Stringing 18 holes together.

[Yossarian]

So, I've been playing about two years now. Playing seriously proberly about a year or so. The last couple of months I've had broken 40 for the first time on "real" golf courses. A 39 and today a 38.

Both times I have kept my emotions in check pretty well I think but the back nine has still turned to shit. 9 points and 13 points today.

I know all about the doctor bob stuff, not adding up the score ect ect. It works for me to an extent.

My question is thus. How long was it before you strung 18 good holes together? Years, months? The first time you broke 40?

[sms316]

The first time you broke 40?

11 years of age.

Harden up Nancy Boy.

[Ferrins]

Tiger did it when he was 3 yrs old.

[timah!]

Ultimately its about finding what works best for you?

Do you maintain the same pre-shot routine throughout? Does adding your score up bother you or help you?

Could also be as simple as do you drink enough water and eat enough (proper) food?

[Minor_Threat]

It all about being comfortable in that position.. The more you start shooting lower scores the more comfortable you will be and the less you think about it!

[sms316]

Have you considered the medicinal powers of James Beam?

[Johnny Canuck]

Have you considered the medicinal powers of James Beam?


there is a lot of truth in that statement.

[rodders]

probably about 14 yo.

try not to keep score. you're playing 18 not 9 so i couldn't give a rats what score after 9. play each hole on it's merits.

[3oneday]

Was it in a comp yoss ?

[Yossarian]

It was both times 3. I don't count non comp stuff, no pressure really.

I think there is much truth what MT said, I guess I will get more comfortable as I do it more often.

The whole trying not to keep score thing is hard cause you sort of have to keep score as you go. But I know what you mean, but you still know you are playing well.

I said to Mega today that I knew I was playing well on about the fourth hole, but my momentum didn't break until the 12th, weird.

[AndyP]

If you are playing well enough to get yourself in a good scoring position, why think that your good play can't continue?

FWIW I don't know how to answer the thread title question, as it is very relative or when I broke 40 points.

[Yossarian]

A good point P, I guess I am accustomed to stuffing up and so expect a blow up or two at some point. I guess accepting you are going to mess up should occur after it happens. Not thinking about accepting it before it happens.

[David Williams]

Yoss you are out there to play 18 golf holes. Not 2 nines.

18 individual holes. Why should adding up your score after nine have any effect on the following nine? I know it does because you think about what could be now that you have a great score going.

Pre-shot routine should be there to help distill a calmness and readiness before a shot. If you are standing over a ball at address on the back nine and find yourself thinking about your score or having negative thoughts then you are obviously not focused and ready for the shot at hand.

Try this before the next time you go out to play... Set yourself a goal of committing 100% to every shot you play from the 1st hole to the last. If you hit a shot on the back nine and you know you didn't commit and have thoughts which are negative or what might happen in the future, then reset for the next shot. Stay on target no matter what has happened, does happen or you think may happen. It's just a silly game and you can try again next time if you don't succeed. Try not to place so much importance on your score... golfers only tend to do that when they have a good score going. Hit it, find it and hit it again...

[Yossarian]

Cheers willow, good advice. :)

It is funny because I've read some of the advice being offered for this sort of issue before but it doesn't really make sense until you find yourself in a position that requires that advice.

[Yossarian]

thinking about it, I definitly have an attitude of "two nines". When I get through one I think job done there and reset mentally. Probably not a good option.

[David Williams]

We usually only sit up and take notice when information is pertinent to us. That's why men turn over when tampon commercials come on TV

[Yossarian]

They have ads for tampons on TV?

[David Williams]

Now you are thinking the right way... just take it to the course. ;)

[Yossarian]

:D

[Dotty]

Harness in the good energy, block out the bad. Harness. Energy. Block. Bad. It's like a carousel. You put the quarter in, you get on the horse, it goes up and down, and around. Circular, circle. Feel it. Go with the flow.

[Yossarian]

:smt046

Thanks dotty.

[LarryLong]

I'm very similar to you in this regard, although my eventual round-ending meltdown seems to come at a random time each game. In my case it is probably a loss of concentration, although I'm the least intense person in the world and I'm barely concentrating at the best of times.Often I will only realise after two or three bad shots that I have stopped doing something basic like watching the ball or setting up correctly.

