MD5225

Chicago thawing. 40s yesterday and today. Range session yesterday and 9 today... best feeling. Golf is back!

In Chicago also and yes, a string of really nice days there.... too bad I had to work. I remarked several times to co-workers, who don't even golf, how nice of a gold day it was. Trying that mistwood owned dome in bolingbrook this weekend. Have you been there? May cure the golf depression as temps drop around here. Check it over out below if you haven't. Mistwood Golf Dome - 30 Photos - Sports Clubs - 730 N Bolingbrook Dr, Bolingbrook, IL - Phone Number - Last Updated December 21, 2018 - Yelp Specialties: The 60,000 square foot heated Dome is Chicago's premier indoor golf facility! There are over 40 hitting stations (with new mats and targets), a practice pitching & chipping area, and two putting greens. When...

That is awesome. Keeping it together after an 11 in the middle of your round is not easy. Mental approach after bad shots/holes is something I am still learning to cope with. You being a single digit hcp and still having moments like that reminds someone like me that bad things are going to happen out there to everyone, and how you respond is critical. That a bad shot/hole will only sink your round if you let it. Cool story. On this topic my example would be very similar. It's a two-parter. I had a round where I parred the first 3 holes and then threw up ten on 4. I let it completely ruin my round mentally, feeling I let a chance to have a good scoring day (for me) get away. Needless to say it corrupted my swing and virtually every shot after and it only compounded (100+ round). I took it as a lesson. Fast forward 2 weeks. I got off to a hot start, playing the best I'd ever played, nothing bigger than bogey (maybe 1 double) through 15. Then comes the 16th, and maybe it was the weight of knowing I was in the middle of my best round, but I pushed two tee shots OB and took a 9. I was pissed for 3 solid minutes feeling I ruined my best round I have ever had. But I gathered myself and on 17 knocked a 7 iron 10 feet from the pin, two putt par. Then went on to par the 18th also for my lowest round ever of 87 and first time breaking the 90 barrier playing strict rules. If I didn't gather myself I surely would have cost myself that milestone. That part felt as good as the actual score in a way.

"I 100% disagree with your binary reasoning here." I respect your opinion completely and will admit, there is some grey area in between. I just meant in a general sense that at polar ends of the spectrum there are 2 types. There are those who go out to play and their score does not dictate in any way their level of enjoyment. Then there are those who can only enjoy themselves if they play to a certain level. I am one of these people. If I shoot 10 shots worse than a 5 stroke range that I think should play in if I play well (eg 85-90), then I'm not having a good time. I don't care how many good friends I have with me, I am going to be disappointed. To your point about binary reasoning, yes there are people in between that want to shoot well but if they don't they can still find a way to have a good time. I struggle with this personally and others do too is all I am saying. I think that is the push-back it felt I was getting based on my answer to the poll, which I don't understand. If you disagree that amateurs can have this mindset, please tell me why lots of golfers at all levels have given up the game at one point or another due to poor play/skill regression equaling frustration and no fun? If it were just playing golf that was fun then they would't quit - I relate to this mindset. For them, and me, enjoyment comes from playing golf and playing it well (relative to skill level). What do you think? "Absolutely. I know many golfers who go out because it's a social thing. They play in one or two leagues a year with the same guys. They have a blast playing crappy golf and drinking beers." I 100% agree with you and iacas. These people comprise most of the people I've played with over the years. I said it above twice. As to the Twitter post that prompted this question, of course that "shooting low score matters most is bogus" for many people. That is ridiculous. Golfing is what you make of it, and people take all different kinds of pleasure from it. What parts of the game you enjoy just differs from person to person, as does the impact of playing well as it relates to your enjoyment.

I think we’re caught in a game of semantics now. Let me just give you what you want. Yes, of course, those of us not earning an income from golf, by definition, play for fun. Why ask such an obvious trap question? The simplistic way your framing it would mean only paid pros would answer the way I did. Unless fun depended on performance e.g. low scoring, which is what I’m saying The distinction I’m making is at a level deeper than surface. There are two types of people. Those who play purely for the enjoyment of being on a beautiful course with friends and have a blast doing that. They can achieve max enjoyment regardless of their performance. More power to em, that’s great. Then there are those like me, who only find max enjoyment by playing at or near our capability and challenging ourselves. Anything less has a disappointing element... still enjoyable to a degree, but there is a sour taste. “Matters” I interpret as “most important”. Yes fun is the goal, but for people like me “matters” or “most important” is playing well since that is how I can have max enjoyment. I’m not alone. These boards are littered with stories of people who gave up the game for a period of time because they regressed to a point where they were frustrated and didn’t have fun. This is nothing new. Same game, same courses, why aren’t they still playing? How do you explain that? Do they hate golf all of the sudden? No, they just hate going out and playing below a bar that I’m their mind is necessary to enjoy it most. Every year there are examples of athletes who retire not because they hate the game, but because their abilities have diminished and they don’t enjoy struggling at something they love. It not right or wrong, it’s personal preference most likely from a competitive nature higher than others. So I maintain that for me playing well “matters most” “is most important” “carries the most weight” or whatever tag you want to put on it. My thought pulling up to the course is never “just have fun”, it’s “I hope I remember to do this, or that, I hope I play well”

