For a FULL 18-hole round, how does your back-9 compare to your front-9 ?

[nsxguy]

I realize that most respondents probably have NOT kept records so your responses will be anecdotal in nature.

 

But on your "great", "average" and "poor", 18-hole rounds, how do your front and back 9s most often go ?

 

I think most options are covered. If not, I hope they don't matter.

Edited May 17 by nsxguy

[iacas]

I looked at just over a hundred rounds earlier today. The USGA would have heaps and heaps of data on this from hole-by-hole scores as well as other bits of data.

 

I think people would be surprised at how different nines can be. IMO, people need to stop assuming that if they play well on the front they'd continue to play well on the back. That doesn't happen very often, and players are MUCH more likely to sort of revert to their average than to continue to play well and produce an outstanding score.

[LBB]

I don't have a pattern.  I play enough golf where it all evens out in terms of "tendencies".

 

What I will say though is that 15-20 years ago, there was rarely a round where I played poorly on the front and great on the back because I mentally checked out and was just in **** it mode for the remainder of the round.  So now I do sometimes have rounds of 45-38, or my wildest round of 51-34.  But that just means I balance out to the rounds where I shoot 38-45, 39-49, etc.

[RoverTiger]

I've had days when the front nine was a sign of what was to come for the whole round (good or bad), days when I seemed to run out of gas on the back, and times when I seemed to kick it into another gear after a rough front. 

 

I guess it just varies for me with no discernible trends.

[pseudoswede]

All of the above. I'm that inconsistent.

[b.mattay]

Statistically, they are within 0.1 shots of each other! 

However, for going low, the back 9 is almost always better! 

 

I have probably 30 rounds on a back 9 that equal or better my second best front nine score ever:

Best front=-7 

2nd best front=-4 

 

Best back=-6 (six times)

2nd best back=almost uncountable

[Velcade]

Back is usually better than the Front by 2 or 3 strokes. 

Edited May 17 by Velcade

[doctorgriffo]

Always better  on the front 9, and would be a + handicap if I only posted 9 hole scores. For whatever reason, 4-5 hours is too long for me, and my focus and concentration really fade after about 3h. I also lose patience with slow play, and frustration boils up on the back nine on those 5 hour days (I’ve walked in on many occasions when there are 2 groups on the tee box, or one group just leaving the tee and another waiting). I like to play quickly, and the back 9 logjams kill me.

I have shot many sub-par front 9/9 hole scores, but have never broken par for 18.

[ChaosTheory]

Typical good round 40-38 in either order 

Average round 42-40

Bad round 44-42
 

Of course I have the occasional 47-42.  But not very often. 
 

Not many birdies or doubles.

Edited May 17 by ChaosTheory

[Roejye]

On 5/17/2024 at 1:44 PM, pseudoswede said:

All of the above. I'm that inconsistent.

 

 

I'm not a good golfer, but I wouldn't say I'm a bad golfer. I'm very inconsistent, like you're joking about. The one thing I'll say about my inconsistency, it's fairly consistent lol.

 

On 5/17/2024 at 1:59 PM, b.mattay said:

Statistically, they are within 0.1 shots of each other! 

However, for going low, the back 9 is almost always better! 

 

I have probably 30 rounds on a back 9 that equal or better my second best front nine score ever:

Best front=-7 

2nd best front=-4 

 

Best back=-6 (six times)

2nd best back=almost uncountable

 

On 5/17/2024 at 4:29 PM, ChaosTheory said:

Typical good round 40-38 in either order 

Average round 42-40

Bad round 44-42
 

Of course I have the occasional 47-42.  But not very often. 
 

Not many birdies or doubles.

Looking at my stats for 18 holes, the general trend is better on the back than the front it's usually pretty close but usually a shot or so better on the back 9. I have had some rounds where the back 9 is worse, but that's not the norm.

 

I will say there is probably a lot of things that effect my stats though and makes it tough to give an answer with decent data.  First of all is just a lot of noise from a small sample size, I've only played 15 18 hole rounds, while I've probably played over 150 9 hole rounds since I started keeping track. Secondly, when I am playing 18, it's usually a new course to me, so there's usually a little bit of a feeling out process. 

 

So, to make a long story even longer, in regards to the poll I haven't had what I feel is a great 18, but my best 18 was 41 on the front and 40 on the back on a par 68. Very good for my skill level, but I wouldn't consider it great.

Edited May 20 by Roejye

[SurfDuffer]

I'm a dedicated walker and things generally go down hill for me around the 13th or 14th hole.  I've been -1 thru 14 only to finish +5 and numerous times even or -1 for 9 holes.  +5 stands as my lowest score.  The legs get tired and I lose my timing and get sloppy.

[Kai Slater]

I typically get better as the round progresses.  Most all of my "blow up disaster" holes come early in the round, then as I get warmed up, my ball striking improves dramatically.  Overall though, I'm wildly inconsistent.  For a few holes, I'll hit the ball like a pro, string together some pars and a birdie........then two holes later, I look like I just took up the game that day, playing like a beginner hack.

[mshills]

Pre-accident I was a notoriously slow starter. Tried everything in changing / structuring / lengthening / shortening warm up routine but the pattern was still there. I think the biggest differential I ever had was 50 😳 - 37, was somewhere around a 5 index at that time. 
 

That pattern is gone now, post-accident a few more years and a lot more city mileage on the body means I tend to get tired and fold up late. Thankfully I no longer am prone to the slow start. That will get better but there’s no way to make it get better quickly, it’s sticking with my fitness regimen and playing more. Cool with me. 

