Which one is your kid?

[leezer99]

• Shoots 6 over with 6 bogies / 0 birdies
• Shoots 2 over with 2 bogies / 0 birdies
• Shoots 2 over with 6 bogies / 4 birdies
• Shoots even par with 0 bogies / 0 birdies
• Shoots even par with 6 bogies / 6 birdies
• Shoots -2 with 2 birdies / 0 bogies
• Shoots -2 with 6 birdies / 4 bogies
• Shoots -6 with 6 birdies / 0 birdies
• Other?

 

So what does your kid's typical round look like?

 

What does good golf look like to you? Is it a function of lots of birdies with a few bogies or a couple of birdies and no bogies? 

 

(Is it bogies or bogeys... I didn't go to an IVY)

 

[Pinewood Golfer]

2 hours ago, leezer99 said:

• Shoots 6 over with 6 bogies / 0 birdies
• Shoots 2 over with 2 bogies / 0 birdies
• Shoots 2 over with 6 bogies / 4 birdies
• Shoots even par with 0 bogies / 0 birdies
• Shoots even par with 6 bogies / 6 birdies
• Shoots -2 with 2 birdies / 0 bogies
• Shoots -2 with 6 birdies / 4 bogies
• Shoots -6 with 6 birdies / 0 birdies
• Other?

 

So what does your kid's typical round look like?

 

What does good golf look like to you? Is it a function of lots of birdies with a few bogies or a couple of birdies and no bogies? 

 

(Is it bogies or bogeys... I didn't go to an IVY)

 

My dad made up a goofy saying for my son when my son was about 8. “Par is your friend, bogey is his friend, and birdies just happen”. 
 

it’s kinda true

[hangontight]

Great topic.  My 13 YO Son; 

 

• Shoots 2 over with 2 bogies / 0 birdies

 

He has never made a lot of birdies.  I mostly agree that "birdies just happen" , and he gets a fair amount of birdie looks, but I think he is too content with a par when he as realistic chance at birdie..."nothing wrong with a safe 2 putt par" mentality.   Thing is, he is a decent putter and above average scrambler.   I bet his make percentage on 6' putts is double when its for par save than it is for birdies.   No stats to lean on, but I do feel like when he does make a lot of birdies in a round...he also tends to have a few doubles + to accompany.  Not sure if its the the same cause & effect ( more aggressive play - higher reward/higher risk), or if its mental game control (get too excited after a few birdies...then tank a few holes) Idk.  

 

What does a good round look like?  

In trying to keep it simple, he'll usually revisit a few quick hits from each round...

 

1.) No 3 Putts

2.) 55% or better on Up/Downs  

3.) Par or better on Par 5's

 

If hit all 3 of those its almost always a decent round.  Doesn't mean its a GREAT round, but is never bad.   Assume a few birdies will happen, know you'll typically hit 9-12 greens, rub of the green stuff, etc.    

 

Edited February 25 by hangontight

[Movingday]

It’s tends to either be a bunch of pars with a few birdie/bogeys mixed in or a a few more birdies but brings in some big numbers in. 
 

just purchased decade elite. Hoping to find a better balance of being aggressive to targets. He gets in trouble when he’s dialed in and just starts firing at every flag. Hoping decade gets him to a consistent play style regardless of swing that day 

[TroyB123]

3-5 birdies, 2-3 doubles , triples or quads, a bogey or two and an eagle every 3-4 rounds is his typical.  He’s never felt good about a round lol.  

[golferdad8]

3 hours ago, TroyB123 said:

3-5 birdies, 2-3 doubles , triples or quads, a bogey or two and an eagle every 3-4 rounds is his typical.  He’s never felt good about a round lol.  

If he’s getting 3-5 birdies, the kid has skills…and the extras can be fixed w course mgmt - if he’s willing to learn. 

[leezer99]

I guess, 'speak it into existence'.  😂

 

[kekoa]

Normal tournament round looks like this.

 

3-5 birds

1-2 doubles

3-5 bogies

 

We are working hard to erase the doubles, which has become very challenging.  Not sure if its a mental or course management issue.

 

If I had it my way, I like the kid who makes the most amount of birdies as long as their total score isn't more than 2-3 shots above par.    This kid has huge potential once the are able to tidy up areas of their game causing the bogies.

[MikekiM]

Our last round included 6 bogeys (5 on the first 5 holes), 1 eagle, and 2 birdies.   Usually making birdies isn't the problem.  Keeping the bogeys and others off the card is. He has a bad habit of quitting on a bad hole and instead of grinding to save a bogey, he'll compound the poor shot with a 3putt.

 

 

 

 

[Bizzle80]

My kid is always good for a couple bogey's, but rare birdie and rare double. Only playing local events right now in SoCal and she's like always in top 3, but rarely the winner. Checking stats she's usually losing strokes on/around greens - not because she's a poor putter, but because we play at a club with 11-12 stimp greens and all the event courses are muni's with greens thicker than our fringes. So hard for her to adjust both chipping/putting speeds. At our club she chips everything out of the tight fringes, but cant chip on the muni greens - although maybe she should?

