I bottled my County Championships

[Wakey93]

1 shot in the lead with 2 holes to play

Well that was one of the worst feelings of my life so far

I was 1 over with 2 to play there was a 72 (2 over) already in the clubhouse.

17th hole 204 yard par 3-Pulled a 5 iron left and ended up taking a 5
18th hole 327 yard par 4-Went for the birdie to force play off and took a bogey ended up not even getting top 3 place with my crappy 74 (4 over)

Just wondering you ever had an experience like this and would you have gone for the birdie down the last or played safe for the par and got a top 3 place?

[dannybsj]

2nd place = loss

[AK.Fan]

definitely did the right thing going for a birdie down the last, isn't much point in doing all the hard work for 16 holes, hitting one bad shot and then thinking ill settle for 2nd. Plus you will learn a lot from it

[doctorphil]

Yes, everyone goes through it in competitive golf. My best advice would be to play as much competitive golf as you can with different players! No worries, there will be plenty more tournament to win in the future.

[pinhigh27]

How do you not go for birdie on a 327 yard par 4? I would suspect nearly everyone would be going for birdie. Hit your hybrid or whatever, then stick the wedge and make the putt. So you contemplated purposely not hitting the ball as close as possible to the hole?

[-GoldenHawk-]

I hope you didn't mean you were going for the green off the tee. Birdies happen you can't force them. Pressing is the worst thing that could possibly happen to you.

[Wakey93]

no I didn't make the last hole clear I suppose you see the yardage think its easy buts it a 2 tier green with 5 bunkers around it and pin was top right next to a pot bunker so not a hard hole but not exactly easy birdie. I went for pin instead of the fat of the green and went into the bunker.

[Clark]

Never really gave it a chance... from what I'm reading... But eventually when you've been put in the situation enough times you will begin to prevail. G.L next year

[moonshine]

[quote name='dannybsj' date='06 June 2010 - 03:20 PM' timestamp='1275855608' post='2489796']
2nd place = loss
[/quote]
Will u b my daddy?

OP, you seem like a good player and played well. There are many positives to your good play! You will get another shot for sure!

[02bluesuperroo]

Wait until you at least have major prize money on the line before you worry about trying to give up 1st to not get 4th. "If you ain't winnin', you're losin'."

[swbyps]

Is 5i what you normally hit on 17? Were you nervous? Maybe you should have taken more club and dialed the swing back a bit in order to force yourself into an easier swing. That concept works for me.

[littlepingman]

[quote name='swbyps' date='23 June 2010 - 02:47 PM' timestamp='1277318858' post='2528431']
Is 5i what you normally hit on 17? Were you nervous? Maybe you should have taken more club and dialed the swing back a bit in order to force yourself into an easier swing. That concept works for me.
[/quote]

That is an interesting concept because I believe just the opposite is true for my game. When its crunch time in a tournament and the adrenaline is pumping I prefer to hit my shots full throttle. In fact many times I'll take one less club since being pumped up I'll normally hit my shots a little further.

[hayzooos]

[quote name='littlepingman' date='23 June 2010 - 03:11 PM' timestamp='1277320270' post='2528465']
[quote name='swbyps' date='23 June 2010 - 02:47 PM' timestamp='1277318858' post='2528431']
Is 5i what you normally hit on 17? Were you nervous? Maybe you should have taken more club and dialed the swing back a bit in order to force yourself into an easier swing. That concept works for me.
[/quote]

That is an interesting concept because I believe just the opposite is true for my game. When its crunch time in a tournament and the adrenaline is pumping I prefer to hit my shots full throttle. In fact many times I'll take one less club since being pumped up I'll normally hit my shots a little further.
[/quote]


I'm in agreement here, with taking one less club. When people get nervous, most misses will be to the right. I think it's because the bigger muscles catch up speed-wise to the smaller ones, or something like that. Either way, I would rather go 100% with the pressure on, than try to take one more club and half @$$ it up there. But hey, if it works for you, then by all means, stick to it!

And I agree with superroo, unless there was serious prize money on the line, no reason to play it safe for a top 3 unless there are other benefits of top 3, like free entry fees to another tourney or something like that.

Keep at it, and good luck.

[bsugolf09]

playing the defending champ in a prestigious amateur match play tourney, i eagled 15 to go 2 up. bogey at 16, bogey at 17, and missed a 2 footer on 18 to force extra holes. massive choke that day. doesn't happen to me anymore, in fact now i elevate my game under pressure. as you get older, it will get better, as long as you keep putting yourself in that situation. when i was 17, i was playing the jr. am qualifier. i went 31-47 in tough conditions in round one. turns out i had a 5 shot lead after 9.

[im a doughball]

Nothing wrong with choking a little down the home stretch. It happens to every good player. I guarantee there are tons of guys out there that have never played well enough to have the chance to choke.

[CallawayLefty]

"If you ain't first, you're last."

--Reese Bobby

[Daywalker3]

Certainly you don't want to "play smart and play for par" in that situation just to get a top-3. Who cares if you're 3rd or 5th? Would that make you feel any better about losing a couple shots down the stretch with the lead? It shouldn't. You went for the playoff for a chance to win at the end and you didn't pull it off. That doesn't mean playing aggressive on the 18th hole wasn't the right play. Next time you could just as easily pull it off and win. Playing for a top 3 when you're one behind with one to play makes no sense at all to me.