Good striking isn't everything :-/

[andrue]

Odd weekend so far. Yesterday was a comp and I made a right bog of it (poor shots, several penalties) and ended up 103 so I'm now playing off 22.

Today with my mate we visited a favourite course and my ball striking was pretty good. Some great drives. Wonderful hybrids. Irons were a little off but chipping was on song and putting was fine. Ended up with a 100 :-/

I have no idea how that happened. Looking at the score card it's mostly bogeys with a couple of doubles and a single blow up.

The weather was great the course (Feldon Valley, UK) was in excellent condition and I thoroughly enjoyed it but..I just can't figure out that score. Just seems like the golfing gods were against me.

Back to home course tomorrow but off the general tees I'm expecting somewhere in the high 80s.

[jvincent]

Some days you hit the ball solidly and just can't get it into the hole. Other days it is the reverse. On very rare days you hit it solid and get it in the hole.

[sprcoop]

Been there, done that. I'd rather have the good ball striking with the bad score instead of skanking it around the course all day then adding it up to see a great score.

 

I know that's wrong on so many levels but a well struck golf shot is an intoxicating feeling in the hands for me and usually turns out well.

 

It has really been bad since I got my Mizunos. Catch those out of the middle and it's like a double shot of Jack.

[andrue]

Today was so-so. Started off by losing two balls and visiting more bunkers in the first half than I've visited in the last six months. No problems getting out of them but a bit tedious and probably cost me a stroke or two. Back half was a lot better and I finished by matching my new handicap.

The main problem I'm having with my home course at the moments is very fast greens. Not PGA tour fast but faster than most in the area which is unusual. It played havoc with my chipping Saturday and quite a lot today. It's disheartening watching the ball glide several yards past the pin :(

[BB28403]

Ball striking imo, is more considered to be a person who is excellent with their irons and face control. Not necessarily any other club.

Tom Watson did not mishit his iron in 15 years. I think he is described as one of the best ball strikers ever.

26 degrees to 48 degrees , control those and you will do some winning!

[Jackal66]

> @sprcoop said:

> Been there, done that. I'd rather have the good ball striking with the bad score instead of skanking it around the course all day then adding it up to see a great score.

>

> I know that's wrong on so many levels but a well struck golf shot is an intoxicating feeling in the hands for me and usually turns out well.

>

> It has really been bad since I got my Mizunos. Catch those out of the middle and it's like a double shot of Jack.

 

This^^^^^^

I've had days where I shot a 48 for 9 holes, but all shots felt great. I went home feeling good and talking about the great shots I made.

It was poor course management and bad decisions.

Then, I have shot a 40 for nine holes. Topped drives, every shot went 'clunk', bounced, kicked and rolled strange.

It wasn't a proud feeling.

Seemed like the other players just gave me a good score for charity.

 

Always try for pure shots!?

[andrue]

Had a pretty good day today at my current nemesis course, Cotswolds Golf, UK. Last time I played I gave up scoring on the 12th when I reached 100. Today I went round in a gross 94 which might be +23 or +24 depending on whether the course is still 71 or 72. They've moved a couple of greens but as we were all relying on my GPS rather than score cards we're not sure.

Overall striking was pretty good but the greens were fast which caught me out when chipping again.

[dlygrisse]

You will always miss shots, missing the green in the correct location will save more strokes than about anything. For example if the pin is back right and there is no trouble short left and you miss it there you will have plenty of green to work with. If you miss long right in the thick rough on a shot you pure, you have no chance getting up and down. I’d much rather clank one short left in this scenario.

[Spooky67]

Same

[scomac2002]

ISTM that scoring and playing well are two independent things. We hear Tiger talk about it all the time that he struck the ball well and made some quality shots, but he just couldn't score. So, if that applies to the pros then it certainly will apply to us in a general sense.