Blow up holes

[julie_m]

One good shot is all you need to put it behind you, but don't try to make that shot a spectacular one. Just concentrate on a solid strike. Maybe take 3W or 5W off the next tee.

I have that uncanny ability to look either fantastic or horrific, so every shot is a surprise! (Yay! No, not really.) I have an advantage though - nothing is ever expected of me. I can usually awe, but if I bomb one, everyone thinks "aw, look at that girl pretending to be a golfer." Maybe playing around with who is going to kick a$$ set your expectations too high.

Seriously though, each time I set the ball on the tee, it's a fresh start. I heard a pro say once (I'm SO sorry I don't remember who), he said he plays every course in sets of three holes. I think, why wait that long to get a clean slate? Each hole at a time - I don't even play a whole hole, I play one shot at a time, (but that's me because I'm simple). He's right, you never know when you're going to pull one out of the hat. But if you step up hastily, angrily, or thinking you suck, that SURE won't be the time. Just like with putting.

[sofingaw]

Old topic (as old as the game, I suppose, eh?!), but I'm a new member and wanted to share a story.

For some quick background, I first played about 10 years ago or so, as a freshman in high school. Had basic swing instruction from golf coach in HS. I played once or twice a year on average for the past 10 years, with buddies for fun. Last month, while watching the U.S. Open on TV, I decided that I live in Miami, FL, and I ought to use these golf clubs I have, darn it!

I got a new set of irons, a pro lesson, and have been going to the range or playing 2-3x a week.

Been improving. First round last month, pre-lesson and new sticks, 151. Yeah. Seriously.

Hit the range, lesson, new sticks>>> most recent 18 holes 128. MUCH better.

Played 9 the day before yesterday after work and shot a 57! Hey now, I can dig that!

Played the same 9 this evening after work. 67 on the same 9! How did I pick up 10 strokes so quickly, you may ask?

One...  BLOW UP HOLE!

This course has 3 holes in a row along a moderately busy road (#'s 2-4). this was hole #4, a par 5, currently shortened by about 100 yards due to ongoing green maintenance. I'm in the tee box, and I'm feelin' good!  I Nailed the tee shot 2 days ago, and haven't hit one in the road yet today, or two days ago... I should be able to get a bogey or at most a double! (Extra high handicapper, mind you!)

Tee shot.. Slice into the road . (1) Consider my nerves shot, as a car was narrowly missed. Should have taken a break to calm down.

2nd tee shot (Hitting 3).. JUST past the ladies tees.

3rd swing   (Hitting 4)...  5 Wood.. SWING AND A MISS! - Stroke.

4th swing   (Hitting 5)...  5 Wood into the rough on the right about 30 yards ahead, behind some trees.

5th swing   (Hitting 6)...  4 Iron *Hero Recovery Punch Shot Attempt* Low Snap Hook. Hosel? Maybe. Splash!  water on the left. - Stroke.

6th swing   (Hitting 8)...  ALMOST the same water. Hit a rock that was guarding it. Dropped one, as it was unplayable.

7th swing   (Hitting 10)... 8 Iron from 130-140 into a branch for about 10 yards.

6th swing   (Hitting 11)... Flubbed another (clear path, this time) 8 Iron for another 10 yards.

7th swing   (Hitting 12)... 50 yard pitch (halfway there, haha!)

8th swing   (Hitting 13)... Chunked one about 10 feet.
9th swing   (Hitting 14)... Pitched onto the green from 50-ish yards. (Barely)

10th swing (Hitting 15)... 15 foot putt to about 3-4 feet (Ugh).

11th swing (Hitting 16)... Missed the 4 footer (SUPER UGH). 2 inches left to go.

12th swing (Hitting 17)... Holed the 2 incher!!!! YEAH!!!

Got a 9 on the next hole (long par 4), due to another sliced (lost..) tee shot and several truly awful long iron shots.

But... I identified the turning point in my round, and the recovery from the blow up hole. On this 9 stroke hole, once I finally got onto the fairway, I hit a GORGEOUS 5 wood from about 210 yards to about 15 feet and easily and calmly 2 putted from there.

Finished my 9 holes with 4 consecutive 5's. Didn't hit a truly bad shot the rest of the round.

It took me a few shots, but I kept telling myself that I know I can hit it better than I did on that last hole. Once I said it, then did it , I was fine.

After the road warrior tee shot, I could have and should have taken 5-15 minutes to relax and gather myself, I think. (Was playing solo, and nobody else was out there in front of or behind me. Truly, i'm not THAT guy!)

All in all, I enjoyed my 9 holes, and am proud to have recovered as well as I did. If nothing else, I learned.

Hopefully, from my story, someone else learned, as well.

If not, at least hopefully somebody doesn't feel so bad now about their blow up 8's and 9's

Hit em' straight! (And stay calm if you don't)

Ben

[Mr. Desmond]

Do what the pros try to do - forget the last shot after about 20 seconds, learn from it, forget the shot, and go to the next one. I add them up at the end of the round.

