Horrible front 9 / great back 9 .. every time .. help

[Greenskeeper13]

The last 15 rounds I always come out with a 44 or 46.. never have had a great start.. then back 9 is a solid consistent 40 or 41 .. 

 

it’s usually the other way around for most people but for me it’s opposite 

 

I’ve tried to warm up before or hit a few buckets but Doesn’t seem to help 

 

what your thoughts on this ?

[Hertsjoatmon]

This describes my game.

I put it down to the fact I don't get to play very often and have limited time to warm up usually when i do. first 6 holes are terrible (mix of nerves and lack of finding my rhythm/groove), next 6 are my best and my final 6 are a mixed bag as I get more tired / worried about having to get back home / thinking about that beer in the clubhouse or for one reason or another and my focus slips.

I try to hit the range once a week or every other week. less so when it gets to winter. I only get to play a round about once a month.

[caniac6]

Try to play the back 9 first a few times.

[golfandfishing]

You aren’t far off here. Where are the strokes falling off on the front?  Are you hitting a ball OB and 3 putting once on the front but not on the back?  That would be your difference there. I’d also recommend not hitting “a few buckets” before playing, there is no way to hit that many balls and not tinker with something, just hit enough to get loose, 50 max really. 

[FlyingAce]

Where are these extra strokes from the front coming from?

Hitting a few buckets is way too many as a warm up. Maybe that is screwing you up. You can warm up by stretching, chipping a few, putting, or just swinging your clubs without hitting any balls. 

If the issue is between your ears, try getting there earlier to walk around before your round, listening to music, meditate for a few minutes, etc. Do something that you normally don’t do to see if changing up your routine helps.

[kmc]

That's standard at our club. The first six holes are always into the wind and 4 of the 1st six are rated 1,3,4,7.

My  mindset is +4 through the first 6. If I can shoot +4, almost always shoot in the 70's. 6 handicap.

KMC

[Roody]

I find if I warm up too much, it not only doesn't always help me on the front 9, it makes me more tired for the back 9 stretch. The formula that seems to work best for me is to hit no more than 10-15 warmup shots, or no warm up at all. Less is more. 

[SheriffBooth]

Agree with those that say don't overdo it on the range.  During your warmup on the range, try to focus heavily on the shots you expect to hit over the first two or three holes, so that you have the most confidence in those club; for example my home course opens with a par 5 and then a long par 3, so I want to be sure I'm comfortable hitting with my fairways off the deck and my 4 and 5 iron.  Consider using early arrival practice time on the putting green and chipping area, and then have your warmup on the range be the last thing you do before heading to the tee.

 

What you do before you go to the course makes a difference too.  For early morning rounds, I always start better if I can get out of bed a little earlier and move around some before I head to the course.

[MtlJeff]

Do you put too much pressure on yourself?

 

When i started playing tournaments i was always better on the back. Because you feel pressure on the first few holes. Than when you play poorly you stop caring and play well on the back.

[jomatty]

I was dealing with a similar thing and found that it was 100% mental.  I was putting a lot of work into my game and each time I played I would have anticipation that I was going to have a great round.  I was super focused on scoring and always wanted to get off to a good start.  This created a lot of pressure and bad thoughts.  
 

The first hole on the course I usually play is not overly difficult but I will often have a full 6 or 7 iron off of a downhill, slightly side hill lie over a pond with water also on the left (nothing extreme but not super straightforward) as the approach shot.  I would find myself thinking “please don’t let me ruin this round right here” and really feeling a lot of pressure on the second shot of the day.  Often times I’d start with a big number which would spill over to number 2 and I’d be in bad shape quick. Then I would get an attitude of “#@$& it” at which point I would settle in and play much better.  
 

As the summer wore on I changed my mindset to just going out and accepting that I was going to make the best swings I can and tried to really take the expectations out of each round.  If I do get off to a bad start I now take pride in staying level headed and embracing the grind.  Just making the conscious decision that I was going to be a player that did not fall apart mentally made a big difference.

