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A bad day on the golf course....


lchang

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They say it’s better than a good day at the office, but ....

 

Now, like most here, I’m a total golf nut. But I’ve had a couple utterly terrible rounds this year. And I actually thought at some point during each of those, “I kinda wish I hadn’t played today.” Not that I would have preferred to have been in the office, but I might have preferred: catching up on sleep or hitting the range or spending time with my kids ... and in any case saving the green fee money and the 7 ways I lost to my buddy (which was way more than the green fee!)

 

I think I’m overstating it. At least I got to spend good chunk of time with my buddies. (Playing as a single would have saved me the wager money, but then there’s no time with friends. That’s a bad trade.). And there’s always the time before the round that is truly filled with the happiness of anticipation. I often say, while standing on the first tee, “this is the best moment of the round. Haven’t hit a bad shot yet!”

 

Ok, what do people think? A truly terrible round—not just a run-of-the-mill bad round—but a horrific one. You still view it as a positive experience?

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A positive experience? - Not really. But a positive outlook, I do my best. A bad day on the golf course sometimes isn't fun. I don't play with friends who wager, though, so my perspective is a little different there.

 

Something I do often is look at the MC list on a PGA tour leaderboard, and I like to look at who didn't break 80 for the tournament. At the end of the day, I try to accept that if if a top level player on the planet sometimes can't break 80 - a horrific round by their standard, I shouldn't expect myself to do something magical every single time out on the golf course.

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I go through some terrible stints every summer that last about 2 weeks. I'll shot 10 strokes over where I normally am. Sometimes worse. The periods often come on a period of great play and they destroy my confidence.

 

To answer your question, when I hit these slumps I try to find something else to do as it frustrates me too much. I now know that they last about 2 weeks for whatever reason after which things will start to come around.

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A truly terrible round—not just a run-of-the-mill bad round—but a horrific one. You still view it as a positive experience?

 

No, not a positive experience. At some point towards the end of the round I am just trying to get it over with and probably wishing I had stayed at the office instead.

 

I drive home depressed after really bad rounds. Especially if it's Sunday and I know I won't get a chance to play again till after a week a work.

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For me a true golfing sh1tshow is just a miserable experience.

It'll happen if my back doesn't cooperate and it's no fun. I don't want to be on the course, but I still cannot bring myself to walk off and call it a day.

I still find it easy to be positive and appreciative of how my playing partners are doing, but when it comes time to make a swing...ugh.

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In hindsight, it just might very well be a positive experience.

 

I was invited to play at a private country club by one of our vendors at the time. We spoke a lot about golf and exchanged stories of good rounds / good shots. He told me I could bring someone, so I brought my best golfing buddy.

 

That day was the single worst day I had ever had playing golf. EVER. At that point in my life I had already been playing for 11 or 12 years, too. I can remember each of those shots just as well as shots of my very best round.

 

Every drive was topped. Every approach show was fatted. Every pitch was shanked. It was incredibly - and I cannot stress this enough - INCREDIBLY demoralizing. I was actually apologizing to my vendor, who honestly didn't care and just hoped I had some kind of fun.

 

In the parking lot, my friend told me he never felt so bad for someone on the golf course. "That wasn't vaca22 out there," he said. "Just forget about today."

 

I thought about not touching clubs for the rest of the year.

 

That very single day was the turning point in the way I approached golf, the way I thought about golf, the way I played golf, and the way I managed myself on the golf course. That was the very day golf became something different to me.

 

No one had ever taught me how to grip the club properly, or how that you had to hit down on the ball to get it up. I finally decided to take lessons and become the golfer I knew I could become. I decided I was going to play golf not only to enjoy being outside and the feeling of catching one pure, but to actually be able to put a respectable score on the scorecard. I decided I was going to keep my emotions to myself. That business about raging after a bad shot, and dwelling on in for the next 3 shots, all the while hitting more bad shots...that was over. One and done for me. What's the point of dragging it around?

 

That in and of itself was a long process of learning about what I could and couldn't do, and getting used to all the changes. My only wish is that I had done this years before. I kept thinking to myself I could have actually been decent at a younger age!

 

So you might not realize it now, but there is a silver lining to your terrible day. It may take some time, but I believe you will have learned greatly from your poor round. I started playing golf in 1993/1994, but I actually didn't start to play golf until 2005.

