Anyone else do worse at the range instead of the course? Lousy on par 3 holes??

Yesterday was a rare day....very nice weather and myself, wife and son were all off from work.  We all decided to hit a large bucket of balls in the morning, then had a 3:30pm tee time.  I practiced with all my irons and driver and was very inconsistent.  Shots were going left, right, short, etc.  I did have a couple here and there that went where I wanted them to, but overall I left the range in a pretty bad mood and was not looking forward to our round later that day.

Playing our actual round, I didn't do too badly, well for me anyway... I ended up with a 77 after 14 holes.  That was all we could get in before darkness.  2 of the remaining 4 holes were par 3's, so I'm guessing I would have gotten 5's or 6's on those 2, so there is a good chance I would have finished with a 98/99 for the round.

That's the other question I have as well.....anyone else get 5 or 6 on a par 3 but on a par 4, also get a 5 or 6?  It's a little frustrating since to me, par 3's are really easy and I do sometimes get par on them, but most of the time, it's a 5 or 6.

The other kick in the pants is also, the last hole of the day, I crush a perfectly straight drive a good 225-230 yards, then hit my new 3 hybrid another 200 yards or so, dead straight and about 10 yards from the green.  Instead of being on in 3, I don't get under my wedge enough, so the ball screams over the green and ends up 10-15 yards on the opposite rough, chip again about 20 feet from the hole and 3 putt....yes 3 putt and end up with a 7.....horrible

Thanks in advance.

Crusher47, I used to hate par 3's very much.  When I first stated playing golf last June, I would play the par 4's and 5's so much better than the par 3's.  I just had so much trouble hitting the ball consistently and this combined with a short game that was terrible led me to play par 3's the worst.

Over time though, something happened.  As I continued to practice and play more and more, I started playing the par 3's better and better.  Now I play par 3's better than par 4's or 5's!  What happened was that my ball striking improved along with my short game.

In 2012, my first year of golf, I played about 60 rounds of golf.  In those 60 rounds, I averaged playing a par 3 in 1.03 strokes over par, par 4's were 1.11 over par, and par 5's were 1.02 over par.  The par 3 numbers came down a lot towards the end of the year as I got better.

In 2013 so far, I have played 18 rounds and am averaging playing par 3's in just 0.54 strokes over par!  Par 4's are 1.16 over par, and par 5's are 0.98 strokes over par.

As for the range issue, I do not have issues on the range but I am very familiar with what you are dealing with in playing par 3's.  Continue to practice at the range and play a lot and in time I am sure your ball striking will get better which combined with short game practice will make par 3's enjoyable to play when they were once terrible.

I totally empathize with you on playing worse on the range than on the course. Not sure what it is. I think I have much better tempo on the course than on the range because I am more concerned with executing a shot than with just hitting balls to hit balls.

As far as par 3's, definitely just a mental road block that you will move past as you get better. Focus on your tempo and not on the other things going on around you. Make sure you have enough club, maybe if it is a 150 yard hole and you usually hit your 8 iron that distance, try using your 7 iron but making it an 80% swing with nice tempo. This will prevent overswinging which I find can cause a lot of issues. Smoooooothhh is the name of the game on those par 3's.

Crusher47, I can relate on the range, but I think most of my inconsistency comes from the lack of real grass ranges in my area.  Hitting off of the mats makes me change my already bad mechanics to make the strike feel right.

I agree with Casey on the mental part of the 3's.  I know for me it is an amped up problem.  I feel extra confident with my short irons and think I'm going to hole it on every par 3 (stupid thoughts I know).  A trick that has worked for me in the past is forgetting that I'm on the tee box, and approaching the shot like any other approach shot.  Just my two cents.

For me, the problem with the range is that after 30-45 minutes of just hitting golf balls, I start to get fatigued, so I find that the value of the practice diminishes.

During a normal round you hit the ball, walk for a few minutes.  The effort required to hit 100+ balls in the space of one hour is both mentally and physically draining.  Additionally, I find that the amount of focus I have on my swing at the range is less because if I don't like the result, I have another golf ball.  In the past, I have done the whole play out a course in my head, hitting each shot as I would on my favorite course.  That does help, because I think about it, and it does slow the pace down somewhat.

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate the feedback.  Now that I have read the replies and think about it some more, I know for a fact it's usually the wrong club that is picked when choosing my approach shots.  I normally go under and fall short of the green, then have to chip on.  I remember I did pick the correct club and actually got the ball to roll onto the green about 10 feet from the hole, I went with the 7 iron instead of the 8 iron because I knew if I went long, there was a lot of grass behind the green....or I just got really lucky, either way that one felt great.

I also start to get tired after about 30 minutes or so of hitting range balls so I agree with that statement as well.....maybe I should start hitting a small bucket instead of large from now on.

Thanks again!

I don't see the need to hit two balls a minute.  My concentration may wane toward the end of the bucket if I get physically tired but I'll take at least 45 seconds to sometimes more than a couple of minutes to hit each ball. and I'll regrip and redo my setup for each ball.  Practice with purpose is much more productive than just whacking balls, so playing a round in my head works for me too. The occasional break while hitting is of help to both the physical and mental part of range work as well.

Good to hear I'm not the Lone Ranger here.  Par 3 holes kill me!  Especially on my home course, (par 71) which has 5 ... all with trouble to be found.   #4 is easiest of the lot and plays 125-140.  It's easy to over club putting you on a bank if deep.  Hole slopes severely L to R so if you clip the right side of the green, it drops down and into the woods.  Short and left is bailout.  #6 has a very deep green but on a 45* angle left to right.  Pin is usually back right which makes the hole play about 170 to the narrowest part of green.  Again, bailout is short and left.

#8 is 200 yards into the always blowing west to east wind.  Sometimes it's a driver.  On a calm day I can usually get pin high left with a #3 hybrid.  #12 is 155-175 pure carry over a ravine.  Short is dead, trees L and R that seem to close up more each year.  Long never happens there.  #14 is a tee box, waste area, stream and rocks left and an elevated hill right.  No place to miss but right, then downhill stance shot to a green running away from you.

I'm good with pars mostly on #4.  #6 a sure bogey, par maybe 50% of the time.  #8 a sure bogey or double on occasion.  Rare to make par on a 200 yard par-3 for me.  #12 is my nemesis.  I've racked up more 7s and double pars on that hole than I care to admit.  Sometimes, heading to the green and dropping one the drop zone, taking the penalty would result in a lower score than actually playing the hole!  #14 is also inside my head.  Sometimes they move the tee back and make it play 175 or more.  No place to miss this has double written all over it for me just about every time.

This year:  I've set a goal for this year to laser mark the distances of holes 6, 12 and 14 and work on those shots at the range.  Even as consistently badly as I've played the par 3s on my home course, I'm still shooting mid-80s rounds.  If I can reduce the strokes on the 5 par-3s to only +3 or 4, I'd be gaining a net 3-4 strokes each round.  It is imperative that I get: a) more consistent contact with the clubs used on par 3s; b) get more accurate with distance control and direction; c) hit 3 of 5 par-3 greens in regulation each round; d) play for bogey at worst, and let my short game save the occasional par when the green is missed.

A double on a par 4 is much more acceptable to me than a freaking SEVEN on a par 3.  And I've done this WAY to many times over the years.  It's going to be fixed this year!

dave