 

I don’t know if any of this is applicable to your situation, but taking each shot as it comes, without placing a high value on it because of how it effects my round, has helped a lot.  I just approach each shot with the mentality of “I’m going to hit it as well as I can” and if I hit it bad just move on to the next shot.  I’m certainly not always zen master good at this, but I’m a lot better...

[Greenskeeper13]

Interesting ..

 

by a few buckets I mean around 30-40 shots .. ( clubs around here give you 15-20 balls free for warmup .. 

 

I usually putt everyone to get the green speed and then head to the tee box.
 

I think some of you are right about mental.. I’m playing a lot lately, have a coach for the fall to improve my game so I’m going on with expectations and when I have a few off hits on the front 9 and release I’m not gunna have a great round then I just zone out.. 

 

once my mind is not thinking then my game turns on and start ripping it up.. 

 

wierd

 

So I o guess mental prep and not to go in with high expectations each and ever time maybe 

[Socrates]

You're a 14 hcp.  You are going to screw up.  The key is to not screw up as bad. 

 

I play one course where the front has some really tough holes.  Even as a 5 hcp my goal on those is to not make a tragic number.  Bogey is fine.  Par is great, but I make every effort to not turn the hole into a double or worse especially if the wind is up and from the wrong direction.  Every now and again you get rewarded with a birdie.

 

Figure out the holes you suck on and try to take one less stroke on those holes.  It is far better to hit your most confident club off a tee and be in play than to be taking a drop out of a penalty area or screwing around in the trees.  Even if that means you are laying up on a Par 4.  You don't have to make par or birdie - just one less than your usual bad score for that hole.  Then let the rest of the round take care of itself. 

[kmc]

8 hours ago, Socrates said:

You're a 14 hcp.  You are going to screw up.  The key is to not screw up as bad. 

 

I play one course where the front has some really tough holes.  Even as a 5 hcp my goal on those is to not make a tragic number.  Bogey is fine.  Par is great, but I make every effort to not turn the hole into a double or worse especially if the wind is up and from the wrong direction.  Every now and again you get rewarded with a birdie.

 

Figure out the holes you suck on and try to take one less stroke on those holes.  It is far better to hit your most confident club off a tee and be in play than to be taking a drop out of a penalty area or screwing around in the trees.  Even if that means you are laying up on a Par 4.  You don't have to make par or birdie - just one less than your usual bad score for that hole.  Then let the rest of the round take care of itself. 

That's what I was trying to say. If you have a long par 4 that's giving you trouble, instead of driver hit 3 iron shots , 2 putt and take your bogey.

[Greenskeeper13]

* update .

 

just played this morning, took some advice and didn’t look at the scorecard or men’s group leaderboard for the front 9.. 

 

shot a 40 ! Finally a good front 9.. looked at the scoreboard and overall and got a bit loss with my swing and now back 9 was a 42 still good but could of been better with concentration and not looking at the leaderboard.. 

 

so imma not look at it all next round ( Sunday ) and see how thst goes ..

 

 

***side note .. I don’t play the same course often.. we have lots of choices close by so a rotation of 9-11 courses.. so no real pin pointing certain holes that are the real problems .. so far I think it’s a mental battle.. 

[kmc]

47/36 yesterday. So disgusted after the front, I took a side bet with everyone in our group. Shot even. Definitely mental. Good Luck!

KMC

[Greenskeeper13]

8 hours ago, kmc said:

47/36 yesterday. So disgusted after the front, I took a side bet with everyone in our group. Shot even. Definitely mental. Good Luck!