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As much as it sucks to play a bad round of golf, I'd still rather be golfing than doing almost anything else. If it gets to the point where I'm stringing together a few bad days and really getting down on myself and my game, I give myself a break where I don't touch a club for a few days, sometimes up to a full week. That gives me a chance to clear my mind and get rid of all negative thoughts. But sooner or later, the golf bug gets me again and I get right back out there. That's why I can't ever imagine quitting golf. It's just too damn addicting!

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A positive experience? - Not really. But a positive outlook, I do my best. A bad day on the golf course sometimes isn't fun. I don't play with friends who wager, though, so my perspective is a little different there.

 

Something I do often is look at the MC list on a PGA tour leaderboard, and I like to look at who didn't break 80 for the tournament. At the end of the day, I try to accept that if if a top level player on the planet sometimes can't break 80 - a horrific round by their standard, I shouldn't expect myself to do something magical every single time out on the golf course.

 

What a great way to look at it! I always tell myself and everybody I play with that "none of us are good enough to get mad at bad shots", but the PGA leaderboard thing is super cool. I think with that in my mind I'll be quite a bit happier next time I shoot in the low 80s :golfer:

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In hindsight, it just might very well be a positive experience...

 

It's a good story. For me it was a gradual, slow progression to get to the point of just letting it go. I still don't enjoy it during the round but once the round is close to over I can fixate on the next time which tends to be a few days away at the most.

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Ok, what do people think? A truly terrible round—not just a run-of-the-mill bad round—but a horrific one. You still view it as a positive experience?

 

No. In my life, golf has ruined more good days than it has created.

 

After a terrible round I sometimes feel like that. But golf is like a severe addiction, you're always out there for more lol. I had a 3 month slump, struggling to get out of, really awful time. Took a couple of lessons and shot net par on my last tournament so I'm thinking about the Club Championship right now.

 

Seriously, I think when you feel your game is slipping through you have to get some pro advice to stop the bleeding. The faster you react, the shorter the slump. I have plenty of experience, I'm usually slow to react and I pay the price.

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Ok, what do people think? A truly terrible round—not just a run-of-the-mill bad round—but a horrific one. You still view it as a positive experience?

 

No. In my life, golf has ruined more good days than it has created.

 

Maybe your expectation of what should qualify as a good or average round (for you) is off from the reality of it? No idea if that is your case but I have seen people who had unrealistic expectations and unless they beat their handicap they were all bent out of shape.

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A par 3 over water is like jumping out of an airplane with a parachute that "might' work. The "I always hit it in the water" swing is feared, yet it's odd to have any fear because we've done it 100's times before? Why would we fear something we've done 100's of times? There's excitement...or hitting a good shot on the green...then fear of not being excited. Why not just be excited and forget the fear?

 

Sorry, been watching mental golf on YouTube. Mental side of golf can absolutely ruin any round in an instant.

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A terrible, horrific round of golf...better than being in the office, no f--King way!!!

I seem to have a couple of these per year. I always take at least a week off from playing.

I'll only go practice putting and chipping only.

Like many of you,especially after some good rounds....my expectations get a little too high, at times.

Golf can be very, very humbling.

 

 

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A terrible, horrific round of golf...better than being in the office, no f--King way!!!

I seem to have a couple of these per year. I always take at least a week off from playing.

I'll only go practice putting and chipping only.

Like many of you,especially after some good rounds....my expectations get a little too high, at times.

Golf can be very, very humbling.

 

Interesting. After a horrific round, I want to hit the range immediately.

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A truly terrible round—not just a run-of-the-mill bad round—but a horrific one. You still view it as a positive experience?

 

No, not a positive experience. At some point towards the end of the round I am just trying to get it over with and probably wishing I had stayed at the office instead.

 

I drive home depressed after really bad rounds. Especially if it's Sunday and I know I won't get a chance to play again till after a week a work.

 

That's similar to me; I won't even look at anything golf related afterwards sometimes

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A terrible, horrific round of golf...better than being in the office, no f--King way!!!

I seem to have a couple of these per year. I always take at least a week off from playing.

I'll only go practice putting and chipping only.

Like many of you,especially after some good rounds....my expectations get a little too high, at times.

Golf can be very, very humbling.

 

Interesting. After a horrific round, I want to hit the range immediately.

