me playing at a decent pace is unbelievable. I felt relaxed, in rhythm, free swinging and confident the ball would do what I wanted it to.

The mad part - I did exactly the same 2 weeks ago when I played in a three ball in the rain. Again, course was dead because of the rain, in just shy of 4 hours we finished and I shot an 86.

I just wish every round was like that. I know I have it in me, but the 5 hour rounds are killing me!

Anyone have any ideas (other than only playing on quiet days!) how to stop the long rounds getting to me?
 
Played in a 4BBB board comp yesterday and slow from the outset. FC was moaning about the waiting around on the 3rd fairway but I'd just let my attention wander to the group behind and whose ball was where and who was hitting what etc etc and no focus at all on the group in front on the green. I try to do that as much as possible when it's slow and ditto won't get on the tee until I can play. If long waits on the tee I'll practice some chipping etc until it's time to play. It can fail me if the course is clear in front and only the group in front holding everyone else up as that is plain frustrating but usually I switch off until it's my turn to play.
 
Is it just the long rounds or did the pressure of playing with a card affect you too?


Try getting 1st slot in The next medal clear course for you to go at your own pace?
 
dufferman said:
I recently joined Merrist Wood GC (par 72) near Guildford. It's a good course, bit damp after the rain, but really well kept. Tough old course too, killer rough and some long par 4s.

I got my handicap (1st official one) there last week; 22. Quite pleased, thought I'd start a bit higher. However, I think if the conditions are right, I could easily knock 5 shots off that if not more...

The 3 handicap card rounds were a slog. Saturday afternoons, 5 hours, 3 of us playing, just a long drawn out process. By the time the 13th came around (SI1) my game and head were gone, so the course really took a hold of me each time from that point on.

However, yesterday, me & my buddy get out for a round at 11am. Being fathers day (and both our fathers not around) the course was dead.

We went round, as a 2 ball, in 3 1/2 hours. I shot 86. No waiting, no hurrying, no nothing. I had about 4 birdie putts which I didn't sink, and the last few holes I'd got a bit cocky & made some bad decisions off the tee & with a chip or two, resulting in a couple of doubles.

The difference for me playing at a decent pace is unbelievable. I felt relaxed, in rhythm, free swinging and confident the ball would do what I wanted it to.

The mad part - I did exactly the same 2 weeks ago when I played in a three ball in the rain. Again, course was dead because of the rain, in just shy of 4 hours we finished and I shot an 86.

I just wish every round was like that. I know I have it in me, but the 5 hour rounds are killing me!

Anyone have any ideas (other than only playing on quiet days!) how to stop the long rounds getting to me?
Click to expand...
those sort of times sound like par for the course down there.

I played in our county champs on Sat 2 round on courses over 6800 both completed in well under 4 hours in 3 balls and the 2nd round it was peeing it down.
 
It's possibly a mental side of the game you need to work on. Sounds like you play good golf when you are able to keep your concentration but lose it when you are out of sync.

Louis Oosthuizen used a simple technique when he won the Open. He had a red dot on his glove, which he would look at before starting his routine. The dot signified he had to shut out all distractions and get into the 'zone'. I'm not suggesting putting a dot on your glove will solve the problems but it might be something to look into.

I find that 2 things impact me most on the course - getting tired & getting hungry. As soon as this happens I tend to lose my focus.


As a side note - I am looking into playing Merrist Wood on Sunday 29th. Can visitors only play after 12:00 and would the result be a 5-hour round? If so, I would probably look to play elsehwere unfortunately. I've got a 6 month old daughter at home and I can't justify being away from home for 7 hours to play a round of golf.

Cheers,
Lewis
 
dufferman said:
I recently joined Merrist Wood GC (par 72) near Guildford. It's a good course, bit damp after the rain, but really well kept. Tough old course too, killer rough and some long par 4s.

I got my handicap (1st official one) there last week; 22. Quite pleased, thought I'd start a bit higher. However, I think if the conditions are right, I could easily knock 5 shots off that if not more...

The 3 handicap card rounds were a slog. Saturday afternoons, 5 hours, 3 of us playing, just a long drawn out process. By the time the 13th came around (SI1) my game and head were gone, so the course really took a hold of me each time from that point on.

However, yesterday, me & my buddy get out for a round at 11am. Being fathers day (and both our fathers not around) the course was dead.

We went round, as a 2 ball, in 3 1/2 hours. I shot 86. No waiting, no hurrying, no nothing. I had about 4 birdie putts which I didn't sink, and the last few holes I'd got a bit cocky & made some bad decisions off the tee & with a chip or two, resulting in a couple of doubles.

The difference for me playing at a decent pace is unbelievable. I felt relaxed, in rhythm, free swinging and confident the ball would do what I wanted it to.

The mad part - I did exactly the same 2 weeks ago when I played in a three ball in the rain. Again, course was dead because of the rain, in just shy of 4 hours we finished and I shot an 86.

I just wish every round was like that. I know I have it in me, but the 5 hour rounds are killing me!

Anyone have any ideas (other than only playing on quiet days!) how to stop the long rounds getting to me?
Click to expand...

Just focus on the next shot, a shot at a time, a hole at a time. And don't project about how long it might take you to get round. It'll take as long as it takes.
 
one tip an old teaching pro of mine gave me is similar to what lewis said about the focus.

