How do you keep score?

[xringx]

What I am exactly asking is how many of you dont count that lost drive, the long iron shot that found water... Do you setup and hit another? Take a drop, count the strokes etc?

When signing up for this forum, it asked my handicap,,, I had to look up how to calculate it... heck, i dont even have the cards to properly figure it out. All I know is that I hit a small majority of my shots right the 1st time, but usually hit another to see if I can do better/different...So to keep an accurate score is hard...

I am curious what others do.. My assumption is the lower the handicap, the more accurate the score keeping...

Thanks

[jonnythan]

If I take a shot that goes off the course (which isn't that rare), I'll usually drop another and try to redo it. Whether I make it or not, I'll add one penalty stroke. I figure that it's OK to try it again every now and then - it's certainly more fun than *not* trying it again.

I'll usually take 1-2 mulligans a round, like on hole 3 where the fairway is across 70 yards of water and I usually send one or two into the drink... ;)

[opie]

I keep it as honestly as I know how. On busy weekends sometime I take 2 stroke penalty drops if I go OB and didn't realize it (not walking back to the tee box if someone's waiting and 90% of the time I hit a provisional). I also won't hit a shot that has a chance of damaging my club (gravel, rocks etc.) so I drop then and don't take penalty. I don't play closer or make it easier though, just try not to damage my clubs

[DBeane]

It depends on your goals. If your playing for fun, then who cares. If your trying to establish a legitimate handicap for tournament purposes, then you probably want to count them all.

-Beane

[klaymon]

I count all strokes and play according to the Rules of Golf. It makes the scoring milestones so much more rewarding.

[-Mini-]

I count all strokes and play according to the Rules of Golf. It makes the scoring milestones so much more rewarding.

I do the same - you got to be honest to enjoy the game. To the OP handicap is a measure of how well you play. 0 is a scratch golfer, while + golfers are well shooting better then par and - golfers take a few more shots.

[BigBoy]

I'm somewhat of a mental midget out there - so often times I will NOT count a penalty stroke while I'm playing a hole, and will just put an asterisk by the score on my card. A couple holes later when I cool down, I will go back and adjust my score to the real score.

Its a pretty weird thing, but on the tee box, if I'm pretending I'm hitting one instead of three, the results are way better. Like I said, I'm a mental midget, and i can play these games with myself.

[shortstop20]

I count any shot that goes OB or whatever it may be, but say if my tee shot is OB and I didn't realize it, I will just drop one there. I need to get into the habit of hitting a provisional in those situations. Too much wishful thinking on my part sometimes.

If there's a rock or something in my way I will take a drop(or move the rock), making sure that I'm not giving myself a better lie and play from there without penalty. I'm not going to damage my clubs since I just play for the love of the game.

On that note I took a 1/4" wide, 1/16" deep section out of my SW the other day when there was a rock that I didn't see in front and to the left of my ball, caught it hard on the follow through, scared the crap out of me, didn't hit the leading edge though at least. I then proceeded to throw that rock as far as I could into the water hazard.

[Marinemike]

Score as honestly as possible for all of the reasons already mentioned. Good story today...I was a single that got paired up with a threesome who were related, but not closely. One of the guys was just horrible. I mean bad. Lot's of +4s and stuff. I had a bad day, but I beat this young guy. When the one keeping score added up scores, this turd beat me. No friggin way! I let it go because it wasn't worth my breath, but it's situations like that that make me want the score to be kept right when I'm playing in a group that wants to keep score.

Also, as far as being a mental midget, it is VERY easy to convince myself that a score is better than it is. For the longest time I would maybe give myself the 3 footer that I actually missed and stuff like that. That's just wrong. I got over it, though. And I got better at putting because I wasn't cutting myself slack! If you don't write your real score, breaking 100 or 90 or 80 or 110 doesn't mean anything.

[jonnythan]

The temptation is strong to give yourself that 3-foot putt that you missed, but I've prevented myself from doing that so far.

BTW, I've been using live online scoring at mobile.oobgolf.com from my phone during rounds. Pretty awesome services.