I push the reset button after every shot. The past does not matter. The present is what matters.

[inthehole]

my latest blow up hole was on #18 !!!!!!    Had an epic round going & blew it on the last one ... thats the absolute worst because I was already counting my final score before teeing off.

[saevel25]

The key to this, its really short term memory, learning to let go of the anger. Its tough, but once practiced its easy. For me, i can get caught up in being angry, usually 3 putting when i have a putt that isn't from long distance will set me off. I hate it. But by the time i pick up my bag to go to the next hole i am calming down and by the time i am ready to step up to my next drive, i am back to normal. It just takes practice, the good thing is, high handicappers have a lot of times they can practice this :p

First, remember a time when your relaxed, maybe it was that one time you had a birdie putt and you knew you were going to make it and you did. Or that feeling of a perfect drive, or a perfect iron. Remember feeling of that shot and how relaxed, calm you were. Or if your a romantic think of your significant other, if your a realist, please don't it will make you more angry :p

Second, when you get angry, take a step back and relive that moment. Put that previous shot away and focus on that one moment.

For me i have had many blow up holes in my time, i use to brood on it all round. Now i know i can score good, and my subconcious is like this,

ANGRY, just caught up in the moment

Letting the moment past

getting back to the present

ok were in the present i have another hole to play so lets get going

For me i know that i have had a 6,7,or 8 on a golf hole, and i know i can rebound and have a birdie. A good example was starting off at this one course, i took a 6 on the first hole, and i birdied 4 holes comming in and shot 2 under for the front nine. Or i have had an 8 before and come back and put a string of pars together. I know i can do this, because i have, and i live on those moments of what i know i can do, and it helps gaurd againts letting a round get out of control.

We refortify our ability by relying on the positivie experiences of the past. Thats why my short game is in shambles, because i have had no success at it for the past two seasons. But now i am starting to let go off that and my scrambling went from 10% to 50% the past two league nights. I know i can hit chips and pitches, i just have to know it at the time i am doing it.

The pro i go to once said, "When putting, its about confidence, you got to say, i am going to make this putt."

Its a mindset, its not, i might or i think i can, its I KNOW this ball is going on the green, I Know this putt is going in.

[Mr. Desmond]

Originally Posted by Mr. Desmond

Do what the pros try to do - forget the last shot after about 20 seconds, learn from it, forget the shot, and go to the next one. I add them up at the end of the round.

I push the reset button after every shot. The past does not matter. The present is what matters.

Oh, and like Nicklaus, forget all bad shots or any 3+ putts.

As an addendum,

Before a shot, remember your good and great shots (put all poor shot out of your mind). Visualize the next shot in as much detail as possible, i.e.. the swing, the ball taking off, the height, the roll and where it stops. It's what Nicklaus did ... and he did okay.

[Willie Malay]

It's just one hole. You aren't a pro. You don't make a living doing it. It's a RECREATION!  Forget it.

I shot a 78 the other day with a triple on one hole. I was just happy with the 78.

If a blow up hole ruins your day or for days after, then you think you are better than you are.

[inthehole]

Originally Posted by Willie Malay

If a blow up hole ruins your day or for days after, then you think you are better than you are.

I'll remember this - very well put.

[teamroper60]

I'll have a blow up hole in every round I play.    Mentally, I have come to expect it, so it doesn't bother me.    It's not until I have more than one that it bothers me.   However if I have a couple but otherwise have been playing well, I just tell myself to relax and recover.   That usually works (sadly, not every time though)...

[Chas]

Originally Posted by skipsaw

Not sure if other players would agree with this or not, but another thing you might consider is playing a little more conservatively, in terms of club selection and strategy, on the next couple of holes. For example, if you're faced with a tight driving hole or there are hazards that could come into play with driver, hit your 3-wood (or 5-wood, or hybrid) and try to land in a relatively safe landing zone. This is not to say that you should *swing* conservatively - you should still take a confident swing - just think more in terms of "conservative strategy, aggressive swing". Do this for a couple of holes until you're in rhythm again and have rehained that all-important confidence again.

Hope that helps.

Yes, that is very good advice.  And I've told myself to do it before a round that I considered to be a real challange (e.g. new course, course known for unusual difficulty), yet I almost always FAIL TO TAKE MY OWN ADVICE.   Like last weekend.  Major blow-up at the first hole (rated the hardest), yet I continued to hit driver and miss the fairways.

What the heck is up with that? (rhetorical)  I think that I have too much confidence in my ability to right the ship without changing strategy.  My thinking last weekend was, "my driver has been working pretty well the last few weeks, let's make a couple minor changes and keep using it - all will be well".

Well, it wasn't ....

[Dave2512]

Since it usually happens just once or twice a round I know it's behind me. I try to stay in my game rather than try to make it up. The frustration comes from knowing I can't meet a goal or shoot my best round.

