TST 2012 Forward Tees Experiment - Results Thread

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aquaguru 

Course Name: Friendly Meadows Golf Club

Course Website: http://friendlymeadowsgolf.com/

Course Style: wooded, somewhat narrow

 

Regular Tee Yardage / Rating / Slope: 6620 / 72 / 129

Regular Tee Average Score: 77

 

Forward Tee Yardage / Rating / Slope: 4643 / 67.5 / 114

Forward Tee Predicted Score (Aggressive Round): 68

Forward Tee Predicted Score (Conservative Round):70

 

Aggressive Round Score: 62

Conservative Round Score: 67

Average 7-Iron Distance: 160

Notes: For me the aggressive round was more enjoyable, because it gave me a new challenge and a new look to a course that I play all the time.  As for a hidden strength I would say it would be my iron shots into the greens, my weakness is still putting as you will see below in my stats.  The shorter tees put more pressure on my drives during the aggressive round it took me a couple of hole to really figure out an out while still going for the green.  I learned that I really need to work on my putting.  I shot lower than my predicted scores I guess I just didn't think it would make that much of a difference in my conservative round because your really playing from where you usually score from.  Overall this was really fun and can't wait for the next experiment.

PS: I got alot of funny looks around the course when I walked up the the front tees. 

Here are some stats from my two rounds

AGGRESSIVE

GIR=15/18

Putts=29

Front 9 score= 35 (-1)

Back 9 score= 27 (-9)

Greens hit off tee= 2 and two par 5's I reached in two

CONSERVATIVE

Fairways hit= 14/14

GIR=17/18

Putts=31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jimbo Slice 

Course Name: Desert Rose

Course Website: http://www.desertrosegc.com/index.php

Course Style: Park, Tree lined, Streams, Penal if you stray

 

Regular Tee Yardage / Rating / Slope: 6511 / 69.8 / 118

Regular Tee Average Score: 100

 

Forward Tee Yardage / Rating / Slope: 5458 / 65.5 / 109

Forward Tee Predicted Score (Aggressive Round): 92

Forward Tee Predicted Score (Conservative Round):89 

Aggressive Round

Desert Rose Golf Course Forward Tees Rated for Men 65.5 / 109 Las Vegas, Nevada United States August 29, 2012............................................Aggressive Round

EAGLE BIRDIE PAR BOGEY 2BOGEY+

JIMBO SLICE	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	OUT	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	IN	TOTAL
FORWARD	286	350	150	445	170	437	355	313	120	2626	270	472	122	454	356	145	313	360	340	2832	5458
HANDICAP	10	6	16	2	14	4	8	12	18		13	1	17	3	5	15	11	7	9
PAR	4	4	3	5	3	5	4	4	3	35	4	5	3	5	4	3	4	4	4	36	71
SCORE	5	5	2	7	5	6	4	6	4	44	4	6	4	6	6	3	5	6	5	45	89
ROUND SCORE	+1	+2	+1	+3	+5	+6	+6	+8	+9	+9	+9	+10	+11	+12	+14	+14	+15	+17	+18	+18	+18
NET SCORE	5	5	2	7	5	6	4	6	4	44	4	6	4	6	6	3	5	6	5	45	89
TEE CLUB	1W	1W	8i	1W	5i	1W	1W	1W	Pw		1W	1W	Pw	1W	1W	8i	1W	1W	1W
FAIRWAYS										33%										29%	31%
GIR										44%										33%	39%
PUTTS	2	2	1	2	2	3	2	2	3	19	2	2	2	2	3	2	3	2	2	20	2.2/39
SAND SHOTS
PENALTIES				1						1				1						1	2

 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Conservative Round

Desert Rose Golf Course Forward Tees Rated for Men 65.5 / 109 Las Vegas, Nevada United States August 30, 2012.........................................Conservative Round

