How important should scoring be for an absolute beginner?

[kregan]

Why not do a potential score like outlined below.

Golf Digest, June, 2000 by David Leadbetter
Golf Digest Teaching Professional

I advise golfers, no matter what level they play at, to look at their "potential" score rather than the actual score they happened to make that day. This breeds confidence, and it shows you what you're capable of doing. You also need to be objective when looking at your weaknesses. Analyzing your worst-hole scores gives you an idea of where to make improvements.

How to chart your potential

In the example below, Bill shot 104. To calculate his potential, add his best scores on nine holes (five par 4s, two par 5s and two par 3s). Now multiply that number (44) by two (88), adding 10 percent (9) for the "rub of the green." Bill's potential? He could easily shoot a 97.

[grantc79]

This thread flowed out of the '

Ive gone from a true beginner in early May to a 15 handicap now and none of my improvement happened on a course, it all happened at the range.

So basically yah I agree 100%.

[baal]

I'm a fresh beginner, been golfing for 2 months now. Since I sort of cannot afford a teacher, I'm focusing too much on online videos and forums especially this one here (which is great btw, kudos!).

I'm basically the sort of chap who likes to build things on solid foundations, so in golf, it's almost always the driving range, 5 buckets per practice. One for the driver, and 4 for the different irons. And I basically practice once to twice per week.

I also do around 1 hour of putting practice.

At the club where I go to, they have a 3*PAR3 practice course. I have tested it twice lately, I'm hitting the putting green between 2 and 3 shots, but still my biggest problem is still the putting.

But bottom line, the point is that working on the score in the beginning is not helpful at all IMO, because it's random, one swing you might do ok, the other could be devastating.

[ks8829]

I'm a fresh beginner, been golfing for 2 months now. Since I sort of cannot afford a teacher, I'm focusing too much on online videos and forums especially this one here (which is great btw, kudos!).

You are lucky to be able to spend the time to improve your game. I would practice putting back to the tee,

1) putting 2) chipping around the green 3) pitching from 20, 30 40 50 yards from the green 4) wedges from 80, 90, 100 5) 130, 140, 150 shots I believe the chipping and pitching practice will help you with your overall golf swing. When you practice are you hitting a buckets of ball with your driver by yourself or with someone guiding you with the driver?

[mad max]

You are lucky to be able to spend the time to improve your game. I would practice putting back to the tee,

Is it just me or is practicing putting incredibly boring? I know that is where I need to improve my game the most, I average 35.429 puts this year but I can't practice putting for more than 10 minutes without getting bored.

[G10_Jamie]

I didn't read all 5 pages but I think what I think.
Keep score when you are ready, simple as that. One thing I have told many a new golfer (read it in a golf mag 20+ years ago) is to ignore the course pars. If you add a stroke to every hole then it relieves a lot of pressure on the individual. Bogey golf is not a bad score for the average golfer by any means and if you do this then you are giving yourself an extra stroke on your approach or around the green.
I do think you should score honestly as this is an important part of the game.
I play a lot in the middle of the week when it is not busy and this allows me to play multiple shots. I always score the first ball and use any additional balls striclty as practice, even when my scoring ball is par and the extra ball was an eagle :(


Good luck and have fun

[baal]

You are lucky to be able to spend the time to improve your game. I would practice putting back to the tee,

I'm doing it all by myself. I'm doing quite well with the irons swing-wise, but still have to focus on distances, and not so consistently well with the driver, but improving.

[Fastcarfreak]

When I started my children, I had them start from the green back to the tee. Once they had putting down, we went to chipping, pitching and so forth. I told them when they went out to play to not worry about scoring at first. I told them to work on different shots. So, if they hit a bad shot, to put down another and work on improving, as long as they weren't holding up the group behind them.

This is my first post. I agree with this post. I have been playing golf for only a couple months now, and I am completely hooked. I find that being a beginner, I misstrike the ball quite a bit. Rather than playing from a misstruck ball, I find it better (for learning's sake) to drop a new ball and take another shot. If playing with multiple people, I also find it good to play a captain and crew type game on holes if I feel like I am going to hold up other golfers.

My main goal when going out and shooting a round of golf is to just have fun while pissing off as few of people as possible. Adam

[teddosan]

I'm also quite new... I stated about 2 months ago. I have only played on a course twice, but I like to keep score with strict rules just to track my improvement. My first time out I shot a 136! Yeah!

[Octuple Bogey]

I suppose it's up to the person in question. Myself, I always preferred to keep some sort of score just to see if I was improving. I recall keeping a faithful score on my very first round when I was 15. A 13 on the first hole, a bogey 4 on the second, a 17 on the third, and a bunch of scores between 10 and 15 on the next few holes before a thunderstorm rolled in. The key is not to worry about what other people shoot but to stay in your own game and keep setting your own goals as you improve, goals that are realistically within your grasp.

My goals now when I go out are to break 80 and/or shoot a round without a score worse than bogey. The first summer I played it was to get a single par on any hole in any round or to shoot better than 70 on nine holes. If a round goes sour you may have to modify my goals. Oops, I got a double bogey on the second hole so I can't get around without a score worse than bogey. But I then decide that I can still break 80 or get three or more birdies in this round, or get around without a three-putt or hit X number of fairways or get X number of par or better holes. If it really goes badly for me maybe I end up just having to shoot for breaking 90. The key is to always have goals that are realistic for you at that time, not for someone else, and without keeping some sort of score there really is no way to know if you are meeting those goals. So my suggestion is to keep some sort of score.

I suggest it even when practicing. Keep some sort of score when practicing putting or your short game. It makes it more fun and probably pays off faster in the long run.

[Octuple Bogey]

Is it just me or is practicing putting incredibly boring? I know that is where I need to improve my game the most, I average 35.429 puts this year but I can't practice putting for more than 10 minutes without getting bored.

It might depend on how you practice it. Personally, I find it the most interesting part of the game to practice. For me the key is to find a way to score the practice so I can see if I am meeting my goals. My favorite thing to do is to drop a quarter somewhere near the center of the practice green and putt from there to each of the nine holes in sequence two times for a total of 18 holes. Each hole must be at least six feet away from my quarter. I keep a total score assuming a par of 36 or two per hole. I usually average about +1 to the total par but have through amazing luck once been as low as -8 to the total "par". I think this is good practice because you are always hitting a different lag putt every time and you usually have to putt the ball into the hole from varying distances with varying breaks after the first lag putt. It is not particularly good, however, if you need practice from the distance of about five to fifteen feet since you won't face many putts from that distance with this game. A problem that sometimes occurs, however, when the practice green is busy is that a person "monopolizes" one of the holes so you can't putt to it.

Another drill, which I find particularly brutal is to drop ten balls in a circle around a hole at a distance of about three feet and putt them all into the hole. There are a couple of ways to score it. You can see how many you can make in a row. I've made 34 once. Or you can just see if you make the ten and then move back to four feet and make ten of those and then go back to five feet, starting over every time you miss. Phil Mickelson apparently likes this drill, but his standards are ten times higher than mine since he starts over if he doesn't make 100 three footers in a row. I've never found the drop three balls and putt to a random hole very interesting. For one thing, I don't get three tries to hole the same putt on the course so I don't find it entirely realistic. If I practiced putting that way I'd get bored pretty quickly myself.

[mikelz]

Not very. Concentrate on your good shots and try to repeat them.
I guess that applies to non-absolute beginners as well.