 

That's me. After a really good round I'm completely satisfied and don't mind if I don't get back out for a few days. I have those good shot memories to tide me over.

 

But if I stunk it up, I'm heading right back out.


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A terrible, horrific round of golf...better than being in the office, no f--King way!!!

I seem to have a couple of these per year. I always take at least a week off from playing.

I'll only go practice putting and chipping only.

Like many of you,especially after some good rounds....my expectations get a little too high, at times.

Golf can be very, very humbling.

 

Interesting. After a horrific round, I want to hit the range immediately.

 

And after a terrible range session, I go straight to another range!

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When I play poorly I say to myself in this order...

 

1) Golf is hard

2) Given (1), are my expectations reasonable?

3) If (2) is no, then I reevaluate my expectations. If (2) is yes, then I remind myself I'm very lucky to play this great game, and have the means to afford it and indulge in the hobby.

4) After (3) no matter what the score or performance I try to find something, anything to be positive about. Even if it's just a single shot, or chip.

5) After (4) I use the poor round to refocus my practice and embrace the learning opportunity. Then I revist point (2) and repeat step 5 as much as I can.

6) I remember that my bad round is someone else's good round and make it a point not to complain about my "crappy 78", or my "disappointing 84" or my "nightmare 92"... Bc at the end of the day you're the only person who cares what you shot. And most people won't remember what you shot or how or when, but they will certainly remember if you were a whinny little b****.

 

My two cents.

 

To answer the OP ... Golfing any day, weather, and score will always be preferable to work. Period.

 

 

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A positive experience? - Not really. But a positive outlook, I do my best. A bad day on the golf course sometimes isn't fun. I don't play with friends who wager, though, so my perspective is a little different there.

 

Something I do often is look at the MC list on a PGA tour leaderboard, and I like to look at who didn't break 80 for the tournament. At the end of the day, I try to accept that if if a top level player on the planet sometimes can't break 80 - a horrific round by their standard, I shouldn't expect myself to do something magical every single time out on the golf course.

 

How about looking at (English pro) Scott Gregory right now?! He's 18-over thru 15. Went out in 47. I feel better already!

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.....

 

To answer the OP ... Golfing any day, weather, and score will always be preferable to work. Period.

 

Sure. But how about: vs. time with your kids. Vs. catching up on sleep. Vs. a range session?

 

Golf is preferable to work.

 

Golf is preferable to sleep.

 

Family is preferable to golf.

 

 

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Callaway Rouge SZ w/AD-DI 7x, 13.5*
Callaway Epic 2 Hybrid 18*
Titleist AP3 718 4-pw (weakened 2*)
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This may be an advantage to being a mid HC er. A bad round for me is a 100 but it's still golf. I think the better you get at this game the more the enjoyment relies on the score.

 

If I shoot an 85 I'm thrilled. If I shoot a 90, it's just a typical round of golf. If I shoot 95+, I just enjoy the day with friends and maybe drink a little more.

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.....

 

To answer the OP ... Golfing any day, weather, and score will always be preferable to work. Period.

 

Sure. But how about: vs. time with your kids. Vs. catching up on sleep. Vs. a range session?

 

Golf is preferable to work.

 

Golf is preferable to sleep.

 

Family is preferable to golf.

 

Way oversimplified. Shooting 4 strokes better than my course handicap on a beautiful day with my friends is preferable to family time. Shooting 15 strokes worse than my handicap as a single in bad weather? Not so much.

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On Saturday I planned on not golfing but my buddy talked me into playing. We get to one of our areas public courses and see a massive backlog on first tee. My buddy is about a 18 handicap but lives for the days where I blow up and he can hang in with me. First Tee I go ob... he bunts one down the middle... almost holes his iron and birdies. Play the front in 3 hours.. I shot a 43 and he is at 45.. After 9 I say ok... its time to go home this is long enough. He gives me crap and says you only want to go because I am hanging with you lets keep playing. After about a 30 minute wait on the 10th tee I decide to lay up... chunk my iron... take a double... I start chunking my irons on the back... skulling chips... chunking chips... double crossing myself while he continues to have the round of his life. I end up shooting 88 and he puts up an 88 as well. It is now Friday and all week I have been in a miserable mood. I would have rather stayed at home than experience that day on the course.

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