EAGLE BIRDIE PAR BOGEY 2BOGEY+

JIMBO SLICE	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	OUT	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	IN	TOTAL
FORWARD	286	350	150	445	170	437	355	313	120	2626	270	472	122	454	356	145	313	360	340	2832	5458
HANDICAP	10	6	16	2	14	4	8	12	18		13	1	17	3	5	15	11	7	9
PAR	4	4	3	5	3	5	4	4	3	35	4	5	3	5	4	3	4	4	4	36	71
SCORE	5	5	4	6	4	4	5	4	4	41	4	6	4	5	5	4	5	7	4	44	85
ROUND SCORE	+1	+2	+3	+4	+5	+4	+5	+5	+6	+6	+6	+7	+8	+8	+9	+10	+11	+14	+14	+14	+14
NET SCORE	5	5	4	6	4	4	5	4	4	41	4	6	4	5	5	4	5	7	4	44	85
TEE CLUB	3W	3W	7i	3W	5i	3W	1W	3W	Pw		1W	3W	Pw	3W	3W	8i	3W	1W	3W
FAIRWAYS										67%										43%	54%
GIR										33%										33%	33%
PUTTS	2	2	2	3	2	1	2	2	2	18	2	2	2	2	1	2	2	3	2	18	2.0/36
SAND SHOTS
PENALTIES																		1		1	1

 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aggressive Round Score: 89

Fairways:31%

Greens:39%

Putts:39

Pen:2

Conservative Round Score: 85

Fairways:54%

Greens:33%

Putts:36

Pen:1

Average 7-Iron Distance: 155-160 yards

Notes: The forward tees give a much different look at the course on some holes, and it was quit fun. The aggressive round was more enjoyable for me, and the conservative was more educational. I learned a lot from both rounds, and I'm tempted to try it again. I missed more fairways on the aggressive round, but i hit more greens. If that's not coincidence, I'm finding that my short irons, even out of the rough or bad lie, are more accurate then my medium to long irons coming off the fairway. Putts where lower on the conservative round cause the shots landing on the green where usually closer to the hole due to the different approach. I learned that my 3 wood is indeed more accurate off the tee, and I plan on using it for that reason more often now. I also learned that my medium to long irons need work, I cant seem to hit any greens with them, even when the lie is in the fairway. My driver was missing on both sides of the fairway during the aggressive round, and my 3 wood only missed to the left. I'm not sure what to take from it, but it happened lol.  I did get some strange looks and comments playing from the red tees lol.

PS. I'm still seeing lots of improvement daily and my estimated scores and course average may be a little off. My last three games at Dessert Rose from the back tees where 95, 94, and 93. All course bests one right after one another, all shot after I made my estimates. I have been playing allot this month, and getting better daily it seems.

I played 16 holes of my aggressive round today...pace of play was really slow and I didn`t have time to finish...I think I might be able to play two balls on the holes I skipped (16 & 17) when I play my conservative round.  Is what you would like me to try to do, or something else?

Course Name: Coyote Creek

Course Website:http://www.fortlupton.org/LINKS/golf_course.html

Course Style: rural, newer open course

Regular Tee Yardage / Rating / Slope: 6412 69.3/119

Regular Tee Average Score: 86

Forward Tee Yardage / Rating / Slope: 5166 68.2/118

Forward Tee Predicted Score (Aggressive Round): 78

Honestly I'm concerned that moving up and playing aggressive could actually lead to a higher score than usual. It brings hazards into play and it makes approach shots a challenge because I struggle with the 60* wedge. It will force me to play a style of golf I am not accustomed to. That said when I injured my back last month I did move up when I went out, actually I moved up and hit longer clubs in an effort to not reinjure myself. It was arguable the worst I played all year. Haven't played since so I'm not sure how much the injury affected me.