 

We should probably practice more on muni's, but that means I have to go play them too and I am not really interested in that...and I don't care enough about her winning events at 10yo.

 

 

 

[leezer99]

3 hours ago, Bizzle80 said:

My kid is always good for a couple bogey's, but rare birdie and rare double. Only playing local events right now in SoCal and she's like always in top 3, but rarely the winner. Checking stats she's usually losing strokes on/around greens - not because she's a poor putter, but because we play at a club with 11-12 stimp greens and all the event courses are muni's with greens thicker than our fringes. So hard for her to adjust both chipping/putting speeds. At our club she chips everything out of the tight fringes, but cant chip on the muni greens - although maybe she should?

 

We should probably practice more on muni's, but that means I have to go play them too and I am not really interested in that...and I don't care enough about her winning events at 10yo.

 

 

 

 

Winning is contagious.

[RmoorePE]

Daughter is definitely the 2 over with 4 birdies and 2 bogeys, sometimes even with a couple doubles. When she gets par or under, she just doesn't have the doubles.

 

She is definitely not a steady player, but has a lot of sizzle in her game to make up for it. No one has been able to convince her that playing it safe would make things easier. I have given up on trying. 

 

 

[byoshio82]

On 2/24/2024 at 5:28 AM, leezer99 said:

• Shoots 6 over with 6 bogies / 0 birdies
• Shoots 2 over with 2 bogies / 0 birdies
• Shoots 2 over with 6 bogies / 4 birdies
• Shoots even par with 0 bogies / 0 birdies
• Shoots even par with 6 bogies / 6 birdies
• Shoots -2 with 2 birdies / 0 bogies
• Shoots -2 with 6 birdies / 4 bogies
• Shoots -6 with 6 birdies / 0 birdies
• Other?

 

So what does your kid's typical round look like?

 

What does good golf look like to you? Is it a function of lots of birdies with a few bogies or a couple of birdies and no bogies? 

 

(Is it bogies or bogeys... I didn't go to an IVY)

 

Honestly as long as they have a smile on their face and enjoy it that’s all I care about. I have to preface this as my little guy is only 5 but has been out to play 9 holes several times last year and hits balls on our acreage any chance he gets. He’s one of us for sure! Future WRX’er.

 

 

[leezer99]

5 hours ago, byoshio82 said:

Honestly as long as they have a smile on their face and enjoy it that’s all I care about. I have to preface this as my little guy is only 5 but has been out to play 9 holes several times last year and hits balls on our acreage any chance he gets. He’s one of us for sure! Future WRX’er.

 

 

Prepare to empty your wallet. Maybe block the WRX Classifieds and eBay. 

[byoshio82]

1 hour ago, leezer99 said:

Prepare to empty your wallet. Maybe block the WRX Classifieds and eBay. 

His first set of clubs is a Nike TW lefty set I found that has a kids version of the elder wand. Found some of the US kids trainer grips and let him figure it out from there. With as much stuff as I tinker with he will have plenty of stuff to choose from in true WRX fashion! Hand me downs will be a real nice bag I’m sure. 
 

Just built my wife her first real set as she had been using my Grandmas old cobras since she plays golf maybe 3-5 times a year. With our 5 year old getting the golf bug she wants to play more.  She’s got a 2016 M2 driver (This thing somehow continues to hold its own), Sim 2 max 3w, Sim 2 max 3H, Cobra Irons and Wedges and a Scotty Del Mar she decided was going in her bag out of my putter collection.  

[darter79]

you left out the option for 8 birds 2-3 dubs and a few bogs in there. Kids are all over the place until you learn to get rid of big number and have better course management and of course distance control learning to play in windy conditions all of that. Great topic love it. 

[RobS]

An interesting experiment for juniors or any golfer for that matter is to play some practice rounds with no regard for the pin position.  Leave the range finder in the bag and play off the sprinkler head yardage to the middle of the green for every approach.  A solid player is typically going to end up with more birdie looks than anticipated while limiting their bogeys (or worse).  Phase 2 is to play your normal game.  After you hole out, place a ball dead center of the green and putt out.  Record your actual score, then record your score from the middle of the green as if it was a green in reg.  Compare the scores at the end.  A solid player will be hard pressed to beat the score of the ball placed in the middle of the green.  This isn't to imply that hitting every green, playing to the middle, is easy or even realistic.  It's to show that shooting consistently low scores doesn't require having your foot on the gas and that's there's huge value in simply hitting the green.  "Bogey avoidance" is a trendy phrase these days but there's truth to it when it comes to scoring.  Bogeys or worse are killers. 

PGA Tour avg birdies per round in 2023 was 3.7.  These are the best players in the world playing on high quality greens.  5 or 6 birdie rounds are usually going to include draining some lower percentage putts.  Hitting approach shots close with any consistency is exceptionally difficult, even at the highest level.  Average proximately to the hole last year on Tour from 100-125 was 20'-2".  Most juniors consider this range and ever further to be 'green light'.

 

To answer the actual question, my son typically plays too aggressive on approaches and mixes in a few bogeys with a few birdies.  Half or more of the bogeys are essentially unforced errors.