Shot my best round ever yesterday

[Roody]

I hadn't thought of it that way, but you're right. I was really struggling in the few weeks leading up to taking that lesson. I was getting to the point where I figured I just needed to accept that I'm not going to play much better. But after that lesson, wow what a different mindset. Everything just feels so much more consistent now. And the confidence levels are through the roof. That's actually a little hobby of mine. I made my own scoring app. The score-entry portion is a mobile-ready web app that I just bring up in my phone browser, and I enter all my stats in as I am playing. Then there's a companion website where the reporting is. My buddies and I use it for our yearly golf trip for live scoring even. If you're interested, shoot me a PM. I have some friends that use it, and I don't charge anything because it's just a hobby for me.Thanks! My last 5 rounds were 78/72/83/79/75. And the 83 was in 35 mph+ winds, so I'm using that as an excuse. In that time though I've dropped from an 8.1 to a 5.1. It's the lowest I've been in my entire golf "career"

[anythingfinite]

I struggle with the "keep the hammer down" mentality too. I keep that mantra going as I'm closing in on a good score, but standing over the ball I don't think I REALLY believe it.

After watching my HC balloon from 4.1 to 8.0 over the past 2 months, I finally got my swing worked out and shot +5 and +4 my last 2 rounds. During both rounds, I was +2 with 4 holes left and limped home by making non-committed swings down the stretch despite trying to get to even par.

[Roody]

It's tough, much easier said than done. Like I said earlier, I am not sure how the pros do it. I'm thinking like when a guy is honing in on the coveted 59. Attaining that puts them into a special class, and is sure as heck bigger than little ol' me trying to shoot even par from the 6300 yard tees at my home course. If I was entering the final holes on pace for a 59, I'd probably soil myself, and then faint on the 16th green.

What's great is when I shot the 75 the other day, I was playing with my wife and another couple. She waited until after the round to ask me how I shot. When I said "75" she replied "I knew you were having a good round, which is why I made sure I kept my mouth shut". She knows.

[anythingfinite]

My best ever round is +4. I've shot it probably 6 times on different courses (par 70s, 71s, 72s). The first time I shot it on a par 72, my buddy did the same thing. He said "I noticed you were kinda in the zone, so I just stayed out of the way."

[Roody]

That's a good friend right there. Which reminds me of a different story.

I think it was 2012. I was playing what I would describe as a much easier, more wide-open course than the one I'm talking about in this thread. I think the tees were only around 5900 yards. I couldn't hit my own fairway to save my life, but it didn't matter because like I said, wide-open.

I'm walking off hole 16, and I am 1-under. As we're heading towards 17 tee my buddy says "wow Roody, you really have a great round going!". I replied "thanks jaggoff, I was managing to keep outta my own head until you said something".

Don't I go and bogey 17? Of course I did.

Now I'm on 18, a par 5. I smash a great drive. I hit a great 3-wood. I'm on in two. All I need to do is two-putt and I am under par for the first time in my life!

I three-jack it.

[7ironDave]

First off great job on the low score.

I shot my lowest 9 holes this morning. While not as impressive as your round it felt great. Short course par is 33, I shot 38.

Similar to the post I quoted, after 3 I was even and my buddy mentioned that, so I carded a 6 on a par 3 next, then came back and birdied the next hole.

I know it was only 9 and it was a short course but I still had to keep it in play and make some putts. Felt great.

[Roody]

Nice shooting! Every accomplishment/milestone spawns a quest for the next one. I remember the first time I broke 90. Then the time I shot 83, which was my lowest at the time. And then the time I broke 80.

For me the latest quests are to break par, and to get that first hole in one. An albatross would be cool too.

[cardoustie]

a lot of golfers don’t know when to keep their mouths shut, a good buddy of mine said to me on my last PB tie ... with 5 holes to go ... “Jesus Cardy do you know how many under you are?”

[beluga99]

Great playing and well done on your PB. I am a similar index, but have been as low as 3. Being aggressive certainly helped me go lower when I was in the groove.

That app looks amazing and I would gladly pay for something like that, especially if you can track your stats. Curious as to what you changed from your lesson? Was it a grip, posture, swing thought or something else that unlocked golfing excellence?

[Roody]

As far as the app goes, if you're interested shoot me a PM and I can send you details on how to make an account and start using it. If you like it, great. If not, that's ok too.