Aggressive Round Score:  75

Conservative Round Score:  73

Average 7-Iron Distance: 175

Notes: Okay I was wrong and I posted all of my original post because of the relevance. What surprised me the most was how participating in the experiment affected my focus. I wanted to play well and the biggest factor was I hit nearly every FIR. The ones I missed were just a few feet in some instances inches into the first cut. I decided not to hit driver and remarkably I hit my 3w better than I have all year. I thought shortening up the course would bring hazards into play and it did but I had more confidence after a few holes and I made the effort to hit beyond the trouble and made an effort to hit it straight. Doing this made me rethink how I play. Mostly because I struggle with wedge shots in the 40-80y range. Had I not duffed a few of those I would have scored better. I was on track to shoot even par or less but a couple of errant wedge shots led to missed greens and a couple of double bogeys late in both rounds. The other bogeys were the result of missed short putts that were left on the edge. I realize now that focus or lack of is what hinders me, eliminating unforced errors via a few missed short putts and bad the wedge shots would do wonders regardless of what tees I play. I am going to play again today, from my usual tees, and I am somewhat confident I will break 80 for the first time this year if I can keep my head in it. The driver will stay in the bag again. I do want to work it out but the 25 or so yards lost is worth hitting a 2nd shot from the fairway.

Quote:

Originally Posted by utztech 

Course Name: Longbow Golf Club

Course Website: http://www.longbowgolf.com

Course Style: Desert, Stay on the grass or you probably will be taking an unplayable

 

Regular Tee Yardage / Rating / Slope: 6513 / 69.9 /125

Regular Tee Average Score: 81

 

Forward Tee Yardage / Rating / Slope: 5202 / 66.5 / 114

Forward Tee Predicted Score (Aggressive Round): 74

Forward Tee Predicted Score (Conservative Round): 78

 

I guess I signed up after the period expired, but here are my results anyway.

Aggressive Round Score: 72 

Conservative Round Score: 73

Average 7-Iron Distance: 160

Notes: 

 I was surprised at how well I scored.  Granted, my 81 average is probably a little high because I have been improving lately, but the 72 was my best round ever, and the 73 tied my best round ever (which was from the 5900 yard tees at the same course. My best round from the 6500 yard tees is 75)  As expected the aggressive round played to my strengths, which are driving and wedges.  By far the worst part of my game is mid and long irons.  I probably was a bit too aggressive in my conservative round because I hit 3 hybrid off the tee instead of long irons.  I think that contributed to the score being so much lower than I expected.  I felt that if I used my long irons off the tee I would be duck-hooking them etc, and that was not fair either.

a. Did you find that the aggressive or conservative round was more enjoyable?

 - Aggressive since it played to my strengths.  I hit nothing into a green longer than a 9 iron all round.  I think I could do even better with a few more rounds at those tees.  I did not know where to aim a few times and hit the ball through the fairway into the junk on dog-legs.

b. Did you discover a hidden strength or weakness in your game?

No

c. On which area of your game did the shorter tees put pressure?

Mid range putting.  Getting on the green and two putting was not a victory anymore, I wanted birdies.  I was looking at a lot of birdie putts inside 20 feet and I wanted to make more of them.  Normally I have very few chances at that length during a round so it does not seem as important to work on that putting distance.  Its not a distance you are going to 3 putt from really, so I normally work on long and short putts.

d. Did you have more fun than normal? Will you occasionally play shorter tees for fun?

I did because I was scoring like never before.  I think it would get boring to do it all the time, but I will be moving up more often just to remind myself of the things I learned.

e. What'd you learn?

 I found that with no pressure to hit it long I made smooth swing that went as far, or further, than normal with more control.  Also, standing on the tee of that long par 4 (which is 370 now instead of 440) I felt no pressure, so I of course bomb it out there.  That taught me something about the mental game too. 

f. Did you shoot your predicted score(s), and if not, why not? If so, was it for the reasons you suspected?

 Better than expected.  I may have just had some good days, but I suspect I was hitting it so mush better because of the reduced pressure.  I also started to think about birdies a lot more and I think that helped me score better.

