Need advice, how to put the round that could've been behind you

[Roejye]

Went out today to my local course, was playing lights out some of my best golf. Through 6 I was 1 over. Then came the blow up hole of a triple followed by 2 bogies. At the end of it all ended up with a 40 on the scorecard and a feeling of disappointment and the gains I've been making the past couple rounds going away.

I think I might be letting perfect be the enemy of good here, I'm a high handicapper (18 ish) and looking through my past scores 40 is pretty good.

I guess I'll look at the positives too, didn't have a single slice with my driver, putting was ok, and I had some good luck when I had bad shots.

Any advice would be appreciated, thanks for your time everyone.

[jvincent]

As an 18 posting a 40 is very good. Don't sweat it.

Figure out what caused the triple and try to avoid that mistake in the future.

[Philomathesq]

A 20-year-old single malt.

And, the realization that, although you blew up on the last few holes, you still finished about five shots better than your handicap.

[b.helts]

Forgetting the bad and remembering the good is a skill. It’s imperative that golfers that wish to improve, hone this skill.

Like all skills, some are better at it than others. But make no mistake, it’s a skill and we must all get better at it.

Obee and I have talked about memory. Memory is so important to golf and good memories help, bad memories hurt. Try to make your golf memory all good.

[ClubBuildRookie]

The USGA published an Exceptional Score Probability Table which is a very interesting table to look at if you’ve never seen it. The probability of an 18HC shooting a net differential of -5.0 to -5.9 strokes lower than there handicap is 1 in 174.

Just think, you only have 173 more rounds before you’ll probably ever do that again, Lol. For all those lower handicap guys that find this funny, the funniest part is an 18 handicap has higher probability of you doing it again than you do. The better you get, the longer the dry spell.

Golf is a wicked tough sport for us mortals. I hope this tid bit of reality helps you embrace what you did and be grateful.

[Nels55]

The good streak tells you what you are capable of. As a golfer who runs very hot and cold I can tell you that I have done similar so many times that it no longer matters to me. I think of it as random chance. What you did getting lucky with your ball striking and over all game for 6 holes is similar to somebody getting hot in a poker game because the cards ran the right way for a while. LOL then you go all in with 3 aces and get beat by suckout straight on the river. It happens.

Water seeks it level and you have a certain skill level that is not going to change overnight. I can say that close to 40 years ago I went from an 18 handicap to around a 10 handicap by taking lessons for a period of about 6 months maybe longer don't remember for sure. It is a process and it is not easy but if you can learn to enjoy it taking the good strokes and the bad strokes in stride sort of as an impartial observer you will have a chance to progress faster. I do know that changing to a fatalistic attitude is not easy but it is possible!

[Roejye]

Thanks everyone, I feel better today now that time has passed and I looked at my past scores. I also took a few mullies at the end and I think that ended up adding to the disappointment. Even if I add say 5 strokes that's a 45 and a little worse than bogey golf.

The weather is looking amazing for the weekend, plenty of golf ahead of me, plenty of chances to score better, and plenty of chances to blow up again lol.

[MtlJeff]

If you're capable of something eventually you will do it if you play enough, so just try to remember that. Breaking 90, breaking 80, etc....usually when we suffer something late in a round that throws us off, it's just the math catching up with us. But clearly you have the talent to string some really good play together, so just keep at it and you'll eventually do it for longer stretches.

But frustrating setbacks are perfectly normal for every barrier. Many people will shoot exactly 80 like 10 times before they break 80

[Hawkeye77]

What bad round?

 

See how it works!

[Hawkeye77]

"I guess I'll look at the positives too, didn't have a single slice with my driver, putting was ok, and I had some good luck when I had bad shots."

It's "I will look at the positives." 40 for your handicap is a great 9 holes --- a great 9 holes. Faldo attitude! Not, "I don't want to go there", but "I'm going to hit it there".

Take it from a this or that hole blew my round former, yes former, obsessionist ------ figure out a way to just acknowledge what you did on that blowup, nod your head and move on.

Bogeys for 18 are pretty much your score, so if you were having a magical round the law of averages may catch up, so don't get ahead of yourself (not saying you did but I know someone intimately who looks great in the mirror who still does that, lol). Getting rid of those OBs, triples, three putts, whatever are what are going to get you on a path towards lowering your handicap and as you work through that with better course management and improvement in areas of your game, you get higher expectations to manage and that's fun. My mental "block" used to be the last few holes and I would always blame them in particular as I flirted with breaking 80 years ago. Of course, when I sat down and looked at the card there were mistakes to be had all over the round, lol, but OB on any or some of the last 3-4 holes killed a lot of rounds.