KMC

Interesting.. so if we really got our mental game together you think our overall game would be that much better .. pretty big difference with these back to front 9s

 

i got a game tommorow .. gunna test out mental game again.. no scorecard watching or anything .. issue ? We play  winner takes all $10 a guy .. so bit of a distraction 

[SNIPERBBB]

Might just be putting too much stress on yourself to start out hot.  Joke at our course is that if you birdie #1, you're in trouble. Its a curse most days to birdie 1

[Greenskeeper13]

** Update game #2

 

went out this morning , 2C cold and windy like crazy.. started out double,triple, par, triple.. horrible finished 50 !! Front 9 ( wind 100% factor ) and too tight cold no warm up and 4 layers of clothes on ..

 

but then back 9 game I’m out of the running for money and took off 2 layers and shot 38 back 9 ... 

 

ahh well.. I’ll just concentrate more on my mental game and proper warm up but not to much and see how it goes 

[ChipNRun]

For starters, take a few long lag putts to get the feel of the greens for the day. Then, practice some 5- to 8-footers. These can save you some strokes during the round.

 

What are the two hole that do you in on the front nine? Visit them for some on-course practice on slow days. Figure out how to break the curse.

 

Do you always double-bogey the first hole? If so, play for a bogey. You'll have a chance to make par if you get up-and-down.

 

Do you always double-bogey the par 5s? If so, quit trying to hit the green in two. Make sure your third shot will be from the fairway. If landing area has bunkers or hazards, consider a fairway wood off the tee. This will help you get your third shot from the fairway.

 

What are the par 3 holes like? Practice a few pre-round tee shots with those holes in mind.

 

Finally, what is the first hole like? At end of range session, practice the lead-off tee shot so you don't have to think about it, and get tense.

 

Finally, don't be afraid to leave a dozen balls on the practice range, pre-round. You should be trying to warm up your muscles, practice your alignment - not try to rebuild your swing.

 

And, try to have fun playing golf. It is allowed! 😲

[Lincoln_Arcadia]

On 11/6/2020 at 1:04 AM, Greenskeeper13 said:

The last 15 rounds I always come out with a 44 or 46.. never have had a great start.. then back 9 is a solid consistent 40 or 41 .. 

 

it’s usually the other way around for most people but for me it’s opposite 

 

I’ve tried to warm up before or hit a few buckets but Doesn’t seem to help 

 

what your thoughts on this ?

 

Play 27 holes?

[naj959]

On 11/7/2020 at 5:17 PM, SNIPERBBB said:

Might just be putting too much stress on yourself to start out hot.  Joke at our course is that if you birdie #1, you're in trouble. Its a curse most days to birdie 1

This!!!

 

Birdied the first two holes today and proceeded to triple the third and sprinkle in a couple of doubles throughout the front. Managed to somewhat recover on the back and finish with an 85. Knew I was doomed after the 2nd hole and I fulfilled that prophecy. Golf is hard.

[Greenskeeper13]

15 hours ago, naj959 said:

This!!!

 

Birdied the first two holes today and proceeded to triple the third and sprinkle in a couple of doubles throughout the front. Managed to somewhat recover on the back and finish with an 85. Knew I was doomed after the 2nd hole and I fulfilled that prophecy. Golf is hard.

mental game for sure ! 
 

*** update game 3 

 

just got back from another round. This time with a few friends .. nothing on the line no betting just golf. 
 

started off OB and double.. 

- then reeled it in and just golfed, talked sports and stocks and family .. yadda yadda . 
 

+5 front 9 .. not bad 

 

then back 9 few bogies few birdies end up even on the back 9 

 

total score 77 for best round ever new personal best ..

never looked at the scorecard once and just casually played.. soooo I guess it’s super mental Game for me.. 

[naj959]

19 hours ago, Greenskeeper13 said:

mental game for sure ! 
 

*** update game 3 

 

just got back from another round. This time with a few friends .. nothing on the line no betting just golf. 
 

started off OB and double.. 

- then reeled it in and just golfed, talked sports and stocks and family .. yadda yadda . 
 

+5 front 9 .. not bad 

 

then back 9 few bogies few birdies end up even on the back 9 

 

total score 77 for best round ever new personal best ..

never looked at the scorecard once and just casually played.. soooo I guess it’s super mental Game for me.. 