Aggressive Round Score: 80

Conservative Round Score: 77

Average 7-Iron Distance: 163

Notes: Conservative round was more enjoyable.  I mostly played to the 150 marker on every hole that I could except the par 5's and 3's.  I either hit my 3 wood or 5 wood off the tees.  I did notice on my approach shots I was much more accurate playing conservatively and actually hit the ball the same distance or even further.  here is one kicker, I hit over 80% of my greens in regulation but 3 putted 4 times.  My score should have been much lower. What did I learn, if you stay in the fairway you always have a shot to the green and never, ever 3 putt!

Originally Posted by mazzamouth 
 

Course Name: Bay Breeze

Course Website: http://www.keesler81fss.us/Golf2.html

Course Style: Open with a breeze from the Ocean, good firm greens

Regular Tee Yardage / Rating / Slope: 6,563   69/121

Regular Tee Average Score: 81

Forward Tee Yardage / Rating / Slope: 5409  70/117

Forward Tee Predicted Score (Aggressive Round): 76

Aggressive Round Score: 76

Conservative Round Score: 74

Average 7-Iron Distance: 165

Notes: 

I found the Conservative round more fun, only cause I didn't have to hit an in between wedge like i did on the aggressive round. I see i really need to work on my 70-35 yrd wedge shots. A hidden strength, maybe my putting has gotten better. The shorter tee's made me really look at the course a different way, i had to think about clubs to play to my strengths. i think i did have more fun, on the aggressive rnd, It was fun to drive a few par 4's ( mind you some were 275-300) .. i know know how much the short game means to your score, I have worked on my putting and i thought overall my putting was good, I missed a handul of par putts, 2 eagle putts and about 8 birdie putts.

Quote:

Originally Posted by iacas 

 

Sure. That's fine.

 

I'm extending this through the end of September. I

I am glad you extended the deadline.  Life has been getting in the way of golf.  I hate it when that happens.

Originally Posted by melchior 

Course Name: Pierz Municipal GC

Course Website: 

Course Style: Hilly, open or wooded depending on hole

Regular Tee Yardage / Rating / Slope:  3018 / 34.6 / 110

Regular Tee Average Score: 96

Forward Tee Yardage / Rating / Slope: 2395 / 31.9 / 104

Forward Tee Predicted Score (Aggressive Round): 87

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spyder 

Course Name: Deer Pass Golf Course

Course Website: http://www.deerpassgolf.com/

Course Style: Hilly terrain with many blind shots, OB, and over-kill with Water!

 

Regular Tee Yardage / Rating / Slope: 6250 / 69.3 / 126

Regular Tee Average Score: 82

 

Forward Tee Yardage / Rating / Slope: 5454 / 72.1 / 122 

Forward Tee Predicted Score (Aggressive Round): 74

Forward Tee Predicted Score (Conservative Round): 78

 

Aggressive Round Score: 84

Conservative Round Score: 77

Average 7-Iron Distance: 170 yards

Notes: I was very surprised to find myself shooting similar *very different rounds when being conservative through 18 and then aggressive through 18. The Conservative Round is a bit misleading and should actually be several strokes lower as my putting was a bit off. I found my approach game within 100 yards to be spot-on with a clear mind. I was really able to have good looks throughout the round and hit roughly 10 FIR and 12 GIR. The Aggressive Round left me in a lot of trouble with an OB off the tee once, 7 FIR and 10 GIR. I was left with nasty approach shots and hit several grass/sand bunkers when being overly aggressive with my driver and second shots on Par 5 that I avoided due to risk/reward when playing conservatively. The punishing links style of play at Deer Pass with rolling fairways and blind shots proved to be too difficult to disregard caution and attempt GUR or risky GIRs from bad lies.