However, I read this thread and thought I'd pose a question. I know you're a cricketer, so ponder this. When you get going with the bat and you pass 50, are you thinking about turning it into a ton by pressing the attack or are you telling yourself to be extra careful and not get out? Most people are the former, maybe until they get into the 90s and start getting nervous, but that's beside the point. Generally, when you're going well and seeing it like a football you get into that frame of mind where you play with confidence and you don't stand there thinking about how long it is going to be before you spoon one to gully because deep down you know you're a shit batsman.

Think about that. :)

[Yossarian]

I am a shit bat. But thankyou. :)

[LarryLong]

Haha, well, so am I nowadays, but I don't start missing the pitch when I've got 4-for either. :)

Actually, I think I'm very close to retiring from cricket to play golf, but that's another thread.

[Yossarian]

I am tossing up cricket this season, the club politics really got me down last year.

[Choppa]

The closer I get to the 18th when I am playing well, the more my focused my swing thought becomes on how easily I hit a massive push fade. So I start getting tentative, aiming left and pulling the ball way left. That's about when it all turns to shit for me. Just can't seem to not care about those last few holes.

[Yossarian]

I really like Willows idea here. Focus on each shot as the indvidual job, do the job. Switch of. New job. Do it. Repeat. Ride that pony.

[CobraSS]

The closer I get to the 18th when I am playing well, the more focused my swing thought becomes on how easily it will be to beat all the other Ozgolfers and hit the handbrake at the same time. So I start getting the lever ready, aiming left and pulling the handbrake on easy at first. That's about all it needs at first. Then just ease on a bit more handbrake, can't seem to not win the cash and prizes, without losing those precious few h/c strokes.

:twisted:

[Choppa]

ROFL!!!!

[David Williams]

I really like Willows idea here. Focus on each shot as the indvidual job, do the job. Switch of. New job. Do it. Repeat. Ride that pony.
Good Luck... I hope you see some kind of improvement in your mental game from it.

If I am playing well and start getting ahead of myself I tend to play a mental game... I pretend I'm 4 over and trying to get back to even. Keep pushing to catch up to my goal. Don't consolidate or protect... keep playing well and getting the job done.

and remember... there's always tomorrow ;)

[Yossarian]

Cheers, I might have to bump that up to 10 over but I get your point.

[Johnny Canuck]

A couple thoughts Yoss:

I fully agree about committing to every shot. I hate hitting a bad shot, but can accept it if I tried to play the right shot and fully committed to it. If I play a weak shot because I was nervous about the consequences, etc, I get pissed.

Also, you've only been playing a shot time and were playing off 23 about 8 months ago. You're not supposed to be shooting 78 yet. Keep doing what you are doing, it will come.

[Yossarian]

Cheers JC, wise words!

[Veefore]

Good luck Yoss.

I've been playing on and off for a few years now and I have no idea. I think I must get bored half way through and just stop concentrating on each shot because I'll always have a 3 or 4 hole run where I blow my round. I do tend to get bored with things and lose inte

[Golfnut]

Great thread......some golden thoughts/advice here I can use.

[MegaWatty]

I reckon if your shot on the 1st (our 10th) had have travelled the required 10cm more and cleared the bunker you'd have not have died off.

Even though you got up and down I think it brought in the thoughts that it can fall apart.

You played very solidly today mate on a course playing ultra tough. Only a few blokes beat you. Take heart in that.

[Johnny Canuck]

Looking forward to Yoss shooting 22 points on Sunday in the encore performance.

[David Williams]

I reckon if your shot on the 1st (our 10th) had have travelled the required 10cm more and cleared the bunker you'd have not have died off.

Even though you got up and down I think it brought in the thoughts that it can fall apart.

So you are saying the result of 1 shot influenced the rest of his round?

If what you are saying is true then he will never shoot a good score over an entire 18 holes of golf.... NEVER!!! A round of golf is filled with highs and lows no matter what the score ends up being. Has anyone ever hit every single shot in a round of golf perfect? What percentage of shots in a round do you consider to be great shots?