You're right I got too ampped up and felt uncomfortable. I can make full swings with nerves but my short game folds like a piece of origami. My chipping yips made an appearance to remind me that I haven't quite slayed that beast. Tee to green I was solid but as soon as I missed that first green it was a disaster. On the back I stopped caring about score. Just wrote down the number and kept counting down the holes until I could go home.

I seem to play better when I don't know where I stand. My best rounds have come when I get preoccupied in keeping stats. It distracts me from trying to shoot a certain number. It may be worth a try.

[Chris6]

My golf problems are compounded by persistent swirling gusting winds, constant sloped fairways that won’t hold a shot, and on my home course all but three holes are doglegs that setup great for right hand slicers.

 

The course always puts the tee boxes for the doglegs tight up against the tree-line.

 

I play a natural draw that I worked very hard to develop over thousands of hours and many years.

 

If you draw the ball, you’re either wide left in the crud, or hitting trees or limbs on the right and playing out of the woods.

 

Playing the ‘bunt’ punch shot is getting old and there’s nowhere near as much control or distance involved vs. a normal shot.
 

There are very few flat lies, the course is pock marked with the remnants of old tree wells and funky depressions, and the grass has lots of bare spots where balls tend to settle between tufts of grass, making solid contact a real problem. It feels like every shot is now a ‘challenge’ shot, with corresponding odds.

 

The greens have been shaggy and uneven for weeks now from being punched (yet somehow whenever there is a paid tournament or a state tournament, everything magically turns out fantastic). 

 

All of this adds up to lots of mistakes and bad outcomes, much higher scores.

 

The biggest problem is the wind, and no matter what hole you’re on it always seems to be coming from the front. I know that sounds crazy, but it’s true. Normal wind conditions are blustery swirling with a huge amount of influence over ball flight - 10-15mph. When things are really cooking, it’s 15-20mph with gusts higher. If it’s a headwind it’s + 2 clubs, and even that is dicey.

 

We live on a coastal peninsula with sea on both sides within 6 miles. There are many courses here, but this course in particular seems to get far too much wind, and it’s very unpredictable. It creates some very difficult results from otherwise great shots.

 

There are plenty of people who can play well under these conditions, but I’m not one of them. It is becoming a discouraging to play under these conditions. 
 

Even range time is not fun anymore. Who wants to hit balls with a 12-15mph cross breeze? What swing development are you going to learn from that. Not much. Yes you can learn to ‘play the wind’ but that’s not something that translates well to actual play because the wind changes constantly on the course but not on the range.
 

I was a 3.4 index, now 5.1 and climbing higher each week…after posting some miserable scores I’m now a 6.1.

 

And the front 9 is ALWAYS worse. Always. There is very little tree coverage and the wind whips through the holes here. As soon as you hit you can watch your ball push one way or another. On the odd chance that you’re protected by trees, as soon as you get your call above the tree line, the wind smashes it around and you’re back to scrambling to try to recover.

 

To add insult to injury, the complete hacks that I end up playing with seem to get lucky break after lucky break….it’s very tough to feel like working so hard at a game and have these kinds of experiences AND then get beat by some hack who has no swing, no mechanics, no golf sense other than step up and whack it.

 

All of this adds up to a very demoralizing experience…

 

 

[naval2006]

This can be  a lack of warm-up before the round, which is common when we're short of time.  I know this bad/good pattern well.  In my case if i hit 20 balls before teeing off I know it'd be different.  But most of the times I get to the first tee right on time.

 

And then, as they've stated above, there may also be a mental issue: you are already expecting that pattern so there's a lot of anticipation and anxiety.  There's a helpful state of my one can start trying gradually and it's hitting the ball, finding it and hitting again with no complaints about bad shots or overexcitement on the one or two superb shots during the round.  Until you get adjusted.  It sounds easy but it takes time.  It pays in the end.