This is definitely an eye opener and led me to believe that I actually am an aggressive player and may need to tone down my mindset on the course. Playing forward helped me realize that I can have similar approach shots with a little more caution and smarter course management. Definitely eye opening to play "Aggressively" and then say "Wait a minute... this is a typical shot for me from here anyway..." - only to find out later that my conservative score for that hole was a stroke or two better.

Edit: "similar" with *very different - Not sure how I mis-typed that. The rounds were completely different...

Aggressive score round: 90

Conservative round: 84

a. Did you find that the aggressive or conservative round was more enjoyable? The non aggressive round was more enjoyable only because I had more time and a playing partner. Conservative round was a battle against daylight and I was wore out walking as fast as I could.

b. Did you discover a hidden strength or weakness in your game? None of this. Getting up and down is the key to my scoring so it doesn't matter how far the distance is. I have been playing rather crappy lately and it reflected in my score. Plus the greens were probably a stip of 12. I don't think they have been watering them as much. Very fast.

c. On which area of your game did the shorter tees put pressure?  Taking advantage of shorter holes. Almost all my tee shots were miss hits fat or thin.

d. Did you have more fun than normal? Will you occasionally play shorter tees for fun? No. I really didn't like it. I feel like if I am out playing I should be playing the correct tees. I would play short tees again if someone really wanted to but I would probably avoid them otherwise.

e. What'd you learn?  I should spend more time on my short game, didn't really learn it, more like solidified it.

f. Did you shoot your predicted score(s), and if not, why not? If so, was it for the reasons you suspected? Sort of but I really expected better ball striking. Again I have been playing poorly as of late so I am not surprised. I have this head movement thing going on and a lack of connection with the club as well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MEfree 

Course Name: The River Course at Keystone

Course Website: http://www.keystoneresort.com/golf/courses.aspx#rivercourse#Top

Course Style: Alpine with a number of elevated tees, OBs and hazards

Regular Tee Yardage / Rating / Slope: 6507/69.8/130 (Blues)

Regular Tee Average Score: 84

 

 

Forward Tee Yardage / Rating / Slope: 5359/64.3/116 (Golds)

Forward Tee Predicted Score (Aggressive Round): 77

Forward Tee Predicted Score (Conservative Round): 77

 

I am tempted to play a 3rd round with a combo strategy as I really don`t think the conservative or aggressive is perfect in all situations.  I have shot 74 from the whites this summer and have had some good putting days and scores since getting a new putter but have been more inconsistent with the tee ball, so predicting how I will play any particular day is difficult (paticularly using the aggressive strategy).  My goal is to flirt with par/sub-par at least one of the days.

 

Aggressive score round: 79

Conservative round: 73 (+2)

7-iron: 165

a. Did you find that the aggressive or conservative round was more enjoyable? The conservative round was more enjoyable for a number of reasons that were not related to strategy- 1.  I putted better.  2.  A playing partner had a hole in one.  3.  The aggressive round was more awkward for several reasons- a) I drove it onto a blind green twice with the group in front still on the green (#2) and had to wait for them to get off the green on several other par 4s which resulted the group in back of us getting to the tee before I had hit, b) paired with a couple and another single, we were playing 3 different sets of tees with me as the long hitter playing from the middle (gold) set.  4.  Not being able to hit any putts or chips prior to the aggressive round and 3 putting the first two holes for pars when the greens were much slower than they have been.

b. Did you discover a hidden strength or weakness in your game? Not really, but it confirmed a number of things including that putting is important, my 30-80 yard wedge play needs work getting dialed in on distances (I have played away from this distance most of the season) and lost balls hurt your score (I had 7 for the two rounds despite driving it good on all but one hole of the aggressive round where I had no business hitting driver and lost 2 balls)

c. On which area of your game did the shorter tees put pressure?  Wedge play and a couple of holes on the aggressive round where I knew that driver was not a smart club off the tee.

