Attempting to play BOGEY GOLF?

[ebenn]

So I went out on Sunday and truly kept my mindset in the "bogey golf" realm. At the end of the round, I shot my best round of the summer, an 82. By playing for bogeys. I was playing smarter and therefore managing my game better. If I missed a green in reg. I knew I still had 2 shots to get up and down. Many times I would end up hitting it close and then making some decent putts for pars. I hit more green in reg than I have all summer. 1x double on the front and 1x triple on the back from putting a shot in the water.

 

The bogey routine works.

[dachtor]

The key is GIR +1. When I’m playing with my father in law and I want to see him shoot a good score, we do a similar thing. He has only broken 90 a few times but it’s always when I’m taking care of the course management. I don’t ask him to Lay Up on Par 3’s and 4’s as much as I tell him that the goal is a GIR +1. Par 5 = 4, Par 4 = 3, par 3 =2. My thinking is that he can two putt from there and make bogey and move on to the next. If he makes a putt, even better. There are a million different ways to do this but when you set the goal as GIR +1, the goal becomes much more achievable. Typically it involves aiming away from flag sticks on approach shots and playing it safe when he misses a fairway or a green.

[bdc30]

Maybe it's just me, but as a mid/high capper, I'd rather look at a hole as having NO par at all than I would as seeing everything at one stroke higher than it's actual par.

 

I prefer to focus on sensible golf rather than how many shots it "should" take me to get on the green, etc. Play within your own limits, know what shots you can and can't pull off and from where and use all that knowledge to your advantage.

 

I'd bet that your students would be better served if you just took away their score cards altogether and gave them a simple straight yardage book. Who cares if at 445 yards the hole plays as a par 4 or 5. Use your head. Hit your drive, see how you make out from there. If you're at or near the 150, slug away at the green. If you duffed it and are still 220 away, grab your 9 iron, stick it up around the red stick and plan your approach from there INSTEAD of trying to hero-smash your 3 wood out of a bad lie when you might actually be make that shot 1/15 times you try it, just because you're "supposed" to be on the green in two.

[jvwvu]

"The key is GIR +1. " I believe Dach is 100% correct.

 

This is it! No matter how bad a putter someone is, they are probably not going to have much more than 40 putts. (Par - 36 = 4 - 3 putts).

 

I play with a 14 handicap. He hits his drive about 200 yards on a great day and then his three wood 180. Most par 4's he does not reach but he plays his second shot to set himself up for a nice yardage or pitch to make sure he is on the green in 3. Long par 5's he is paying for GIR+1 = 4. Now with the shorter par 5's and par 3's this is usally where he capitalizes getting a chance at a GIR.

 

He knows his game and his course management is great. I have learned from him where to hit to make sure I get a chance at par or worse bogey and I am a 9.

 

Now how to make beginners/bogey golfers do this I feel as a teaching pro the 1st lesson should be 9 holes sitting in a cart watching the player. Realizing his/her strengths weaknesses then telling them what they should have done. And where they should have tried to position themselves. Remember some boomers cant putt, others dont have any power.

[Conner]

I have in my past six or seven rounds adopted the Bogey golf mantra, and I went from shooting over 100 to consistently shooting in the low 90's. I think that the GIR+1 is also a good idea. It seems like when I get all worked up over having not made GIR, that's when the 7's start to show up on the scorecard, and that murders the score. The last nine holes I played and didn't concern myself w/ trying to make heroic second shots on long par 4's I shot 40. Those heroic second shot attempts usually lead to duffs or hazards, not GIRs. At least at this stage in my game I'd rather see lots of 5's and no 7's or 8's.

[mcbush25]

Mike,

 

I can say that I agree with you. I am an average golfer, not great and not good by any means. I normally shoot in the low 90's. Here lately I have employed this philosphy. I get to the tee and I tell myself that I can't shoot anything over a bogey. Granted I still do at times, but since I have started this I have hit some better shots and my scores have dropped dramatically. I know before there were times when I though that I had to make up for a horrible shot when the case is I do, but not the way I was. I have made myself consider all approaches on shots so instead of trying to kill a 3 wood on a par 5 I take a hybrid and force myself to lay up to a comfortable distance.

 

The combination of this thought process and changing my club selection has helped to me shoot low 80 rounds the last few times out.

 

So I have to say I completely agree.