For me, one of the breakthroughs was actually blowing our little club tourney -- had the literal and actual round of my life the first round, one over, had a 4 or 5 shot lead starting on Sunday and . . . . . puked it up all over the front 9, lol, for a nice 9 over to start the round and now behind my friend and FC who I was playing with. Long story short, played with him shot for shot on the back (with an incredible par save on a par 4 after finding water off the tee with my drive on one of the last holes - hey, didn't go OB, haha) and had a tricky downhill right to left 5 footer for birdie to tie him on 18 which I missed. Oh well. Lesson for me was, I played the back nine "under pressure", such as it was, and one over par, and though it killed me to lose - two things really did brighten my day. One, my daughter won the ladies side (whooo!). Two, I played the back nine and the last four holes great! I did get money for low net, lol, but honestly didn't care that much about that. At least I share my name listed on the plaque in the clubhouse with my daughter and will occasionally send her a pic of it just for fun.

Someday you'll go out and play lights out and you won't really even notice it -- that will be a revelation!

[uitar9]

My goal this year is to try and get to 18. Finished the year at a 19.3.

I've never broken 90 on a par 72 course or 45 on a 9 hole par 36. (Best score was a 78 on a par 68)

For me, shooting 40 on a front or back would be awesome.

Going out today for the first time since the zombie apocalypse lock down started.

My mantra today: no expectations.

I'm not a long hitter so my game is to reduce mistakes, not make birdies. Reducing blowups will improve my score faster than one birdie every second round.

Throughout a round, I try to remember, bogey is a good score for any hole. Keeps my brain under control

[Loki]

Stop thinking about your score. Hit a shot...find it...hit it again...add them up at the END of the round.

[Nels55]

Yes, the only shot that matters is the one that you are hitting. I have seen a matches lost because a player cannot stop thinking and sometimes talking about the 2 footer that they missed on 7 or the ball they shanked into the lake on 10. It does not matter what you did earlier and it does not matter how you stand as long as the match is not over hit the shot at hand with full attention as it is the only shot that matters. LOL it took me a long time to learn this but the attitude I am espousing has helped me a number of times to squeak out wins when I was not playing all that well or maybe had a bad break or two along the way.

[msg]

I have been doing something different this year. This pandemic thing made me re think the way I play and the way I see life in general. I am just grateful to be able to play golf again and I figure, I need to enjoy this more and be easy on myself! So far it is working. Before I play, I write five goals and none of them are stat or result oriented. What I have been using last five games was:

Pre shot routine. Always. Commit to every single shot I will hit. Always. Easy swing with the driver. Think Inbee Park easy. When in trouble, get back to safety ASAP. No hero shots. Bad execution? So what. Move on. As long as I did 1 and 2, I am good. Well, it seems to be working. I shot 83, 78, 83 on the same course in the last three days. I have never felt this much enjoyment and the stress level is almost none existent. I wish I have done this sooner. The 78 I shot, I carded a 9 because I made a bone headed play at one par 4 hole, the followed by 3 bad executed shots. But I never let it bother me. I did not even know I was even par before that bad hole. My buddy just told me how bad he felt for me but I just shrugged it off.

This attitude and mindset is really changing the way I play and the way I feel. I cannot explain it but it is something that I plan on doing the rest of my golfing life.

Sure I have gone to shoot lower scores than these before last year. But was I happy after? Was I this stress free? Oh hell no. LOL I used to be a stat guy slash what if guy slash I cannot move on slash I get mad at myself guy slash I need to have this much gir and this much putts per round guy. It was ridiculous and I was making it really hard for myself to enjoy the game and sometimes to enjoy the good times with my buddies. I mean, I am not going to join the PGA, golf should be fun. :) I grade myself not by my score but how well I have checked off each goal now. The score is the bonus. Each shot I give it 100 focus and respect and commitment. From the first tee shot to the tap in 2 footer to the last putt of the day, all the same, no discrimination on my part.

Try focusing on the process instead of numbers or chasing results. It's more fun imo.

[glk]