d. Did you have more fun than normal? Will you occasionally play shorter tees for fun?  Yes, shooting 73 with 3 lost balls was fun, even if the course was not really a par 71.  Prior to this, I have played the blacks, blues and whites, depending on who I was playing with and like to see the course from a different perspective. 

e. What'd you learn?  Need to eliminate the bad swings at the wrong time which cost me 2 shots and get my short game distances more dialed in- , didn't really learn it, more like solidified it.

f. Did you shoot your predicted score(s), and if not, why not? If so, was it for the reasons you suspected? No- putting was about a 5 shot difference between the two days.  My aggressive round included an OOB from a perfect lie 70 yards out that resulted in a triple and a quad on a hole where I knew driver didn`t make sense and I lost 2 balls with solid shots just a bit off line about 30 yards from the green.

Course Name: Tobacco Road

Course Website: www.tobaccoroadgolf.com

Course Style: Penal, lots of sand, deep rough

Regular Tee Yardage / Rating / Slope: 5886/68.6/131

Regular Tee Average Score: 96

Forward Tee Yardage / Rating / Slope: 4946/66.1/115

Forward Tee Predicted Score (Aggressive Round): 88

Forward Tee Predicted Score (Conservative Round): 88

Aggressive Round Score: 89

Conservative Round Score: 87

Average 7-Iron Distance: 140 yds.

Notes: 

a. Did you find that the aggressive or conservative round was more enjoyable? Neither, both were very relaxed enjoyable rounds.

b. Did you discover a hidden strength or weakness in your game? Verified what I already know. My long game is erratic, but it's still my short game that keeps me from improving my scores significantly.

c. On which area of your game did the shorter tees put pressure? Putting. 3 putted two birdie chances to make bogies out of them.

d. Did you have more fun than normal? Will you occasionally play shorter tees for fun? I had a great time and I'll try it again.

e. What'd you learn? By eliminating the pressure to get distance off the tee, I actually had fewer really bad tee shots than a normal round, and 1 less penalty stroke on the conservative round made the difference in the two scores.

f. Did you shoot your predicted score(s), and if not, why not? If so, was it for the reasons you suspected? Within one stroke either way. More complete answer: Yes it was for the reasons I expected. At the shorter distance I knew I'd save strokes getting near the green, nearly reaching the par 5s in two. Tobacco Road has 10 holes with forced carries and most of them are from the tee. Moving forward eliminated the forced carries from the tee. My average round I fail to carry these or hit a shot that is off target because of the pressure to hit over some of the canyons out there. I woas pretty sure I lose 8 to 10 strokes just because of all the forced carries.

Aggressive Round Score:  81

Conservative Round Score:  92

Average 7-iron Distance:  160

Notes:

(a):  Aggressive round was a lot more fun.

(b):  Two weakness high-lighted.   First, hitting as far as possible puts you in gaps where you don't have a full wedge of any type.   While I can dial shots down, it puts a bigger margin of error when you are doing it more in a round.  Several times I hit half/three-quarter wedges and feel that I would have been closer with a full PW or 9i from where I normally hit.    Second, when laying back in the conservative round, it really affected things because I didn't want to lay back and hit irons/hybrids off the tee.  So I wasn't committed to the shots.   Hence, a worse score than hitting everything aggressive.

(c):  The shorter tees put the most pressure on inside 120 yards where it can get tricky to manufacture a shot because you cannot hit a full club.

(d):  I would play the shorter tees again.   The aggressive round was fun, and more fun than a normal round.   It takes the pressure off if you are bombing it on purpose and the expectation is that you might blow up because you were being aggressive.  The conservative round was one of the least fun rounds I've had this year because the expectation was that I should score really well.   Taking basically every wood out of my hand, I should have kept the ball in play always and not had issues.   The reverse was true.   I put too much pressure because I felt I should have scored well, and I felt that I wasn't committed to the shots off the tee.  So I sprayed it all over the place and ended up in bad positions on the course.

(e):  Commit to the shot, make sure it's what you want to do and you'll hit more good shots.  The score will take care of itself.

