Pre-Round Routine

[Marty2019]

Between hitting about 15 shots on the range, stretching a little, hitting a few putts, and chatting with my playing partners, I'd say 30 minutes, plus whatever wait there is to tee off, which could be an extra 15 minutes if the first hole gets backed up. 

[Mr22putt]

  On 4/27/2020 at 1:05 PM, FlyingAce said:

My routine is to get to the club 15 mins before tee time, check in, bathroom, drinks,then wait around the tee box to make sure no one is cutting in line (yeah, people at my club likes to do that). No warmup at all. 

 

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Ace:

Is this how you feel when you go play golf at your club?.....just askin for a friend.

[gbogey]

Here's a question - does anyone have a good pre-round routine for getting used to green speeds?  With the weather changing green speeds have increased around here and my last couple of rounds have been a disaster with lots of three putts early in the round.  Curious as this used to be a strength of mine.

[Papa Steve 55]

My first hole is par 5. The range is near the first tee. I practice 2 or 3 shots with the three clubs I use on that hole, 10 swings at most.

 

Well....once we are allowed to use the practice area again.

Edited May 15, 2020 by Papa Steve 55

[boogielicious]

  On 5/15/2020 at 9:04 PM, gbogey said:

Here's a question - does anyone have a good pre-round routine for getting used to green speeds?  With the weather changing green speeds have increased around here and my last couple of rounds have been a disaster with lots of three putts early in the round.  Curious as this used to be a strength of mine.

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With AimPoint, you can estimate the stimp by watching how much the ball breaks on a known slope with known distance. So you find a side slope and putt say 5 feet and watch the break. With AimPoint you read the slope with your feet and pick a 2%. The more the putt breaks, the faster the green.

But since we can’t practice on the greens here yet, I just do it on the first putt. I make my read and guess the stimp. I adjust by how much it was off.

[gbogey]

I started using a new pre-round routine yesterday off of a you tube video.  Basically the putting steps are like this:

• 3 putts from 3 feet
• 3 putts from 10 feet below the a hole
• 3 putts from 10 feet above a hole
• 3 putts from 20 feet below a hole
• 3 putts from 20 feel above a hole
• 3 putts from each side of a hole from 10 feet

I felt like my distance control was better than it has been lately.

 

[Hardspoon]

10-15 minutes or so for me, spent almost entirely on putting and maybe a few chips/pitches.

I almost always try to play early in the morning, so the most important part of my pre-round routine is a massive quantity of coffee (I pretty much play a different course every time I play, so a big part of my full routine is a game I like to call "find decent coffee on the way to some course in the middle of nowhere").

[Cantankerish]

I definitely have to get in a mental ZONE to putt well, and it is a major difference.  I can feel when I am in it, but I do not have the best focus.  So it is a challenge for me to get there and stay.  I get to the course very early whenever possible.

My pre-round goals include:

1. Find that putt Nirvana.

2. Stretch my back into functioning condition (I'm missing three discs).

3. Range, then pray that I hit my drives on the front nine like I do on the range.


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I have not been practicing putting on the practice green because, well the courses do not seem to want people to.  But there are always a few folks using the practice areas.  I wonder if them pulling the flags out and then not bothering to enforce any sort of rules reflects COVID window dressing and not any sort of genuine purpose.  My putting has not been grand since quarantine, and I would like to get on that green.

Edited May 25, 2020 by Cantankerish
clarity

[RetiredOldMan]

One of my "Pet Peeves" is to arrive at the course, change shoes, throw the bag on the cart, and proceed to the tee box. 

I am then expected to hit my first shot immediately. I will warm up with several swings so I don't try and swing my driver with a cold body. But when that happens, I may hit my 3 wood off of the box until I warm up. 

The first hole is critical to your whole game. Why take a double bogey, or worse, and force yourself to be in a bad position from the very first hole. 

With that being said, my golfing partner, can walk up and hit his tee shot with no problem. I am just not built that way. 

A specific routine is a necessity for me to shoot a decent score. 

Watch the Pro's! They go through a specific routine for each shot. If something is not right, they stop, and start their routine over. 

By the way, I play quickly so I am not holding others up. 

But I still have a routine. 

Retired Old Man 

[saevel25]

  On 5/26/2020 at 1:00 PM, RetiredOldMan said:

The first hole is critical to your whole game. Why take a double bogey, or worse, and force yourself to be in a bad position from the very first hole. 

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I might do that anyways, so not a big deal to get stressed out about a double bogey. I am not a fan of allowing 5% of the round to dictate my entire round. 

