What was the key to your best round?

[JJCOOP7]

Was it putting? Or driving?

 

I have found that my best rounds are when my short game leaves me with nothing longer than 5-10 feet for pars.

[Tee2Green85]

Recovery....probably the most important aspect of anyones game...Nobody hits all greens in regulation everytime they play. So being able to save your par from a difficult lie, bunker, or any other hazard around the green makes a huge difference on the card.

I think recovery is way overlooked anymore in avid golfers.

[Lord Helmet]

I shot an 81 yesterday. 39-42. Difference between the 2 sides was short game. 1 bad chip cost me a stroke when I couldnt save par. 2 putts on back side were poor in terms of lag, which left me difficult putts to save par, which obviously I missed. There ya go - 3 strokes.

Guess it comes down to the short game.

But I will say this, you gotta get off the T and give yourself a punchers chance to even score well. If you cant do that - you are hosed.

[bruinsPATSirish]

My best round was a combination of hitting the driver GREAT and then hitting lasers with my irons/wedges. I shot a -3 69. My proximity to the hole that day had to have been inside 15 feet, it was wild. I did make a couple good par saves to keep it going but I was just in that "zone" they talk about sometimes

[StezzGolfer]

Shot my best round to date on Saturday 43-44. My driving is normally decent, only swing about 75% so i can stay in play. But i attribute my low score to short game. My chipping and putting helped me out big time. Only 34 putts. (thats low for me)

[RainShadow]

I didn't know my score until I finished.
Shot game and putting always help my score, as long as I'm not driving it OB.
If I could't putt, I'd have to quit the game, I think.

[silliwilli]

Minimising misses and getting up and down when required. Holing out from 5 feet and in.

[teckneeklyperfect]

for me , usually its those 6-10 ft putts dropping or not, that and as mentioned, recovery from bad shots with excellent shots allowing a putt, but again, making those and not missing on the lip and adding another stroke to the tally

I almost always have a similar amount of my brainfart mistake swings, it's just depends if the putts drop or not

[bk52]

Good rounds typically are where I have a high number of GIR and my misses are in good spots. To go from "good" to "great' requires a lot of 1-putts. Make 3-5 birdies and save a lot of pars and bogeys with a 1-putt. My game is shaky enough that I will make mistakes and I need the putter to erase some of those errors.

[cphrey]

scrambling and GIRs...I got up and down every time and I had birdie putts on nearly every hole, so par felt like it was coming easy that day.

I shot 83 in a tourney the other day and it could have been 78 or 79 if I wasn't scrambling for pars every hole. Scrambling has helped me score my best but also has kept a mediocre round from going into the 90s. When it all falls apart, high 80s to low 90s follow, and then I am very unhappy.

[Mitchell]

Distance control with irons, leaving myself a lot of reasonable birdie chances.

[AKftw]

Just hit more greens for my 68, decent enough putter where proximity wasn't that important knew I was going to make a few long putts. GIR % has gone down quite a bit the past couple years. Working on getting that back up

[IamMarkMac]

Definitely iron play. When I'm hitting close to the pin, it somehow focuses my putting and the hole just seems bigger. Plus I feel confident all around and that my score is the product of a good game.

I've had some low rounds because I rolled some long putts or made some chips but some of those rounds, I didn't feel I was striking well and was relying heavily on luck.

[widow-maker]

My best rounds come when I'm on with my short irons. I hit a lot of greens but when you get dialed in and start hitting it 15 ft an in, well, then you set yourself up to make putts and shoot a low score. It's hard to make birdies and score when you're 30 feet from the hole.

[Mags]

Keys to my best rounds are always short game related. Combination of chipping it close and making putts 6ft and in. In my lowest round (+2) I only hit 5 fairways and 7 greens. Good chipping and 26 putts though negated the poor play everywhere else.

The keys for me to turn in respectable and consistent scores are hitting greens and/or minimizing mistakes (bogey max). Tournament I played this past weekend, I maybe only made good solid contact on half of my swings but still managed to hit 11 greens so the day was relatively stress-free. Other times I've felt like I'm struggling but saving bogeys everywhere and can still turn in an 81-83 pretty easily as long as there isn't a blow-up hole I double or triple.

[BMC]

My best round started with a goal to hit the [u]middle[/u] of the fairway off the tee - 3 wood was my longest club.

Conservative on approach shots. If I felt I couldn't hit the green in regulation, I played for just short.

It was my County Amateur Tournament. 72. Didn't win, of course, but was proud shooting par.