[jwalker497]

I agree with Mike 100%. I think the naysayers are reading too much into the argument. I think the lesson here is that when you attempt to play bogey golf - you approach a hole with the mindset that bogey golf is a good score. and therefore you're perspective shifts and you tend to play a hole more conservatively and not get yourself in as much trouble. At least that's what I have found., when I realized this. It was a real paradigm shift for me when I realized the fact that bogey golf is around a 90. This realization enabled me to think more strategically and accept a layup here and there. This approach to the game is not to attempt to shoot Plus one on every hole, but rather to accept the reality that there will be situations where playing bogey golf will allow you to ultimately shoot a better score than trying to play par gold. The difference and the ultimate benefit is that you tend to play more within your abilities and not make aggresive, egotistical decisons that many of us do.

[peat24]

i'm with you mike. i head out every round and fire for bogey golf. at my course, that is an 89--not bad in my book. i automatically add 9 strokes to the front par, and the back. if i par, it's a -1. etc. it makes a bogey livable, a par more rewarding, and a birdie damn near ecstatic. i don't have to lay-up on par 4's, but if i do something dumb, ie. hit into the woods, i have an "extra stroke" to bail me out.

 

on the par 3's at my course, i play them as short par 4's and aim for a birdie--well, on two of them. one is 210 downhill, over water with a semi-island green; and the other is downhill 197 and the wind in your face can make it more like 230. so i hit it short, avoid the giant traps left and right, and rely on my short game to get it close, and make a 1 putt--par. much better than hitting it right into the poplar trees, punching out, chipping on, and 2 putting.

 

if i shoot for par, i get WAY too frustrated--t is not in my bag yet to play for par. at a 15, i have some way to go where bogey is bad--right now, bogey rocks.

 

-a.

[andechr]

Playing for bogey golf is one of the best ways to stay within yourself on the course. If I'm making solid iron contact I will try to play the par 3's straight up, but the key for me is playing the shot I feel most confident I can make. I try to put myself in a mindset where if I miss a GIR by one and one putt to save par it's as good as a birdie. On longer holes, playing for bogey allows you to take less club off the tee to keep it straight, or hit a punch out if you spray it into the trees. I believe that ever double-diget handicapper is better taking their medicine from awkward positions rather than trying to make the great play. Over the last year my ballstriking has not significantly improved, but I've managed to shave 4-6 strokes off my score through course management. I'm constantly biting my tongue when my dad takes driver on a 290 yard par at our local course and then slices it into the driving range. He's come close to reaching the green once but my hybrid to 100 yards out is more consistent day in and day out.

[Placebo]

I think its a great idea! For the folks saying thats not their problem, their problem is mis-hit shots, fat, thin, etc. The idea as I see it is the reason you, "mis-hit" that shot was likely because you were trying to hard. You know like trying to get that GIR on a par 4 after a monster drive. You think to yourself, "I can do this" then you proceed to chunk your, "approach" 20 yards down the fairway. Happens to me all the time.

 

I'll give this a shot, can't hurt at this point lol. Thanks for the advice!

[Joe Schmoe]

I use my driver off the tee on any hole that doesn't force a layup. The reason being is that massive club face almost guarantees solid contact and the ball going at least 3/4 of the way towards its target. Too often when i try to lay up with a hybrid or long iron, I catch it fat or thin. For long approaches into greens without water in front i'll go for it. Not that I hit those shots the best, but a layup is guaranteed to be 100 yards off the green with likelyhood of being in/near the fairway. (that is no guarantee for me that i'll hit the green on the next shot.) Going for it gives me a chance to be on (albeit a small chance), but if not i'm usually inside of 30 yards where I can hack it on without a problem. Where I make the mistakes that cost strokes is getting too greedy trying to get a chip\pitch\bunker shot close. That and 3 putting.

 

Maybe its a difference between country club courses and the public courses i play, but bomb and guage works where I play, very unusual to be totally blocked out by several trees, etc.

[Joe Schmoe]

I think its a great idea! For the folks saying thats not their problem, their problem is mis-hit shots, fat, thin, etc. The idea as I see it is the reason you, "mis-hit" that shot was likely because you were trying to hard. You know like trying to get that GIR on a par 4 after a monster drive. You think to yourself, "I can do this" then you proceed to chunk your, "approach" 20 yards down the fairway. Happens to me all the time.