[Yukari]

  On 5/26/2020 at 1:00 PM, RetiredOldMan said:

One of my "Pet Peeves" is to arrive at the course, change shoes, throw the bag on the cart, and proceed to the tee box. 

I am then expected to hit my first shot immediately. I will warm up with several swings so I don't try and swing my driver with a cold body. But when that happens, I may hit my 3 wood off of the box until I warm up. 

The first hole is critical to your whole game. Why take a double bogey, or worse, and force yourself to be in a bad position from the very first hole. 

With that being said, my golfing partner, can walk up and hit his tee shot with no problem. I am just not built that way. 

A specific routine is a necessity for me to shoot a decent score. 

Watch the Pro's! They go through a specific routine for each shot. If something is not right, they stop, and start their routine over. 

By the way, I play quickly so I am not holding others up. 

But I still have a routine. 

Retired Old Man 

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I disagree.  The first time I shot in the 70's was when I started with a double (could have been triple, I forgot).  The point is, you should not let the first hole dictate your entire round.  Like @saevel25 says, I am not a fan of allowing the first hole dictate my entire round.

[Rkrider99]

I'm with @Yukari Last week I started with double, birdie, double, and in my younger days, I would have given up right there. Now I know better. Picked up another birdie on the front 9 for a respecable 38, had 3bogeys on the back 9, but birdied the last hole for another 38. Never give up.

[Ccred1992]

Get there 30 minutes early

get my cart organized ice chest clubs etc.

 take some practice swings with weighted club then  hit a few 70% 9 irons  

I don’t do a lot but can’t stand feeling rushed  

 

Edited May 26, 2020 by Ccred1992

[Buckeyebowman]

  On 5/26/2020 at 1:00 PM, RetiredOldMan said:

One of my "Pet Peeves" is to arrive at the course, change shoes, throw the bag on the cart, and proceed to the tee box. 

I am then expected to hit my first shot immediately. I will warm up with several swings so I don't try and swing my driver with a cold body. But when that happens, I may hit my 3 wood off of the box until I warm up. 

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I'd suggest getting to the course earlier and warming up properly! 

[Sandy Lie]

Being 65 years old I like to be on the range 50-60 minutes before the tee time.  Get to the putting green 1st. Lag some putts, Hit some mid-range putts and short putts under 5 feet.  About 10 minutes. Hit the range, do some minimal stretching. Start with the PW, hit some mid-irons and then the driver.  After that some sequence swings, hit the driver, then follow up with a mid-iron. Do the same with driver then PW.  Do it several times. The chipping area is close by so spend the last 5 minutes chipping then off to the 1st tee.

[Bonvivant]

  On 5/15/2020 at 9:04 PM, gbogey said:

Here's a question - does anyone have a good pre-round routine for getting used to green speeds?  With the weather changing green speeds have increased around here and my last couple of rounds have been a disaster with lots of three putts early in the round.  Curious as this used to be a strength of mine.

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A lot of practice greens don't have the same conditioning as on-course greens. My suggestion would be (Step one) to try for the practice green, but only for 5-10 long putts (you can play many more short ones if you wish). You don't want to get too grooved in if the on-course greens are substantially different. (Step 2) After that, you pay SUPER close attention to the speed on green 1. Remember that green speed also dictates amount of break. If you get to hole one, and it's slower, and you miss high side, remember that the high-side miss wasn't because you misread it, it is because the green is slower. I have been on fire with the putter lately, and I think that this is why. Just be very perceptive on the first green, basically.

For my pre-round, I am going to vote for the least amount of practice, only because I make lots of tee times straight after work, and I literally don't have any time to practice pre-round. Most of my weekend rounds I get to the course early though. 20-30 minutes is usually the mark for me, forgoing range balls (gotta pay for them thangz), and going straight to the practice green to get my chips going. I usually putt for 3-5 minutes and spend the rest chipping. As I am a player that doesn't hit the green in regulation that often, I want to make sure that when I am close, I have my strokes dialed in for those short yardages. I usually only use the 52 degree, as I can predict what "distances" I will get on the greens for the rest of the round.

Edited May 30, 2020 by Bonvivant

[phedrick]

Yeah, 10 to 20 minutes for me as well.  Starting with my wedges and working up to my driver, to loosen up and stretch the muscles.  If I have time I will spend a few minutes on the putting green.

[DrvFrShow]

4 putts from 3 feet

Lag putt 4 balls from 20 until I'm getting them close enough.

Hit the range to see if I have a swing. Hit a few 7i, 5H, 3W, and D. It's a warm up.