[North Butte]

No pattern whatsoever, in the long run. I'll go through spells of getting off to a bad start or finshing badly for a few rounds in a row. But as confirmed by my previous analytics over the years, my scores on "front" and "back" average out to exactly the same, give or take a fraction of a stroke. Any tendencies I think I have are just a illusion based on short-term or selective recall. 

[Hawkeye77]

I'm not really understanding all the distinctions.

 

Our back nine is relatively harder than the front nine and on average if I want to have a really good or great round, scoring well on the back is almost always part of the equation.   

 

 

 

 

[dugue4]

I am all over the place.  The only thing I can say is my good rounds I make 3-4' putts and my bad rounds I build a lot of snowmen.

[IndyArcher]

Almost without exception my back is better/more consistent than the front when I ride. My one exception is a very hilly course I frequently walk for exercise. When I carry my clubs on a warm/hot day, the last 3-4 holes really seem to suffer.

 

Have a buddy I play with frequently. We are polar opposites. He always scores well on the front and loses steam on the back. I take too long to get in the 'groove' on the front and then do better on the back. We've talked about this for the last couple of years it is so predictable. 

[Dewdman42]

I think you need one more possible selection for question 2, which is "all of the above".  I have found no consistency other than my great rounds are great on both the front and the back.  My average rounds could be just about any combination except for lousy on both front and back...which will not turn out average.

 

 

Edited May 20 by Dewdman42

[nsxguy]

On 5/17/2024 at 1:32 PM, nsxguy said:

I realize that most respondents probably have NOT kept records so your responses will be anecdotal in nature.

 

But on your "great", "average" and "poor", 18-hole rounds, how do your front and back 9s most often go ?

 

I think most options are covered. If not, I hope they don't matter.

 

10 minutes ago, Dewdman42 said:

I think you need one more possible selection for question 2, which is "all of the above".  I have found no consistency other than my great rounds are great on both the front and the back.  My average rounds could be just about any combination except for lousy on both front and back...which will not turn out average.

 

 

 

Well, I'm quite sure pretty much everybody has "all of the above" rounds here and there, but the OP did say "how do your front and back 9s most often go". 

 

But thanks for voting(?).  👍

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 20 by nsxguy

[Dewdman42]

as I said, question 2 does not have the option to say "there is no pattern there is more than any other pattern.  could be two mediocre 9's, could be great front lousy back, could be lousy front, great back.  They all apply equally the same.  There is no way for me to answer the poll without that option.

[nsxguy]

16 minutes ago, Dewdman42 said:

as I said, question 2 does not have the option to say "there is no pattern there is more than any other pattern.  could be two mediocre 9's, could be great front lousy back, could be lousy front, great back.  They all apply equally the same.  There is no way for me to answer the poll without that option.

 

No worries.

[Greenie]

19 hours ago, Dewdman42 said:

as I said, question 2 does not have the option to say "there is no pattern there is more than any other pattern.  could be two mediocre 9's, could be great front lousy back, could be lousy front, great back.  They all apply equally the same.  There is no way for me to answer the poll without that option.

 

I agree. The only one I could answer is Great 18 hole round.  My best rounds are when I play well on both nines. 37-37

Going by my most recent rounds...41-41, 42-42, 41-47, 46-42, 43-42, 47-41. 

My worst rounds this year have been when I shoot upper 40's on both nines. My average rounds have been when one side is upper 40's and one side is lower 40's. My best rounds are when I shoot in the lower 40's on both sides. When I shoot in the 70's I have never had a 9 hole score over 40.

[Oostiesalbacore]

If I can stay in rhythm, I don’t see a huge difference but the back 9 is usually a stoke or two better. 
 

If I get out of rhythm, usually by getting annoyed at a backed up course, my game goes down the tubes pretty fast. My front nines are pretty consistent but if I end up waiting around a lot at a backed up 10th, I get thrown out of sorts. 

[Tom7]

I have a bad habit of expecting perfection on the front 9. The first bad shot rattles me and I start to think "I need to get that one back." That thought leads to super aggressive, risky shots that end up getting me into even more trouble.

 

By the 8th or 9th my goal of perfection is gone and I start to stay in the present. Just think less and focus on the shot in front of me. Usually translates to 3 or 4 shots lower on the back 9.

 

Drives me nuts that I keep doing it - would play much better if I could maintain that mindset across all 18.

[naval2006]

Back nine at my home course are way harder. But I just show up, spend 5 minutes on the putting green and tee off. Imagine my 4 or 5 first holes… Then I settle. So from then on things are usually smoother and some decent golf usually shows up for the rest of the round. 

[ChipNRun]

In the original organization of my home course, three of the first four holes could be disastrous for those not single-digit HDCPers:

 

• A tight par 4 with a deep swale 170 yards out from green...
• A risk-reward par 4 with a forced carry over a nature area to a shallow green with a spoon depression in the front right quadrant / (and the greenside bunkers are eroded)...
• And a stovepipe dogleg hole with a down-hill final approach fronted by a gone-wild wetland patch.

A couple of seasons ago, the management reversed the nines. Now, the horror holes start out the back nine. As long as I get to start on the new front nine, the nine scores are about the same (because I'm warmed up before I face the horror holes.) But, if they go nostalgic and start us on the new No. 10 (old No. 1), back nine is probably three strokes higher. 

 

[1puttTUT]

I'd say pretty much the same 😅

 

[Need4spd]

Lately, a lot better. Since trying to implement some swing changes, the front nine has become a warmup nine for me.