Is that right? First, you're taking me out of context. I go onto to say my single greatest "fun" moment in golf was totaling up my score on the first round I broke 90 (87). I was beaming for days and it's the score that gave me that feeling. It was a sense of accomplishment. The process of getting there was fun, but the score was where most of my joy came from. "Something can't be the "primary" reason you play something, but have something else matter "more." So wrong. Suppose I go to a sales job everyday. The the "primary reason" I go is to make money. By your logic, money should "matter" most also. Well, I'd argue that doing a good job day in and day out "matters" most. Why? Because that is how you ensure the "primary reason" for going to your job, which is making money. Money isn't just waiting for you on your desk, just like fun isn't just waiting for me on the course. There is a causal relationship there like many things in life. If you do a poor job, you get fired and don't make money. So how does money matter most? If I shoot 98 and did not have fun, how does fun matter most? The one that causes the other matters most. In many cases there are thresholds that must be exceeded to achieve their "primary reason" for doing whatever they do... e.g. 85k and up in the sales job or shooting 90 and below on the course. Failures to meet those thresholds and you may not make enough money to support your family or not shoot low enough to have fun. Perhaps you should have worded to question different because I know what matters most to me.

I voted shooting lower scores and here's why. Yes, "fun", "excitement", "leisure", or whatever label you want to put on golf, is primarily why most of us play. To me personally, a huge part of that is the feeling and excitement of a great shot, a birdie, a low score (relative to your ability), or whatever. For me the fun comes from experiencing as many of those moments as possible during a round. Until a year ago, my golf consisted of hacking it around (100+ even with lax rules - bad), drinking beer and joking around. Maybe it's my maturity meeting my inner competitor (former two sport athlete) but spending 50+ on a round, losing 10 balls and hitting bad shot after bad shot stopped being fun. After taking it very serious just under a year ago I'm playing at a 19-20 hcp (strict rules) and I've never enjoyed it more. No other golf experience came anywhere close to the thrill and fun of breaking 90 for the first time, legitimately. I now play mostly with serious golf friends, and we laugh and talk between shots, but we are out there to play well. To me the majority of the "fun" is in the successes and challenge of getting better. If I want to yuck it up with buddies and drink a bunch of beer, well, I can do that in someones backyard, a bar, or a sporting event. It's obviously completely individual as it relates to the feeling, or lack thereof, you get from playing or wanting to play better golf. I don't feel this way about bowling, pool or darts. There's just something about golf.

It does not take a single digit hcp, which I am not, to see something is very wrong here. 7 months of consistent range work, lessons and effort should be paying some dividends. How new are you to the game? First time playing or just taking it serious? Maybe you're trying to take on too much at once? Lessons can be very intense and complex on a beginner, from what I hear. .

Congratulations. Milestones are rewarding and huge, as they definitely keep you coming back for more. Breaking 100, playing by the rules, is a good step. If you develop some more consistency and reliability in your driving and ball striking, 90 should not be too far off. You already seem to have embraced the importance of course management, that is huge.

Swing easy, hit hard - Seve Ballesteros OR Grip it and rip it - John Daly

1) Short game improvement - 90 yards and in. Determining distance with varying degrees (48,52,56) of wedges on the "clock" with proper technique. Improve proximity to flag on shorter chips/pitches/flops to make-able distances. Increase putting accuracy from 3 feet in to 90+%. Improve lengthier/lag putt feel to mitigate 3 putts. 2) More structured practice sessions in terms of frequency and areas of focus. Heavier emphasis on short game, see 1. 3) Better course management... bagging driver when able, playing to my money distances, hitting away from trouble, "taking medicine" more often, and hitting shots within my ability instead of what I see pros do. 4) Fitness... Flexibility and endurance. 5) Better mental focus and emotional management. Believe and commit to shots. Forget bad shots within 10 seconds - smile and move on. Have fun and stay loose. 6) Maintain strides gained in full swing irons/hybrid/driver in 2018 and continue to build consistency to increase Fairways hit% and GIR

Worlds better. Been a weekend/monthly hacker for 15 years but this year I started taking is serious. Went from a "30 who knows" down to 19.5 or so in 5 months. Tore apart my swing and learned the right way... watching a ton of video, reading a ton from sites like this, and practicing with purpose. Progress from this year to next will be much more moderate but what a fun year.