 

I'll give this a shot, can't hurt at this point lol. Thanks for the advice!

 

I don't think thats the case. I'll chunck a wedge only slightly less often than a long iron. Id say the probability of hitting two good full wedges is less than hitting a reasonable long iron and a chip or pitch.

Either i'm the only guy who ever misshits a short iron. Or this advice is from guys who only hit good short irons.

[Solutions Etcetera]

As someone who has never broken 90, my goal is to play bogie golf. But for me, if I'm confident that I can get there given the current lie and distance I won't layup just cause I have that extra stroke mindset.

 

But I also won't "force a low percentage shot and prey" just cause I think I "should" be on the green in 2 or three.

 

Having said that... many times when I have determined my round is already down the john, I switch to practice mode so I have a chance to work on shots on the course I wouldn't normally play during a "real" round (c;

 

Just my 2¢.

[diablojoe]

I played a course today, where I chose to go for bogey off a par 4 tee on two holes. My driver misses have been pushed right lately. At my usual course, no big deal. I can go get it out of the trees or the short rough and still save bogey.

 

On these two holes today, a miss right was down a ravine and a lost ball. So, I hit two 7 irons to get to chipping/pitching distance and got my safe bogeys. I actually had a 6' putt for par on one of them (that I missed).

[d0n]

I'ma high handicapper (shoot in the low 90's as of recent.) I wish someone would have explained this to me in the beginning (maybe they did and I just didn't listen.) For me I put my driver in the closet about 2 months ago and now a 20* hybrid is the only thing I tee off with. This alone has made golf 10x more enjoyable for me. I've found there's nothing like playing golf from your own fairway. I had a lot of problems at first with this decision because I thought how on earth am I ever going to get to the green. I bought a yardage book and I scoped out the par 4's and Par 5's. Then I plotted from the tee box to the green thinking of the comfortable distance I could hit my various clubs 20*-23*-wedge, 20*-7i, etc. After doing that suddenly it was visible to me that I didn't need that 1 in 20 monster drive to have a chance to par. Even if I can't get to the green in 2, waiting for that one magical drive for me is similar to being all in during a poker game with a sucker straight. It may hit but chances are you're out of the tourney. For me hitting a big slice or pull/push to the water (or to anywhere) sets my mind up for failure. Not to mention you usually got to work really hard (more pressure) on that 2nd shot to recover from the bad drive. Why put all that stress on yourself.

[adkima00]

I totally agree with the short game being key. I'm toying with the idea of hitting nothing longer than a 5 iron the next time that I play 9. One thing that I just had an epiphony about is having favorite club/distances. My 60* wedge, 9:00 swing is 50 yards on the nose. My PW 9:00 swing is 110 yards on the nose. Along with the 5 iron idea, I'm going to try and get to one of those distances on every hole possible and see what it does. The last time I played 9 holes, I had 20 puts. I'm going to try and knock off at least 5 of them by getting to one of those magic distances. I'm going to be taking a few lessons in the next month or two, so I'm totally up for experimenting between now and then. By the way, my handicap is 18 so I'm at bogey golf. I'm trying to take the next step. This is the first summer I've been playing in about 6 years.

 

Matt

[atlanta golfer]

As a former 18 handicapper now down to 14 and continuing to improve, I do keep in my mind the idea that I need to play bogey golf or better in the aggregate, and of course my challenge is to get to 3,4,5,6 under "par" which for me is bogey. So I use that idea to keep score in my head and track my progress. But I play for par on each hole. Because more often than not my mistakes are a couple wild tee shots per round or several 3 putts or a thinned wedge. Playing extra conservative would not stop these mistakes. But I do agree with the part that it is better to chip out or lay up, once you are out of position on a hole.

[finalist]

I don't like it. as a 20 handicap the major stroke costs come from mis-hitting a shot. (Catching one really fat/thin) That can happen with any club for me. So no point in laying up, that would just increase my chances to catch a shot fat/thin. When my scores go low its because i'm chipping it good from just off the green and can make some one putts. And when pitching from a couple yards to 20 yards not getting greedy and trying to pull off the miracle up and in. pop it on the green and 2 putt.