If the approach and mental preparation is 100% for a shot and the resulting shot is less than desirable, then we can put that down to the human factor... We're not robots. Accepting that every shot is not going to be perfect, the best thing that we can control then is our preparation and focus before every shot happens to give ourselves the best possible chance of hitting a good shot. Hitting a shot when you are thinking about events in the past or future will influence that shot and most times that will be detrimental. Walking off the course knowing that your approach to 100% of shots was acceptable then you will accept your score as the best possible score you could've had that day. We will always think we could've/should've/would've had better.

It's no different than a golfer who says they always play the 15th hole bad... in the end its for no other reason than they say they always play the 15th hole bad. Negative from the outset. Pick a target, hit it at the target and then go find it. Repeat until you finish the hole... Standing on the tee telling yourself you always hit your tee shot in the trees on this hole normally won't send the ball down the middle of the fairway.

If anyone has a nemesis hole I dare them to stand on that tee, pick a target out and focus on hitting the ball at that target with 100% conviction.

[Rod Morri]

.....What percentage of shots in a round do you consider to be great shots?.....

Interesting concept Willow. Ben Hogan set the figure at five per round....if he it five shots per round exactly the way he wanted he considered that a very good round. In his book "How I Play Golf" Tiger quoted that figure and said words to the effect "I'm yet to reach those lofty heights...."
As you point out the game is a procession of good, bad and indifferent in every round....even your very best. From the highlights I saw Appleby hit his fair share of so so shots in that 59 the other day (not bad shots but certainly not great) and I don't think anybody would suggest that wasn't a great round.

[Yossarian]

I think my new approach will revolve around getting blind drunk before teeing off.

[KristianJ]

What? You weren't doing that already?

[McMw]

how this would relate, I don't know, but acc to Haney, you need to be good single digit capper to consistently break 80 (which I assume is the goal here)...

[Yossarian]

No shit.

[timah!]

I think you should do a year long study into that approach Yossarian!

[Veefore]

I forgot to mention but I spoke to the Pro at Hartfield about your plight this morning and he simply said "He doesn't play enough, no one can be consistent if they aren't playing regularly" and I think he may have been right. I know how inconsistent I become when I'm not playing regularly compared to when I am.

[Yossarian]

I play a bit lots of social rounds at crap courses. Usually shoot low forties sometimes 30's.

Good point though.

[MegaWatty]

Or you can play once a week like me and be consistently shit.

[razaar]

On this subject I guess we can only talk to our own experiences. I never know when I am about to shoot a good score, it just happens. Whenever things start clicking I've learnt (the hard way) to get as relaxed as possible. The trick that has helped me is to think of something other than golf swing, something that really interests me and focus on that. The key is to be relaxed and free of tension. Tight muscles are slow muscles, which are not conducive to good golf.

Yoss, thinking of downing a few Jimbo's with SMS may be worth a try, as a swing thought.;)

[Golfnut]

What I find frustrating is once you've gone low (80 or below) every other score from then on that's above THAT score seems not so great......that's the hardest thing to get out of my head.

[Yossarian]

On this subject I guess we can only talk to our own experiences. I never know when I am about to shoot a good score, it just happens. Whenever things start clicking I've learnt (the hard way) to get as relaxed as possible. The trick that has helped me is to think of something other than golf swing, something that really interests me and focus on that. The key is to be relaxed and free of tension. Tight muscles are slow muscles, which are not conducive to good golf.

Yoss, thinking of downing a few Jimbo's with SMS may be worth a try, as a swing thought.;)

Ray that is what killed me today, once I relaxed a little on the back nine I boomed some drives. My mental approach was good but looking back I focused a little too much on and wasn't aware enough of my body physically tensing. Oh well there is always next time :)

[McMw]

What I find frustrating is once you've gone low (80 or below) every other score from then on that's above THAT score seems not so great......that's the hardest thing to get out of my head.

i like this...
for me, I doubt I'll ever touch my lowest score at my home course, but knowing that I could have break par for a particular round, had I had proper concentration coming down the last few holes is what's frustrating...

[adlo]

What I find frustrating is once you've gone low (80 or below) every other score from then on that's above THAT score seems not so great......that's the hardest thing to get out of my head.

That is like saying Stuart Appleby should shoot 59 every time he suits up. Its not going to happen. Reality check golfnut.

