Playing in my first comptetive round...

[shook23]

What to expect?

I entered my states Pub Links championship, since it only required that you had less then a 12 handicap. This will be my first competive solo round, what should I expect? I understand the rules, and understand that there will be officials out there to help out, but things like signing the scorecard are new to me.... any help? Thanks!

[golfhawaii]

I entered my states Pub Links championship, since it only required that you had less then a 12 handicap. This will be my first competive solo round, what should I expect? I understand the rules, and understand that there will be officials out there to help out, but things like signing the scorecard are new to me.... any help? Thanks!

 

My advice is to not make to much of it and expect a lot. The more you hype it up and expect to play your best round ever, the worse you will play. The whole outcomes vs. expectations thing seems to play true time and time again. Go out there and give it your best shot.

[ba_priddy]

I could not agree more with the reply above. Remember to always play your game and stay within your boundaries. Absorb as much as you can and stay positive regardless of score. It will make the event much more enjoyable. Best of luck.

[shook23]

Thanks for the responses so far... So do I need to keep track of all my playing partners strokes too?

[tpariff]

On the first tee you will exchange score cards with one of the guys in your group. You will keep his score on his card, and there's a tear off part of the card at the top where you keep your own score. At least that's the way the Florida State Golf Association does it.

 

Play your own game and don't try to make the 1/10 shot. Play the percentages and try to take the big number out of play. Stick with your preshot routine.

 

And remember, it is just golf, not life or death. Have fun and soak up the experience.

 

Good Luck!

[Ducky]

I take it you've never marked a card before. Basically, your group of four will exchange cards and you will be given the responsibility of marking an opponents card.

 

The opponent will be listed as 'Player A' on the card, and you will be listed as 'Marker A'. You can keep track of your opponents score if you wish (to prevent cheating), or alternatively you if you feel they are trustworthy you can simply take their calculations.

 

Make sure you confirm their score after every hole (to make sure there are no differentiations), and calculate the total score after each nine (once again, to ensure there are no differentiations).

 

Ensure both your opponent ('Player A') and you ('Marker A') have signed both cards at the end of the round, and that will pretty much finalise everything.

[jportz]

So is it a NET Pub Links tournament? I can't imagine 12 handicaps playing in a scratch tournament so it must be NET.

 

If you are allowed strokes, pay attention to the tougher holes and remind yourself that as a 12 handicap you are not going to par every hole. You get those strokes for a reason so use them wisely. Bogie is a great score on some holes, especially when your opponents are making double bogie or worse. Your goal should be to play smart and never take anything worse than a bogie. It's the doubles and triples that ruin your score...not the occassional bogies.

 

You should make sure to play a practice round on the course and take some notes (especially if you've never played it before). The most important notes to take are the "DON'T HIT IT OVER HERE" notes. Ask yourself on each tee, what's the worst shot I might hit and what would the outcome be. Is driver the best play or would it be better to hit a 5 wood and take a hazard out of play. Basically come up with a game plan and stick with it. Take note around the greens...if the there is a big nasty bunker on the left and the pin is on the left then you should take note to miss the green to the right. This way you can still make a par with a good up and down but should do no worse than bogie.

 

I strongly believe that most club players, in your handicap range, can shave 5 or more strokes off your score just by managing the course in a professional manner. Bottom line is to have fun....try to stay lose and enjoy the experience. Just remember not to ask your opponent what he hit off the tee....it seems to be a habit on par 3's so keep that in mind or it'll cost you a few strokes.

 

Good luck....let us all know how it goes when you're done.

[shook23]

No, I've never marked a card before. Thanks everyone for the help, I'll be sure to post back how it went...

[shook23]

So is it a NET Pub Links tournament? I can't imagine 12 handicaps playing in a scratch tournament so it must be NET.

 

If you are allowed strokes, pay attention to the tougher holes and remind yourself that as a 12 handicap you are not going to par every hole. You get those strokes for a reason so use them wisely. Bogie is a great score on some holes, especially when your opponents are making double bogie or worse. Your goal should be to play smart and never take anything worse than a bogie. It's the doubles and triples that ruin your score...not the occassional bogies.

 

You should make sure to play a practice round on the course and take some notes (especially if you've never played it before). The most important notes to take are the "DON'T HIT IT OVER HERE" notes. Ask yourself on each tee, what's the worst shot I might hit and what would the outcome be. Is driver the best play or would it be better to hit a 5 wood and take a hazard out of play. Basically come up with a game plan and stick with it. Take note around the greens...if the there is a big nasty bunker on the left and the pin is on the left then you should take note to miss the green to the right. This way you can still make a par with a good up and down but should do no worse than bogie.