As for the lesson, it kinda went like this. He started by asking me what we're here to work on today. As I described my horrible hooks off the tee, I mentioned that I've been a stack and tilt guy for the past 5-6 years. His first reaction was "almost all the pros who were doing that eventually got off of it. I would suggest you do the same. But if you feel strongly about keeping it, we'll figure out a way to make it work"

I said "I am open to whatever gets me playing better and more consistently again".

He took a look at a few swings and said "you're basically getting away with that swing because of your athletic ability, and because you have good hand/eye coordination". So we reset things. Put my weight dispersion back to normal instead of leaning on my front leg on setup. He then said I needed to get back to turning my body on the backswing, not lifting with my arms.

Now mind you, previous instructors have told me this. The difference was they kept focusing on the words "I need you to stop swaying at the hips, stop lifting with your arms". So in my mind, I practically did nothing but focus on trying to make sure my right hip didn't move, which was bad (for me).

This instructor never once mentioned swaying, he focused on "just turn your body". Now I am able to do that, and I think I am doing it much more properly than I ever have. And I think the end result is I'm just naturally not swaying and it's actually rather easy to do. Allows me to keep the mind more clear to focus on making sure I release through the swing.

[beluga99]

Thanks for taking the time to respond and will definitely send you a PM. Glad it's worked out for you and something has "clicked". Can't beat a good ball striking day AND scoring well. Very satisfying.

[Moby]

Great round, Congrats!!!

[Guest]

Nice work!

[cadoipi]

Handicap is all about measuring "what is a typical score when they are playing well" so there is no need for extra adjustments to a blowup crappy round.

The ESR adjustment is to account for rapid improvement and to make it harder to be an extreme sandbagger. For the latter it replaced the old mechanic (in the usga system) of using low tournament rounds to adjust handicaps.

Congrats on the low round and your general improvement in your recent play.

As for dealing with nerves with respect to score, I have found it extremely helpful to think of 18 holes as really six separate 3 hole games. I set a goal of trying to play each set of 3 holes at +1 (currently 8 hcp and dropping). When I finish a set of 3 holes I (try to) forget them like a previous round, and I reset mentally on the next 3 holes. When I am playing well in a round, this helps me avoid putting pressure on myself to keep playing well. Likewise after a double or a few bogies in a row, this helps limit the amount of pressure I feel to "make up" for those scores.

[Roody]

I like that idea of splitting it up into six 3-hole games. I'll give that a try next time I'm out. Thanks!

[Used2PlayALot]

 I couldn't get off the tee to save my life. 

What does this mean to a 5 ?

Topping the ball? Whiffing? Doubt it.

Slicing into the next fairway? Snap hooks?

 

[anythingfinite]

I also split the round into 3 6-hole segments. It really helps me to let go of a bad hole or 2.

I really recommend it

[scottlarson11]

Nice round my guy!

[DLev45]

I am playing off a 6.5 index, and still looking to shoot Par. I have shot 73 twice, and shot 75 on Saturday and felt like I had a good chance. I was even par through 12 with 2 birdies and 2 bogeys, but made bogey on 13, 16, and 18. Just couldn't keep it together.

Sounds like I just need to make more birdies. 6 is a ton!

4 birdies is the most I have ever managed in a single round, and it's probably no coincidence that the 2 times I have done that were the two 73s I have posted.

[Roody]

For the most part it was battling snap hooks, yeah. I would try to correct it and I would either A) start pushing it right or slicing it, or B) still snap hook it. I guess when I say I couldn't get off the tee to save my life, I probably should have said that I was constantly putting myself in trouble off the tee. I rarely top my driver, and I can't remember the last time I completely whiffed. I've had 5 birdies in one round a couple times in the past, but this was the first time I've managed 6. The putter was on fire that day, and so was the chipping game. So any time I missed a green I was saving my bacon with good chipping.

And I know what you mean about keeping it together. I've shot a 75 since that 72, and a few 79's and a 78. But everything else has been 81's, 82's. And it's always because I have a bad score on at least two holes during the round. I'm not even sure I can blame it on nervousness. I think it's just that every once in a while I'll make a bad swing.

 

[Moonlightgrm]

26 putts! Very nice work on the greens. Congratulations!