[RandomRaiderTTU]

No mulligans, no free OBs, no free water balls, and down in the rough. That's about the extent of it.

I'll move my ball in the rough if it's sitting on rocks. I move it if it's in the fairway but a bad lie due to lack of course management. If it's behind a tree...I punch it out...under a bush...take an unplayable.

I used to play a lot more "rules relaxed", but I wanted an honest assessment of my game so I changed the way I scored.

[mposter]

Last weekend I hit three provisionals (I did end up using one). By the third one my weekend group growned and rxd that I just drop if I lost it. They also get mad that I don't take the three foot gimmie! But I enjoy playing the right way and don't worry when they take a mulligan b/c the cart girl drove by during the swing :)

To the OP I say try and play by the rules. Hitting the next shot after a horrible one is a mini lesson in itself. And have fun!

[Fourputt]

What I am exactly asking is how many of you dont count that lost drive, the long iron shot that found water... Do you setup and hit another? Take a drop, count the strokes etc?

I play by the Rules of Golf... period. That should answer that question.

I am curious what others do.. My assumption is the lower the handicap, the more accurate the score keeping...

I find just the opposite. A lower handicap can be nothing more than a vanity cap... if you don't count the bad shots, penalties, give yourself the 4 foot putt that you really might only make about 60% of the time, then your handicap is going to be significantly lower than your actual ability. Guys with

higher handicaps tend to be more honest about it.

[mirv]

i typically cheat only on one hole on my home course - there's a par 3 with the box perched on a cliff a good 40 yards above the green, which is across a pond/small lake about 175 yards away. the green is a peninsula with water on three sides and a small creek running behind it. the green itself is maaaaybe 10 yards across and 15 yards long, so it's a fairly tough target to hit.

now, on this particular hole, if i just completely and utterly flub a shot and hook it off or push it, i'll proceed on down to the designated drop zone and call the penalty. but if i hit a shot that flies right at the green and splashes maybe two or three feet short of the peninsula, or if it hits the green but then rolls off one of the sides, or something goofy like that where i ALMOST had it, i'll call a mulligan because i'll know i just had a real minor flub in my swing somewhere. more often than not, i'll put that second shot right on it. if the mulligan misses, well. on down to the drop zone for a penalty.

the only other times i'll pull a mulligan out will be if i hit a shot that is just NOT an error i make regularly - that "once every ten rounds" tee shot that you top about 50 yards up the middle or a shank or something equally lame. if it's a hook or a push (which are my main two screw ups), i'll just shake my head and play them.

[mruseless]

I play by the rules of golf, with one exception. For the sake of pace of play, I don't go back to the previous spot if I lose a ball (I will hit a provisional if there is a question, but sometimes you just lose a ball that you swear you know where it was). Anyway, in that case I will take a drop and give myself two penalty strokes for violation of rule 27-1. Maybe that is playing by the rules of golf? Probably not.

[mad max]

the only other times i'll pull a mulligan out will be if i hit a shot that is just NOT an error i make regularly - that "once every ten rounds" tee shot that you top about 50 yards up the middle or a shank or something equally lame. if it's a hook or a push (which are my main two screw ups), i'll just shake my head and play them.

Why? I don't understand the logic behind this. I could understand if you have a hole where you consistently make the same mistake that you could tell yourself that if I duck hook this one into water again I am taking a mulligan, to help you get into some confidence in the hole and get yourself in a better mental state. But to take a shot over because it is something you rarely do seems odd to me.

What happens when you drain a 40 foot putt? Do you take a mulligan there?

[Slim 11]

Generally speaking, the only time I will not count "properly" is on an OB where I drop at the area it went out and take a penalty (instead of re-hitting from original spot). This mostly is a pace of play thing.
If I am playing for money or with certain playing partners, we go stroke and distance (strictly follow the rules).
Oh...we usually take a "breakfast ball" on the first tee because most of the the courses don't have driving ranges to loosen up on.

[jonnythan]

Breakfast ball. I like that.