Said to me once your golf glove is on, focus 100% on your next shot, nothing else matters. as soon as you have hit it, remove the glove and relax, shoot the shizle with your PP's, walk to the next shot etc etc etc.. Basically glove on focus, glove off relax and enjoy being outside!
 
Similar idea but when I feel my concentration is going I wait until my turn and then to start my pre shot routing I just fasten or even re-fasten my glove and try and concentrate from then with no distractions
 
londonlewis said:
It's possibly a mental side of the game you need to work on. Sounds like you play good golf when you are able to keep your concentration but lose it when you are out of sync.

Louis Oosthuizen used a simple technique when he won the Open. He had a red dot on his glove, which he would look at before starting his routine. The dot signified he had to shut out all distractions and get into the 'zone'. I'm not suggesting putting a dot on your glove will solve the problems but it might be something to look into.

I find that 2 things impact me most on the course - getting tired & getting hungry. As soon as this happens I tend to lose my focus.


As a side note - I am looking into playing Merrist Wood on Sunday 29th. Can visitors only play after 12:00 and would the result be a 5-hour round? If so, I would probably look to play elsehwere unfortunately. I've got a 6 month old daughter at home and I can't justify being away from home for 7 hours to play a round of golf.

Cheers,
Lewis
Click to expand...

In short - yes it will be 5 hours. We usually tee off around midday, and finish 10 minutes either side of 5pm... usually the later side too.

Also, next Saturday is a big comp - already no tee times till after 3pm. I'm not bothering that weekend either!

Andy said:
3 1/2 hours for a 2 ball?

Surely a typo?
Click to expand...

In a good way or bad way...?
 
As long as he's not holding anyone up, he's not slow.

We played Fathers Day afternoon- empty course and played at a nice speed. How long 9 holes took is not important as there didn't seem to be another soul on the front 9
 
I like to play at a brisk pace. In our monthly Medals and Stablefords I try to be first out, and out 3 ball are normally round in 3:15 ish. When playing in other comps and I can't be out first, the first thing I do is accept it's not going to be a quick round and adjust my play to suit. It's not worth walking briskly between shots if you're going to have to wait 5 mins for your next shot etc. I'm also getting quite good at focusing for the 15 - 20 seconds when it's my shot, if you can do that, then you will enjoy your golf much more and the scores will come.
 
duncan mackie said:
based on the length and layout of Andy's course I suspect he means that's a hell of a long time for a 2 ball!
Click to expand...

woody69 said:
He's suggesting you're slow as it took over 10 mins (approx 11.5 mins in fact) per hole
Click to expand...

I see! I thought 3 1/2 hours for 2 of us (PP playing for handicap as he is a new member too) was pretty good. Certainly felt like a good pace to me. But let's not delve deep into the right and wrong slow-play times please...
 
dufferman said:
I recently joined Merrist Wood GC (par 72) near Guildford. It's a good course, bit damp after the rain, but really well kept. Tough old course too, killer rough and some long par 4s.

I got my handicap (1st official one) there last week; 22. Quite pleased, thought I'd start a bit higher. However, I think if the conditions are right, I could easily knock 5 shots off that if not more...

The 3 handicap card rounds were a slog. Saturday afternoons, 5 hours, 3 of us playing, just a long drawn out process. By the time the 13th came around (SI1) my game and head were gone, so the course really took a hold of me each time from that point on.

However, yesterday, me & my buddy get out for a round at 11am. Being fathers day (and both our fathers not around) the course was dead.

We went round, as a 2 ball, in 3 1/2 hours. I shot 86. No waiting, no hurrying, no nothing. I had about 4 birdie putts which I didn't sink, and the last few holes I'd got a bit cocky & made some bad decisions off the tee & with a chip or two, resulting in a couple of doubles.

The difference for me playing at a decent pace is unbelievable. I felt relaxed, in rhythm, free swinging and confident the ball would do what I wanted it to.

The mad part - I did exactly the same 2 weeks ago when I played in a three ball in the rain. Again, course was dead because of the rain, in just shy of 4 hours we finished and I shot an 86.

I just wish every round was like that. I know I have it in me, but the 5 hour rounds are killing me!

Anyone have any ideas (other than only playing on quiet days!) how to stop the long rounds getting to me?
Click to expand...

Impacts me exactly the same way.

The only thing I find works for me sometimes is not wearing a watch so I don't get fixated on the time. But you kind of know it's slow.

With me it's not so much the pace of play it's the stop start nature of it. I'll follow a pre-shot routine, focus on one shot at a time, but it's hard to keep a good swing tempo going if you having to wait shot after shot. Especially towards the end of the round where my back will gradually stiffen up.
 
Westy said:
Impacts me exactly the same way.

The only thing I find works for me sometimes is not wearing a watch so I don't get fixated on the time. But you kind of know it's slow.

With me it's not so much the pace of play it's the stop start nature of it. I'll follow a pre-shot routine, focus on one shot at a time, but it's hard to keep a good swing tempo going if you having to wait shot after shot. Especially towards the end of the round where my back will gradually stiffen up.
Click to expand...

I agree. I don't care if I take 5 hours to play, but if I'm stopping and starting it makes it really difficult!
 
I couldn't care less how long a round takes. Life's to short to get strung up with such petty things. Just smell the flowers, enjoy, relax. If you can't do that this games not for you. Stay home and find something else to do.
Peace and love man.
 
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