 

I strongly believe that most club players, in your handicap range, can shave 5 or more strokes off your score just by managing the course in a professional manner. Bottom line is to have fun....try to stay lose and enjoy the experience. Just remember not to ask your opponent what he hit off the tee....it seems to be a habit on par 3's so keep that in mind or it'll cost you a few strokes.

 

Good luck....let us all know how it goes when you're done.

 

I'm almost positive it's not a NET tournament, I've seen nothing that mentions anything like that. I played 2 practice rounds, both with the yardage book wide open and taking notes with a sharpie. I've got to review my notes tonight, but pretty sure I only hit driver 5 times the entire round, so I'm getting there in the way of course management.

 

My two practice rounds have been 82 and 83, with the course having a 73.4/136 rating/slope.

 

One more question, the "rules" PDF that I got says automotive transportation is ok, as are caddies, but not pull carts. Are they calling a cart automotive transportation? Do players usually have caddies for these events? (local qualifying). My GF said she'd go, but I can't ask her to carry a bag the whole day!!!

 

Thanks again guys.

[glcoach]

I'm sure it is a gross event. Just because you have a handicap does not mean you can't play gross tournaments.. I think you only have to have like a 7 handicap to try to qualify for US Publinks Championship, so I'm sure the handicap limit is much higher for individual states, usually it's around 10.

 

Although a 10 capper probably won't win...they can still qualify try to play and judge where there game is and focus on how they need to improve.

 

Have fun, you'll probably do reasonably well since you don't know really what to expect..you'll probably have a tougher time the next tournament you play in because then you'll know what to expect.

[jportz]

For the NCGA Pub Links (California) the handicap limit is 4.4 or below for the Championship Flight so this is why I asked. A 12 handicapper playing against a feild filled with +2 and +3 handicappers seems strange to me but maybe California is the exception since we're such a big state and have so many golfers.

 

Some of the players will have caddies or friends out following them around. A caddy can pay off huge when it comes to saving you time by raking bunkers, getting yardage, and of course saving energy by carrying your bag. The best thing a caddy has done for me was to help me look for balls off the tee. Just remember if your girlfriend caddies for you that you are responsible for her actions and she can cost you a few strokes if she doesn't understand the rules.

 

Just try to settle your nerves....you're going to be nervous for sure. The biggest shock to me when I played in my first tournament was when they announced me on the tee.

 

"Now calling the 7:30 starting time. First to play, from Lemoore, California....Justin Portz"

 

I went from being semi-calm to thinking..."holy $ht...it got all quiet and everyone was staring at me....I couldn't feel my hands on the club and felt light headed all of the sudden"

 

I was thinking...Just make contact with the ball....just make contact with the ball....just make contact with the ball.

 

So you've got that to look forward to.

 

Good luck.

[Ducky]

Shook,

 

Here is a more informative website on scoring.

[wedgetoafoot]

If you hit your driver into a trash can on 17 and have a 1 stroke lead going into the 18th tee, hit driver again, I hear this a really successful strategy.

 

Just kidding, play your game, some people play better in tournaments, some play worse, don't worry which group you fall into and enjoy the intense experience you are going to get. After my first competitive round I was absolutely exhausted. I fealt like I had just taken the CPA, just stressed to the limit. But it kept me coming back for more and taught me a lot about myself and my game that I wouldn't have figured out playing recreationally.

 

Have fun.

[RJC59]

stop worrying, and you guys are putting way to much information in his head.

 

scoring is extremely easy and you will be given instructions on the tee..

 

if your confused about anything you can always ask an official or your playing partners.

 

 

Just go out there and treat it as if your playing with your buddies except your following the rules.

 

Good luck, play well and have fun.

[NPVWhiz]

One thing that will help is that unless you're a rules junkie, take a small notebook, one of those hand sized little notepads and jot down quick, easy rules answers for 4 basic rules scenarios that you're most likely to run into.

 

1. Lateral water hazard.

2. Water hazard.

3. Ground under Repair or Cartpath.

4. Provisional (the main point being that you have to announce your intention to hit a provisional), when to hit one.

 

Find out if they're going to have the one ball condition for the event, then clear your bag of other balls beyond the one you want to play.

 

One good way to gauge how you'll feel on the first tee is to do the following at your next round of golf. Find a stranger near the first tee, hand them a $100 bill and tell them they can keep it if you don't hit the fairway. If you're at all competitive, the thrill of teeing it up in competition and you're own expectations will be more of a challenge to overcome than that bill. After your 20th tournament, you'll look back and wonder why you were so nervous, but you'll begin to enjoy it more.

[shook23]

All, thanks for all the info. Let's just say that I let my nerves really get to me and had a terrible ball striking day, but broke 100.

 

Scoring was very easy, and everyone helped eachother out with rules questions etc.

Again, thanks for the help, I can only improve!!