[buckeyefl]

When I'm not thinking about it being my best round

[Chris_]

My best round was an 80 in competition last year, playing off 18 at the time if I remember right. It wasn't thanks to great putting or chipping - I had 35 putts (with one 3-putt) and only 1 scrambled par. The key was tee to green, as I hit 10/14 fairways (72%) and 10/18 greens (56%). 1 birdie, 10 pars, 6 bogies, 1 triple bogey (a 6 on a par 3, which included the 3-putt).

If my short game had been better then sure, I could've gone lower, but keeping the ball on fairways and getting on more greens than usual allowed me to comfortably 2-putt most of the holes for a good score given my handicap. As with BMC above, my longest club was a 3 wood off the tee.

Now playing off 14 I've hit 80 several more times in practice but not since in competition. That remains my best round, and my best ballstriking day by far. I've had plenty of better days with the putter but my long game has cost me too many shots those rounds. On average 30% of my tee shots put me in trouble last year, eg. having to hit sideways out of trees, hit out of a fairway bunker, hit out of long rough. That day not a single tee shot put me in a bad position, and the 4 fairways I missed were only just missed in light rough without affecting my second shot. It makes a huge difference.

Unfortunately my game deserted me over the winter and I went back to finding the trees too often. Trying to get back to hitting to my handicap, rather than playing like a 28 handicap.

Edit: I guess that's the difference between handicaps. For me as a mid handicap I'm used to occasional stray shots, having to drop, visits to trees now and then. A round where I keep it in play tee to green is a rarity, so it makes a huge difference and I have a good score then even if my short game is average, with a bunch of pars being good for me. If my short game is great I can still have a terrible score if my long game is costing shots left, right and centre. For a scratch golfer used to playing well tee to green I can definitely see the short game as being the distinguishing area, converting those pars into birdies.

[llewol007]

For me when I shot 6 under, I remembered not having any pressure on myself and never getting ahead of myself. I honestly just played care free and managed not to make any mistakes. I broke the 18 holes into 3 hole blocks, that way I would never be too far ahead mentally trying to prepare for say the number 1 handicap hole which was on the back nine when I was not even thru the front nine. It does help alot to do that. Another thing I did was, I actually took the hole itself as a target out of my mind and told myself if I get into the 10 foot circle, I had a chance at rolling it in for a birdie. For some reason, the target became that much more presentable to me and thus more obtainable. Tee to green, not to many mistakes, my driver was on and it set me up for the rest of the day. I essentially took the holes that were scoring holes and capitalized while maintaining on the more difficult ones and getting a few to roll in. Just to be clear, It wasnt from the tips but Im still proud to say I accomplished shooting under par.

[Aviador Naval]

My game is reasonably steady but not capable of spectacular. Therefore, I can score okay on an 'average' pitching/putting day but I have no chance to shoot my handicap or lower unless I drive the ball well.

[Rock Chalk Jayhawk]

Dumb luck and being in love. Seriously. A couple good breaks, and thinking about my then paramour, rather than thinking about the golf swing.

[inthefairway]

Being in the zone!!! Luck and putts going in from everywhere!!!

[MadGolfer76]

Having someone I wanted to beat like a baby seal.

[mizleft]

Staying on short grass,putt live crazy dumb luck.for 81!enjoy the golf season north of then border and to our neighbors to the south enjoy as well ! Bonne chance!

[Jon H]

[quote name='MadGolfer76' timestamp='1399336811' post='9238739']
Having someone I wanted to beat like a baby seal.
[/quote]

Don't let the PITA people see that, this place would be filled with tree huggers and communists.

Getting off the tee is key for me. 100%. Avoiding penalties and having reasonable second shots make or break my rounds.

[JDW3]

Keeping my tee shots in play and recovering well if I missed the fairway.

[Qqq123xx]

Best round 72. Solid everything was key to my round. Had little uphill 20 footer for bird last hole and of course left it couple rolls short.

[CAT GOLFER]

For me, it's the long game. My best round I put everything off the tee in a spot where I could make a shot at the green. Then it was a chip and putt( or two... Or three).

[redhead]

It's the six inches between my ears.

Seriously, my best round was when I stop overthinking, let it loose, just enjoy the game and play boring shots. It tends to make my muscle more relaxed and keep me in rhythm. Worst round happened when I was over analysing everything, too much "what-if" analysis, and trying to hit miraculous shot.

[jlt73]

Not trying hero shots and just playing to what the course allowed me to do even if it was against my worst judgement