[Golfnut]

Thanks :roll:

[adlo]

Thanks :roll:

I am 100% serious. If you think you are going to break your handicap every time you play you are going to become a painful golfer to be around.

[McMw]

10 Rules To Finish Off A Great Round From Hunter Mahan

01 - Play to win, not for a score
02 - Take your eyes off the prize
03 - Stay sharp with your putter
04 - Recognize a real gamble
05 - Don't fight the excitement
06 - Root hard for yourself
07 - Forget the holes up ahead
08 - The right way to play safe
09 - Keep gas in your tank
10 - Have a swing cue on call

Read More http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-instruction/2010-09/hunter-mahan-10-rules#ixzz0w9nxugOy

[sms316]

05 - Don't fight the excitement
06 - Root hard for yourself

Yoss has these covered.

[3oneday]

:lol:



This strung together yet ?

[Flavzz]

Good thread this one Yoss, I think the 2 best points are

1. Take it shot by shot
2. Avoid thinking for example "I shot 38 on the front so I better not screw this back 9 up". Let the fact you shot that score give you confidence of "I can do this" and get excited about the opportunity to go sub 80 and take your game to the next level. Then refer straight back to point 1.

[Dotty]

Set your goals lower, Yoss.

Consider any round where you finish without hurting yourself as a successful round.

http://www.ozgolf.net/showthread.php/14799-Hit-in-the-face-with-a-golf-ball.

[sms316]

Have you considered giving yourself a mid-round Uncle Doug when you are feeling a bit nervous?

[Yossarian]

Wankers.

[virge666]

It all about being comfortable in that position.. The more you start shooting lower scores the more comfortable you will be and the less you think about it!

How true is that statement !!

Pretty much the holy grail right there.

[Golfnut]

I am 100% serious. If you think you are going to break your handicap every time you play you are going to become a painful golfer to be around.

Sorry, forgot the sarcasm icon on the end of that :roll:......stating the obvious really there big fella and something I am well aware of but that little thought is at the the back of my mind at the start of every round atm........I mean surely no one goes out there not to break their handicap, after all it's YOU against the course, no one else.

That's how I feel anyway and the reason for the post. I'm sure if I can control or get rid of this thought I will keep improving......I'm slowly pulling myself out of this form slump, actually made 2 birdies in the one round yesterday which is a first, despite an overall average performance. :D

[markTHEblake]

Lots of great tips here, mostly the bleeding obvious so how come none of us can do it most of the time (if ever at all)?

[McMw]

do you guys set a "target-score" everytime you go out to play your home course?
if so - do you set it at your realistic score (say 4 over your handicap) or your "wish" score?
that might help?

I read somewhere yonks ago that your "par" any given day should be 5 over your handicap...and generally that's what I work with when I play outside courses (and I hardly come close)...but for my home course, I set that score to only 2 over my hcp...

[Daves]

Lots of great tips here, mostly the bleeding obvious so how come none of us can do it most of the time (if ever at all)?

Mostly because of LOFT!

[virge666]

Lots of great tips here, mostly the bleeding obvious so how come none of us can do it most of the time (if ever at all)?

Imagine learning to be a surgeon/plumber/carpernter/welder etc. when you only practice it for 4 hours every couple of weeks - how long would it take you to become any good at it ?

[Veefore]

do you guys set a "target-score" everytime you go out to play your home course?
if so - do you set it at your realistic score (say 4 over your handicap) or your "wish" score?
that might help?

I read somewhere yonks ago that your "par" any given day should be 5 over your handicap...and generally that's what I work with when I play outside courses (and I hardly come close)...but for my home course, I set that score to only 2 over my hcp...


The USGA handicapping system was supposedly calculated to round out to about 3 strokes under your average. That means that if your handicap is 7 then your average score is likely to be somewhere around 10 over. I believe that they also have stats relating to how often players at different handicap ranges will hit their handicap or beat it but can't remember where I saw it.

For me personally I never have a set score in mind. I generally have something that I am working on at the time and it is that which I use as my measuring stick during a round. For example, "Anyways". These are shots where I wasn't comfortable or didn't feel I had the right club etc. but still hit the ball "anyway". For me they contribute to more bogies and doubles than anything. If I get through a hole without an "anyway" then I have achieved my goal on that hole. Hopefully, when I tally up my score I'll have a decent one.

