What a frustrating game!!

Since I starting tracking my stats the first of the summer I know that I need to hit more fairways and when I can do that I usually hit more GIR's. So, I've been working on these area's with some slight improvement over the last couple of months. I was off work yesterday and got a group together to go play RTJ The Shoal to play Fighting Joe. My stats for the last 37 rounds are fairways - 47.9%, GIR's 24.8% and average 31 putts per round and my hdcp hovers at 12-13.

Yesterday I had my best ball striking round of the year. 12/14 fairways, 11/18 GIR's but I ended up with 40 putts. Yep, I had 5 three putts and shot 85. For me that's a good score on that course (71.5/130) and I'm not really complaining, it's just frustrating to think about the "what if" and all the shots I just threw away. Aside from the putts, I had 3 chips that were chunked that lead to bogie and 2 in the water that cost.

I guess that's why we love the game so much, always in search of that perfect round without the "WHAT IF"

Driver, irons, putter. When all three are happy usually your score is happy.  Golf is very humbling, when you think youre striping everything perfect thats when the golf gods throw in a bad bounce or a spike mark in front of your putt. lol In golf I dont believe there is a perfect round. Shoot a 59 you'll think about that putt for a 58.

i think of golf a different way. it's got three variables; driving, irons/woods and putting. All three combined = a great score, if 2 are on point = average score, if 1 is on point = less than average score. i use em as tradeoffs. if i'm at the range and i'm hittin my irons eh...i focus on chipping/putting, while making sure i put it in the fairway off the tee. if i'm putting like crap, i'm addressing the ball in the fairway with more intent/focus if my irons are on, firing at pins. i tend to be more aggressive on days i'm not putting well, at least on approaches. days i'm not driving well, i've been known to pull an iron instead on moderate par 4's just so i know what i got goin in (even if it means it's 180-220 out).

"I hate this game so much i quit it 4 days a week."

Stats are great but can also be a bit misleading. If you play large greens and hit a lot of greens, you may have more putts than normal. When I miss greens and my chipping is better than normal, the stats say I had a great day putting. Really I just had a lot of chips onto the green instead of 5-irons. If my irons are just a bit off (as opposed to way off), I can hit a lot of greens but leave myself 60-80 foot putts. Leave yourself a few of those and you will three-putt. Do it enough and have an bad putting day, and suddenly you have 40 putts but mostly because your iron play was a bit off. We all have good putting days when we leave ourselves five foot birdie putts all day. Not so much when they all seem to be 60 foot down hill triple breakers.

You're not obsessing enough ... that's your problem right there.

theres always the what if in every round, that's why were amateurs, but!!!  Even the pros miss-hit, mis-chip, mis-putt, its part of the game.  I used to dwell on the missed strokes after a round.  As I am now older, I am more calm, and see the up-side a little more.  Be happy you hit 12-14 fairways, and 11-18 greens, set your goals the same for the next round and know your putting will improve, or maybe that is the next step in lowering your scores.  I used to hit 12 fairways and 12-14 greens per round and was a low single, if you can get your fairways and greens consistently at, or near your last round your well on your way!!

I would be working on your lag putting.  You don't ever want to average over 2.0 putts per GIR.  Great stats on the GIR with 11 of  18.  That is good stuff!

I'm usually a pretty good lag putter. One of the bets we have on our normal game is if you have a long birdie putt, you have to leave your putt inside the length of the flag stick or you pay everyone a $1, also if your putting for bird from inside the length of the pole and you leave it short, you pay everyone a $1. Granted our home course green aren't near as big as the RTJ greens, on those green it could get real expensive

I think I see your putting problem... you're playing an RTJ course.  I've played Grand National, Capitol Hill, Silver Lakes, Oxmoor Valley and Hampton Cove (short course) and I've never seen a collection of elephant graveyards like that in my life.  The undulation rivals anything on Tour and if you aren't used to putting on greens like that, it can be frustrating.  Simply hitting a green makes nothing.  You can miss the proper tier by a couple of feet and still need someone to tend the flag.

Oh yeah... and Roll Tide.

It is indeed a frustrating game and I had one yesterday.  You have the answer, you have to putt well to score well.  yesterday I just couldn't putt (39 putts) and of course eventually that feeds into the rest of game as you're trying to make it lousy putting somewhere else in your game.  When I look at my putting stats Vs final score I can see I NEVER have a good round unless I putt at least average (32 or fewer putts).  I keep other stats like Fairways and GIR but saves and putts are what count in making a good round.  Spending time on the putting and chipping greens is the answer for me.