why? only in medal's

[jock]

i played the usual saturday medal, full with hope but after 9 holes and 56 shots my hopes were soon dashed. i finished with 96 gross and 84 nett not a good day. as usual on a sunday i played the sweep with the usual few lads.i shot a gross 39 on the front 9 which was my best ever i ended with a gross 79.(2 shots off my best ever 77) ,fair enough it was off the yellow's. it got me thinking.is there such a thing as "saturday medal card in the hand fever" . if so how many fellow suffers do i have

 

[Andy]

Your possibly trying too hard and not relaxing enough.

Try to play it as if it's a bounce game with your m8's.

Andy

 

[mansell]

i played the usual saturday medal, full with hope but after 9 holes and 56 shots my hopes were soon dashed. i finished with 96 gross and 84 nett not a good day. as usual on a sunday i played the sweep with the usual few lads.i shot a gross 39 on the front 9 which was my best ever i ended with a gross 79.(2 shots off my best ever 77) ,fair enough it was off the yellow's. it got me thinking.is there such a thing as "saturday medal card in the hand fever" . if so how many fellow suffers do i have

i did the same thing myself

 

[callawayjon]

You are not alone! I find that I never play as well in a medal round as I do in a stableford, and its always the same irrespective of how my current form has been! I think we must put extra pressure on ourselfs because Medal is the 'game of truth' isn't it! Keep trying tho, we'll crack it one day!

 

[HomerJSimpson]

My mate Rob played off 28 for years but always played in every stableford and medal. He could shoot decent scores in Saturday friendlies and he and his son spanked the GM pair at the Royal Ascot Challenge last year because it was matchplay and it didn't matter about the score.

Put a card, even stableford, in his hands and his game altered especially putting where 3 putts were the norm. That said he recently played in the monthly stableford and went out in gross 36 (26 points). Realising the prospect of what he was on te verge of achieving he reverted to normal competition behaviour and limped back in 16 points. He still won and finally got cut to 26 but he is a prime example of how it can affect some people.

Personally every round is a medal round for me, even solo rounds on a Sunday evening. I'm always after my best possible score and so I'll try as hard as I can. That said, there are also rounds where I'll stick two balls down and play different shots and have some fun.

 

[Herbie]

Based on medal winning scores that are all too often posted, I have to shoot nett 70 or better to be in with just a remote chance of anything and often it needs to be something like nett 68 or better, this means I have to come in 77 to 79 gross to be in with any shout 9 out of 10 medal comps, now this is not beyond my capabilities, but in a comp off medal tees and with god knows how many others out there with fair or unfair h/c's trying the same but with more shots to play with, its not all that easy.

In stableford you can make up for mistakes throughout the round, in match play its hole for hole and again what you lose on one you can pull back on another. In stroke play the lower your h/c the harder it is to recover mistakes in my view and the only way I can win one is if I play better than my h/c over 18 holes and get a little luck to boot.

I have played in enough over the years and come close often enough to know this as a fact in my case.

So I only try in medals if things are going well from the onset and I only continue to try if the good golf continues throughout the round, if not I just give up and enjoy the day out. I dont waste physical or mental energy on the unachievable and knowing when something is achievable or not can save a lot of grief and frustration.

 

[jammydodger]

I have to say this is quite a negative attitude to have tbh

If you are always giving up cos you cant be bothered to fight for a score then its no wonder you hardly ever shoot well in these comps. Whatever happened to gritting it out and posting your best score for the day no matter what it is??

So what if you havnt had a good day after 14 holes , you can set a new target of playing the last 4 in no worse than +1 and get used to putting pressure on yourself at the end of a round. This will help in future when youre in a big comp and really need that par , par , par finish.

Come on m8 tough it out a bit....

ps It will help when you have to go a countback

 

[USER1999]

No matter how well or badly I am playing, I will always post the lowest score I can post. Quitting goes against the grain.
Try having a side bet with a couple of mates, in different groups, so you don't know how they are doing. Then, you will always fight for a score, as maybe a net 76 will still win the money.

 

[Parmo]

The thing about medal is that once you loose a ball, its usually game over and if you loose 3 like me last weekend its disheartening.

Please a four mixed scramble on Monday and loved it, so much more enjoyable and relaxing.

 

[CrapHacker]

Based on medal winning scores that are all too often posted, I have to shoot nett 70 or better to be in with just a remote chance of anything and often it needs to be something like nett 68 or better, this means I have to come in 77 to 79 gross to be in with any shout 9 out of 10 medal comps, now this is not beyond my capabilities, but in a comp off medal tees and with god knows how many others out there with fair or unfair h/c's trying the same but with more shots to play with, its not all that easy.


So I only try in medals if things are going well from the onset and I only continue to try if the good golf continues throughout the round, if not I just give up and enjoy the day out. I dont waste physical or mental energy on the unachievable and knowing when something is achievable or not can save a lot of grief and frustration.

To win a medal doesn't everybody have to shot a couple of shots better than handicap ? Just because you've got a lower handicap than most, the theory is surely the same.

And the fact that you are capable of doing it, but can't expect to do it easily means that you are in exactly the same place as all of us. I haven't played a medal round for years, but when I did I expected to come middle of the pack 10 times out of 12, with one good round and one awful round. And if that good round was exceptional, then whoopiedooo, that's one up for the hacker

To win, it's all got to fall into place, yes. For the higher handicap, it means getting down in 1 over par on the long par 4s, rather than blowing up into double figures. For you it might mean having to make a birdie and a few pars to make up for a couple of early dropped shots.

How many holes on your course are you incapable of birdying ?

Sometimes a slowish start can actually help a medal score, because it takes the pressure off. But you have to be used to playing 'each shot as it comes' to be able to take advantage.

PS 'wasting physical and mental energy' . Christ my life is an 8am - 6pm job I do 5 days a week. I drive 700-1000 miles a week. That's what takes up my physical and mental energy. Golf is FUN.

Now I know we promised not to swear, but you're a damn good golfer by all accounts, and you seem to get to play more than your fair share. If it feels like hard work, maybe you should play less for a while, until you feel the love again.

I'll swap for a few days

PPS for those of you that have noticed the time of this post, yes I've had a cancelled appointment this morning, and yes, I AM skiving.

And yes, I haven't got anything better to do than come here, and make sure I'm keeping up with everything. Sad isn't it .

 

[thecraw]

The thing about medal is that once you loose a ball, its usually game over and if you loose 3 like me last weekend its disheartening.

Please a four mixed scramble on Monday and loved it, so much more enjoyable and relaxing.

Losing a ball is not game over no way jose!!!

Just keep plugging away, I lost a ball a couple of weeks ago in the medal, ended up with a nice quadruple 8 and still shot net 68 with a couple of well timed and hard earned birdies at 16 + 17.

Never ever give up, you dont knew when your going to hole that 3 wood from 240, put your 8 iron to an inch at the next, get that exclusive and career great hole in one!

In golf you never know whats round the corner!