On saturday in the first round of the club champs I started out par, par but then ran off 7 bogies in a row. While others were imploding all over the course I just kept to my goal of no "anyways" and finished the back nine 1 over (1 birdie and 1 double bogie due to uncontrollable circumstances). In the end I finished the day only 1 over my handicap and still in the hunt.

[MegaWatty]

I like it Veefore!

Can someone link to the USGA chart of how often certain handicap brackets break their handicap?

[AndyP]

Re "Anyways". Good one.

[Golfnut]

Re "Anyways". Good one.

Agree.....great way to describe it.....and an excellent idea to focus on next round.

[Veefore]

Instead of a link here is an article from the USGA:

How Well Should You Play?By Dean Knuth
Does it seem to you that you play a few strokes over your Course Handicap most of the time? Well, that's normal under the USGA Handicap System.

Why? The USGA Handicap System is based upon the potential ability of a player rather than the average of all his scores. The USGA's Handicap Research Team tells us that the average player is expected to play to his Course Handicap or better only about 25 percent of the time, average three strokes higher than his Course Handicap, and have a best score in 20, which is only two strokes better than his Course Handicap.

A few words and a little arithmetic may explain. A player's Handicap Index reflects his potential because it is based upon his best scores posted for a given number of rounds, ideally the best 10 of his last 20 rounds. Since the USGA has his worst 10 scores tossed out, his Handicap Index reflects his best days.

The arithmetic comes in when the golf club calculates a player's Differential for each score he posts. The Differential is the difference between a player's adjusted gross score and the USGA Course Rating of the course on which the score was made, multiplied by 113, and then the total is divided by the USGA Slope Rating from the tees played rounded off to one decimal place.

For example, if you post an 80 on a course with a Course Rating of 68.7 and a Slope Rating of 105, your Handicap Differential is 12.2. The next step entails averaging your best Handicap Differentials, which your golf club or association then will multiply by a 96-percent "bonus for excellence" factor that slightly favors the lower-handicap player. The next step is to delete all numbers after the first decimal digit, with no rounding off to the nearest tenth. Your club Handicap Committee then reviews your record, modifies it, if necessary and then issues your USGA Handicap Index.

If you have a USGA Handicap Index of 11.6, for instance, it translates into a Course Handicap of 14 when you play from the middle tees one day at a course with a Course Rating of 72.1, with a Slope Rating of 135. So a little addition (72.1 + 14) leads you to think that you will consistently shoot around 86. In reality, your score average is normally three more strokes than that, or an 89. The USGA Handicap Research Team has determined that your best score in 20 is normally only two strokes better than your Course Handicap, or an 84; the probability of your recording an 83 twice in 20 rounds is only one in 50.

A good way to think of the range of scores upon which your USGA Handicap Index is based is the old bell curve that school teachers refer to when discussing the range of scores on an exam. The scores of most players, when plotted out, are distributed on a bell curve from the high to low end of the scale. Thus, when you drop out the worst half of your scores, the average of the remaining 10 scores on the upper part of the bell curve reflect your potential ability.

Now, once in a while you will hear about someone shooting an incredible tournament score, such as a net score of 59. What are the odds of shooting a score like that? These tables (http://www.usga.org/workarea/linkit.aspx?linkidentifier=id&itemid=25495) from the USGA's Handicap Research Team have figured the odds of one exceptional tournament score up to ten strokes better than the Course Handicap.

For example, the odds of our example player with a Course Handicap of 14 beating it by eight strokes (-8 net) once is 1,138 to one. Put another way, the average player posts 21 scores a year. That means that to score this well, assuming the Handicap Index is correct, would take 54 years of golf to do it once. The odds of a player beating his Course Handicap by eight strokes twice is only 14,912 to one. That's 710 years of golf for the average player -- odds far beyond the realm of reasonableness.