(f):   I nailed the Aggressive round.   I figured I would take several shots off, and I picked 81 because I figured if it got close I would still wiz it trying to break 80.   That's exactly what happened.   I was going to shoot 77, but blew up on 17 and just missed breaking 80.    I figured if I swung as well as I did on the aggressive round, with hitting hybrids and irons off the tees I would easily do better.   The opposite was true.   I didn't want to hit those shots, and because of that the shorter clubs left me in terrible positions and I couldn't make many pars.   I guessed 77 and I ended up with a 92.   After awhile, I just didn't want to continue because I thought I should have been doing so much better.

Overall, I would do this again.  But I would change what the mindset is for the conservative round.   Instead of trying to get a little past where I normally am, I would hit 3-woods and hybrids and be moderately aggressive.   The aggressive round was one of the most fun rounds I had all year.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chilli Dipper 

The course I'd like to use for this challenge has installed dwarf bermuda greens, and has been closed all summer. This course is a little more contrived, and I don't know how well it holds up from forward tees; I guess I'll find out.

 

Course Name: Sugar Hill Golf Club

Course Website: http://www.sugarhillgolfclub.com/

Course Style: Parkland course, hilly, water comes into play on nine holes

 

Regular (Blue) Tee Yardage / Rating / Slope: 6522 / 71.5 / 139

Regular Tee Average Score: 96

 

Forward (Gold) Tee Yardage / Rating / Slope: 5332 / 66.5 / 119

Forward Tee Predicted Score (Aggressive Round): 87

Forward Tee Predicted Score (Conservative Round): 85

Aggressive Round Score: 86

Conservative Round Score: 90

Average 7-iron Distance: 140 yards

Did you find that the aggressive or conservative round was more enjoyable? I did not enjoy the conservative round at all, though that is mostly due to circumstances unrelated to the nature of the experiment itself. I played the first four holes of my conservative round as a single, but caught up with another single on the fifth hole who beckoned me up to join him, as there was a slower group ahead of him. I completely lost my golf swing as I hurried to meet him, and it took until well into the back nine to regain any semblance of golfing ability. The aggressive round was more enjoyable, merely because I hadn't forgotten how to swing a golf club in the middle of the round.

Did you discover a hidden strength or weakness in your game? I shot a 40 on the back nine of my aggressive round, and I could have shot lower than that if my putting wasn't horrible: I hit seven greens in regulation, and took twenty putts. I don't spend much time practicing putting; I'll need to if I find the green more often.

On which area of your game did the shorter tees put pressure? Driving accuracy. Shorter tees brought different parts of the golf course into play than I otherwise would see. The shorter distances are no excuse for playing loose off the tee, because a big miss from further up may have even worse outcomes than from the regular tees.

Did you have more fun than normal? Will you occasionally play shorter tees for fun? I already move around on tees rather frequently when I play, so this experiment will not affect my response to the latter. On the former, it all depends on your definition of fun. As my aggressive round progressed, I gained more confidence in my game from having short clubs in to the greens. That confidence in my abilities made the round more fun.

What'd you learn? If I was a low-handicap player, I would probably have felt that the conservative round was better, because low-handicapper don't make a lot of big mistakes, only small ones, and a conservative course strategy is all about managing the small mistakes over the big ones. As an inconsistent bogey golfer, I know I'm going to hit bad shots. I'd rather hit those bad shots on high-risk, high-reward situations, as opposed to missing badly on the "safe" shots. But that's just me.

Did you shoot your predicted score(s), and if not, why not? If so, was it for the reasons you suspected? I shot five strokes worse on my conservative round than I predicted, I explained the reasons for that above; I wasn't going to break 90 with no control over my golf swing, and that's how it panned out. I beat my prediction for the aggressive round by one stroke, mainly because I was finding fairways and greens, and I could have been several shots lower had I not putted so poorly.