Tell me why I'm a 12 handicap

[oregongolfguy]

Love the thread...here are some thoughts on reflecting on my round today and the mistakes i made.....
Course management....the course i play is short, one of the par 5's is very reachable in 2. I hit a pretty good driver, not great but pretty good...it slides out the right side of the fairway into the rough. The ball kinda sinks down into the grass...baaad lie.....but i'm only about 160 yds from the green. Trees are guarding the green from my angle...but not impossibly tall....I initially grab a PW, plan was to pitch across and up, hopefully advance around 100yds and get to left side of fairway, setup easy 3rd shot...maybe have legit birdie putt,should be able to par fairly easily....but then the stupid part of the brain takes over.....PW back into the bag, 6i comes out. I'm gonna stick this on the green and make birdie....but the lie gets me......shot falls about 30yds short of green right under trees, try to bump a 7 iron low under the tree....mission accomplished but came out a little two hot...across front of green into bunker.....story ends with a 7...

The other two things i really noticed in my own game...putting is getting better but i'm still getting 3 to maybe 4 3 putts per 18...and it would be nice to roll in one or two outside of 5ft here and there...

The dreaded blow up hole...it seems like i always have one or two holes that i just self destruct....hit the ball fat, hit it thin,the famous 40yd ground ball 6i....

[bunkerputt]

AGREED!

Why not take the right club, but pick a safer line where the mis-hit will land short but safe? Most holes usually don't have bunkers right in the front of the green, but rather on the left or right. Don't try to shoot at a side-pin if you aren't puring it more often than not and your bunker game stinks. Just pick the line that gives you the safest miss and best chance for a par save in case of a mis-hit.

[bunkerputt]

So just to recap the thread, if I want to become a 2:

* Get a better mental game
* Have a more consistent full-swing
* Make better lag putts
* Make more short putts
* Get short game shots really close
* Hit the fairway more
* Hit more greens

Got it.

[Yukari]

Played with a guy who was 3 handicap. I noticed two things that separates his 3 handicap to my 12 handicap: (1) consistency. Both of us were striking the ball pretty well--almost even I would say. But if he was consistent 85% of the time, I was consistent only 75% of the time. (2) Short game. He had a much better short game than I. When I am outside 10 feet, I'd be lucky to make 1 putt out of every 50 putts. But he could probably make 1 or 2 out of 10.

Key is short game, short game, short game. Consistency will come as you play more, but you need to hone your short game. There is no substitute for lowering your handicap than improving your short game.