 

 

I completely agree. Beginners have enough trouble making any kind of contact that gets the ball moving forward, so laying up means they can predict how far the ball will go. What if they really dont have a clue. My first year playing I about 8 clubs that all went 150 yards. Knowing my yardage for each club was so far beyond my skill laying up wouldn't work. When I learned how to control chipping and putting I started the downward climb to a 4.3 index.

 

I think the original idea would be great for a 14-30 index that can't hit it far, but has been playing for a long time and knows their own game.

[patchouli]

All I know is I can play the same hole twice: 345 yard par 4

 

DAY ONE: 275 yard drive right down the middle (70 yards remaining).

Misdirect a 70 yard sand wedge (15 yards remaining).

Chip shot way past the hole (15 yards remaining, putt).

Putt 2 times (at least).

 

result: perfect drive, with only 70 yards to hole it out, still end up with a bogey or worse!

 

 

DAY TWO: 175 yard drive horribly hooked into the treeline in the rough (170 yards remaining, but no clear shot)

20 yard punch out of trees into fairway (150 yards remaining).

8 iron onto green 15 yards remaining.

3 putts.

 

result: HORRIBLE drive with no shot to green.... still end up with bogey.

 

 

 

I CAN'T SCORE!

[smithg1053]

All I know is I can play the same hole twice: 345 yard par 4

 

DAY ONE: 275 yard drive right down the middle (70 yards remaining).

Misdirect a 70 yard sand wedge (15 yards remaining).

Chip shot way past the hole (15 yards remaining, putt).

Putt 2 times (at least).

 

result: perfect drive, with only 70 yards to hole it out, still end up with a bogey or worse!

 

 

DAY TWO: 175 yard drive horribly hooked into the treeline in the rough (170 yards remaining, but no clear shot)

20 yard punch out of trees into fairway (150 yards remaining).

8 iron onto green 15 yards remaining.

3 putts.

 

result: HORRIBLE drive with no shot to green.... still end up with bogey.

 

 

 

I CAN'T SCORE!

 

Just a thought...take it for what it is worth...but the mental part of this game is probably not addressed enough. When you hit a great shot...like in scene one of above, a lot of people I see play step up and tank the next one for whatever reason, high expectations, excited over the last shot, or to maintain the dynamic equilibrium of the universe (I see this scenerio A LOT). Same with scene two...hit a lousy shot and because of being PO'ed or whatever it carries over to the next shot or now because they are "behind the 8 ball" because of a bad shot, they have to hit a great shot to make up for it...which adds pressure. So much of this game is between the ears and I don't care who you are...a new player or Tiger Woods...you are going to hit bad shots. The difference is putting a bad shot and just as important, a career shot behind you and focusing only on the one you have to hit now.

[scores]

150 yard marker is your friend I tell all my friends that laughed at me when I played golf and they played baseball and are now trying to be golfers!! after a yrs in the drunk softball leagues...

 

I repeat this all night to them: they do not listen!

When you are on the tee and can see the 150 yard marker clearly no need for the driver. At this point... want to hit a million drives ill go to the range with you..

 

If you are in trouble look for the 150 yard marker: know how to hit all different shots from with in the 150 yard marker not just 8i and 7i .... know how to play the lower spinning 6i ..yep all else will fall into place..

[ebenn]

150 yard marker is your friend I tell all my friends that laughed at me when I played golf and they played baseball and are now trying to be golfers!! after a yrs in the drunk softball leagues...

 

I repeat this all night to them: they do not listen!

When you are on the tee and can see the 150 yard marker clearly no need for the driver. At this point... want to hit a million drives ill go to the range with you..

 

If you are in trouble look for the 150 yard marker: know how to hit all different shots from with in the 150 yard marker not just 8i and 7i .... know how to play the lower spinning 6i ..yep all else will fall into place..

 

BINGO! that is the formula i try to use always. Hit the hybrid,3wd or long iron to 150 and go from there!

[GolfMN]

I am the guy who sometimes fails to break 95. I'm also the guy who has the game to break 90. The reason this works, IMHO is because it forces you to hit easier shots. It keeps a guy out of trouble and takes some pressure off those harder to hit clubs. If a person can't putt or hit wedges they wont gain anything by that drill. If a guys problem is hazards and getting into other troubles it may help, because, as I said, it takes pressure off the shots that tend to go all over.

 

If my putting is off, I've been known to lay up to a full wedge because I know I want be on the other side of the green, and its good practice on the wedges.