Since the USGA Handicap System is designed to promote fairness during competitions, what happens if a player's scores contradict the odds and he consistently plays better than his Handicap Index when some crystal or trophies are at stake? The USGA has created a Formula - we'll spare you all the complicated arithmetic - that is outlined in the USGA Handicap System manual (http://www.usga.org/workarea/linkit.aspx?linkidentifier=id&itemid=25380) under Section 10-3, "Reduction of a USGA Handicap Index Based on Exceptional Tournament Scores." A player's USGA Handicap Index will be automatically reduced when he records at least two tournament scores in a calendar year or in his latest 20 rounds that are a minimum of three strokes better than his USGA Handicap Index. The better the scores, the greater the reduction.

The end result is you've got your USGA Handicap Index for better or for worse. Don't worry if you never seem to play to it on a given day. All golfers are in the same boat because USGA Handicap Indexes are based on a player's potential ability rather than the average of his scores. You can do your part to make the USGA Handicap System work best by making sure all "great" tournament scores by all players get posted with a "T" so that they are reviewed and used under Section 10-3.


There are some great articles on the linked pages.

[Veefore]

Another interesting one.




Did I Play to My Handicap?By Eric Lahman, Coordinator, Handicapping & Course Rating
To acquire a better understanding of the USGA Handicap System ™ , wouldn't it be nice to know what "Playing to Your Handicap" means and whether you should do this every time? The system is built around the concept of Course Rating ™ , which impacts us all even though its definition ties to a "scratch" golfer. When you are given handicap strokes, you receive the number of strokes necessary to play to the level of a scratch golfer. If the scratch golfer is supposed to shoot the Course Rating, then those handicap strokes relate to the Course rating as well.
We use the phrase "target score" regarding playing to your Handicap. How is a target score determined? First, go through the normal process of converting a Handicap Index to a Course Handicap. Then add that Course Handicap to the Course Rating. For example, a player with a USGA Handicap Index of 16.3 decides to play a course with a USGA Course Rating of 68.9 and a Slope Rating of 129. That player converts the 16.3 to a Course Handicap of 19 (using Course Handicap Tables or "Conversion Charts"), then adds 19 to 68.9, for a total of 88 (rounded). If the player shoots 88, that player has played to his or her Handicap.
So playing to your handicap is not exclusively a matter of whether you have hit the ball well or the number of putts you had, but a measurable number. It is NOT how your net score relates to par.
How often should a player do this? Recognize that your worst scores are not truly utilized in the calculation of a Handicap Index; only the best 10 scores are utilized and the worst 10 are disregarded, then the best 10 are averaged. This ratio tells us playing to a handicap happens less than half of the time. Including all of the handicap formula, the resulting probability is that playing to your handicap happens only once out of four to five rounds. The USGA isn't out to discourage you, but in order to maintain a semblance of equitable competition for players with differing skills in varying formats, we have determined this probability as the best choice for our formula. If we used all scores, those players with higher handicaps would see their values increase significantly, while those with lower values would not increase as much. This would tip the balance of the system heavily toward higher handicap players. We believe there should be an incentive toward improving one's game.
We can't all be scratch golfers, but we can set a target to strive for to play to our handicap - and we can determine what that means. And don't get discouraged if you only play to your handicap 20-25 percent of the time.

[razaar]

That pretty much sums it up for me. Good post.8-)

[hyrola]

Right now, my mentality is go out and aim for a bogey every hole. Anything better is a bonus. I've only been playing golf properly for about 7 months now. I still haven't had a round im happy with, i still havent strung 18 together. I will still have 2 or 3 hole blowouts.

Personally i don't like to add up my score till the end. I think it stresses me out. If i see im playing a bad round then ill stress more after seeing the score and think "i have to have a good hole now" and then ill crack off a drive 9 fairways over.

Thats just me.

[markTHEblake]

A player's USGA Handicap Index will be automatically reduced when he records at least two tournament scores in a calendar year or in his latest 20 rounds that are a minimum of three strokes better than his USGA Handicap Index

Interesting, I hadnt seen this rule come up in all the discussions. Possibly explains why some of the yank celebrities seem to have low handicaps? they shoot the lights out twice a year and they get murdered.

[sms316]

Interesting, I hadnt seen this rule come up in all the discussions. Possibly explains why some of the yank celebrities seem to have low handicaps? they shoot the lights out twice a year and they get murdered.
In the celebrity pro-ams they usually play off half of their USGA index.