[JCoop]

One thing I've started trying after a blow up hole is to focus on my set up on the very next shot. After a blow up hole, you feel bummed, you try to set up different in order to fix whatever the hell went wrong. But whatever went wrong was on the LAST hole. I try to take my time, relax and set up properly instead of "adjusting" stuff. If you address the ball and don't feel right. Stop. Step away. Readdress and see how that feels. You can feel it when you're set up right. Focus on that. Then hit the shot you KNOW you can make.

We spend range time and yard time and hit hundreds of balls and analyze stuff for hours until we have a good swing and then when we have a brief diversion from that grooved training (a blow up hole), we try to change stuff. The bad shots ARE the changed stuff. The grooved shots are what you've been practicing. And I probably should be doing what others have posted and work  shot to shot instead of hole to hole.

At least thats my mental game... YMMV

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by gasfreak

How or what do you guys do to get those bad blow up holes out of you head and not let them ruin the next 3 or 4 holes,or maybe the rest of your game.I went yesterday with a guy that I have never been with before we work together and have been kinda going back and forth about who was going to kick whos a$$ (just friendly)for about a month.So through the first 7 holes I had him down 2.number 8 tee box is where it all went wrong on me, shot a 8 on a par 4 and 9 was a par 3 and i shot a 6,you see where I am going with this,I lost,94 to 90.Just wondering if there is something that you use to put it behind you and it works

Just don't worry about it.  That's all you can do.  I've had enough of them that I just accept it as being part of the game.  Back in August of 1992 I had a 10 handicap and was playing in the first round of the 72 hole club championship.  On the par 5 6th hole I made a 12, and followed it on the par 4 7th hole with a 10.  I ended up with a 104 that day.  I was toast for a 4 round tournament in 7 holes.  I didn't quit, but just kept plodding and the second weekend I shot 74-78 and won a lot of day pot money anyway, even though I was out of the competition.

Another time I started a round 6 over through 3 holes with an 8 on the par 4 third, then still shot 80 for the round, just 2 over for the last 15 holes.  I think it's like anything else in golf, you just have to experience it a few times to realize it's not the end of the world to have a bad hole.  You also learn to minimize the possible damage by surrendering to necessity and punching out of trouble back to the fairway instead of attempting the hero shot every time.  It's been my experience that hero shots cause more big numbers than just about anything else.  Learn how to manage your game and the course and you will see fewer big numbers.

[zipazoid]

Look no further than the 2011 PGA Championship for inspiration -

Keegan Bradley triple-bogeyed the 69th hole of the tournament...and won.

[ghalfaire]

I guess anyone that plays the game on a regular basis has bad holes, even the tour players.  Blow holes for me are scores worse than double bogie as a single bad shot at the right time can easily result in a double, so I accept that might happen a time or two in a round.  But after a bad shot I try to make sure I don't follow it with another bad choice or shot.  I make sure I select a target I'm comfortable with for the next stroke, get back to the pre-shot routine and, most important, don't worry about results but rather stay in the process. Sometimes that means I have to accept a likely bogie result in order to avoid the double or worse.  I have found that almost all my blow up holes are a result of a "short between the headsets" (apologies to the younger readers) and trying to make a recovery shot that is low probability shot for one of my skill level.

[Lihu]

I would be happy with a 78 :-) Anyway, you're right it's recreation. We should just be happy we can get out to play.

[zipazoid]

Nicklaus always said to make sure you follow up a bad shot with a smart one.

I think blow-up holes are, generally, the result of panic - 'Oh no I hit a bad shot. I now have to do something heroic.'

No, you don't. Play for bogey. Last Wednesday I had a perfect example. The 14th hole at Dubsdread, a 400y narrow par 4, dogleg left. Good hole. I blew my drive left into the junk, found it in a horrible but playable lie in a bush in the woods. I was able to get the club on it & hacked it out about 30 feet. I followed a bad shot with a smart one. I now had about 190y to the green, hit a hybrid to the fringe, chipped to two feet, made my five. It felt like a birdie.

[Chas]

Originally Posted by Dave2512

Since it usually happens just once or twice a round I know it's behind me. I try to stay in my game rather than try to make it up. The frustration comes from knowing I can't meet a goal or shoot my best round.

Yes, you're right about the fear that I can't meet my goal for the round, even if it was realistic.  But it's also fear that the bad golf just played might not be behind me that can lead to panic, over-reaction, silly "adjustments" in the swing etc etc etc.  Of course a lot has to do with what we mean when we use the word, "confidence".

If you have a lot of confidence, you are much less likely to fall for one or more of the mental mistakes that can turn a single blow-up hole into an entire blow-up round.  Of course, it's a bit of a circular argument I'm making, i.e. a good definition of "confidence" is the ability to overcome temporary set-backs.

I'd like to thank posters on this thread for their many excellent, insightful posts (including you 2512).  It's one of the reasons why I keep coming back to this forum.

Having said that, it's actually implementing some of this wisdom that is the hard part .....