Getting the game back

[PhilsRHman]

I've noticed more and more that there are a fair number of people in the same boat as me -- played a lot as a teen and through college, but the mid- to late-20s were spent away from the game (either too busy with work, too broke, or too frustrated trying to score playing montlhy like we did when we played 5-6 times a week).

I'm 31 now and even though I'm back to a 12, I feel like I'm in better position to play better golf than I did when younger because I understand the game better. I also have the time and money to spend on the game and while it's not as good as playing free while working in a cart barn for years, I can actually play 7-8 rounds a month and find a 4-5 days more a month to practice. Plus, most of my vacations are built around little golf trips (even if they're all within an hour of home), and for the first time, I can enjoy the game socially as my friends are all learning the joys of golf. All-in-all, I'm back and feeling incredibly passionate about golf.

Here's where you guys come in. My last handicap index came in at a 13.2, but as I look at it, my next 8 scores to come off are 92 or higher. I've been in the low/mid 80s for the past two months, so I have a feeling I'm prime to drop back into the 9-10 range with a handful of good rounds in the next month or so. My goal is to get down to a 7 by next March so that I can start playing in some NJ tournament qualifiers -- State Am, State Mid-Am especially, which are early in the year. I've got the next 5 months to really get my game in shape before shutting it down for the winter (aside from hopeful trips in Jan and March). If you could set up a program that includes one day a week completely committed to golf, plus one night a week when I get 2-3 hours at a range/short-game area, how would you spend that time? What sort of routine would you get me into? At this point I try to play at least 18 on Fridays since I'm off and my fiancee works late. Then Sunday nights I get off work and go to the driving range and then spend an hour on their chipping/putting synthetic green since. It doesn't feel like quite enough (and I'm considering finding one morning a week to get to the range before work since I work from noon-11 p.m.), but I think if I maximize my practice/play time it should be enough to get me back to the upper single digits pretty quickly considering I'm back shooting low/mid 80s without much effort. Finally accepting that inside 100 yards is where I need to work and improve (and that hitting a 225 yard 5-iron gets a lot of ooohs and ahhhs and means squat when you three-putt), I think I'm ready to take a big leap forward this year.

Another question for the really low handicappers: When I was playing a ton back a decade ago, I was always playing such hard, high slope/rating courses that even by shooting low 80s all the time, my handicap would stay around 6.5-8 (bolstered by a ton of 9-hole scores of 2-3 over par). But even when I went to an easy course, I'd have a hard time finding the mid-70s and often blew up to the 90s. Do you like to play as hard a course from the hardest tees you can? Or is it good for the pysche to mix in a round from the white tees? What's a good mix? 4 rounds at a slope of 135, then 1 at 118? More balanced? I'm saving my money to join a local country club next season so I can get into some competitive weekend tournaments, but I'm afraid playing the same course all the time will get me back to the point I struggle to play well anywhere else. Love to hear your thoughts.

[NotAStick]

  PhilsRHman said:

Another question for the really low handicappers: When I was playing a ton back a decade ago, I was always playing such hard, high slope/rating courses that even by shooting low 80s all the time, my handicap would stay around 6.5-8 (bolstered by a ton of 9-hole scores of 2-3 over par). But even when I went to an easy course, I'd have a hard time finding the mid-70s and often blew up to the 90s. Do you like to play as hard a course from the hardest tees you can? Or is it good for the pysche to mix in a round from the white tees? What's a good mix? 4 rounds at a slope of 135, then 1 at 118? More balanced? I'm saving my money to join a local country club next season so I can get into some competitive weekend tournaments, but I'm afraid playing the same course all the time will get me back to the point I struggle to play well anywhere else. Love to hear your thoughts.

That's funny. I'm exactly the opposite. I've averaged 2-under this summer at a rating courses with rating 70-71, but at courses I played with ratings around 76+ (slope 140+), I've averaged closer to 7-over.

I think it's a bit of a playing style issue. My short-iron and wedge approach shots have been pretty tight all summer (lots of birdies on short holes), but when I'm forced to approach with a longer iron (on harder courses), I've had trouble holding greens and find myself in bad places more than I'd like, and resulting in few birdies and many bogies on those tough courses. On short holes, I also often play a 3 or 5 wood and play a lot more fairways. But those tough courses don't leave much choice but Driver when there are two 500 yard par 4s.

[saltman]

I swear to god if you search for my first post, I would have thought you are plagerizing. We are in almost identical situations right down to the handicap, I am currently a 13.3!

At any rate, its been a bit of a frustrating process. If you are like me you will find that different parts of your game will come together each round, but its a struggle to put them all together in the same round. I have been fighting the hooks badly and then I seemed to get those under control and could not putt. So I spent a few extra hours on the putting green last week and felt like I was going to put in a good round yesterday......low and behold the hooks came back and I shot a mind boggling 93 after being just 3 over through 7. When the hooks come, so do the doubles and triples.

After going OB left for the third consecutive hole on 16, I lost it and actually slammed a club into the ground, not like me, but it made me realize the passion has returned for better or worse.

My goals this year are modest, I do intend to play in a local tournament or two, but I would like to fire a few rounds in the 70s as well. Frankly, I am a bit stunned that in 13 rounds this summer, my low round is just 83. All in all, my game physically is close, but I am a mental midget. I put so much pressure on myself to get better and I am not thinking about where the ball needs to go, but rather where it shouldn't go. So the advice I would offer is work on the mental aspect as well. Having confidence is crucial.

Keep me posted on how its going for you and what break throughs you are making. Good to hear someone else is in the same boat.

[saltman]

  NotAStick said:

That's funny. I'm exactly the opposite. I've averaged 2-under this summer at a rating courses with rating 70-71, but at courses I played with ratings around 76+ (slope 140+), I've averaged closer to 7-over.

Isn't that how its supposed to work? Sounds like you play courses exactly how the rating system suggests your handicap would play them.

[PhilsRHman]

Notastick: Makes total sense. My short game's always been awful, so whether I'm playing well and hitting 5 irons into greens, or wedges, I'm about as likely to make pars/bogeys at about the same pace. Ironically, some of my best rounds ever have been my worst ball striking rounds. I'll always remember my first even-par 9 holes I hit only one green (made the birdie putt) and got up and down 7 of the other 8. When I was 19 I couldn't sell myself on the importance of the shortgame, but now that my long game is sort of second nature, I see that there's no reason to hit 50 3 irons and 50 5 irons on the practice tee when I could hit 5 each, then 90 wedges. It explains everything, but also points me in the right direction.

[PhilsRHman]

Saltman: We're more alike than you realize ... I also fight a hook when I'm playing poorly. When I was playing great I knew exactly how big a draw to play, but for the life of me I couldn't hit a cut. That's something that I've been able to change, and while it's cost me distance, I'm now swinging much more under control, and I can work it in either direction, just not as consistantly as I will once I'm back to playing more (i.e. what I expect to be a 10 yard cut will be 2 yards, or what I expect to be a 10 yard draw will be 30, so still a ways to go).

And I know what you're saying about it not coming all together. I was really floundering at the start of the summer and couldn't get out of the mid-90s and was extremely frustrated. But I noticed I kept making more and more pars and birdies, but they were offset with more and more 8s and 9s, usually thanks to brutal tee shots (OB, in water, etc), and compounded around the greens to turn bogeys into quads. Now, thanks to a lot of work within 15 yards of the green, I'm finding that I'm not only turning bogeys into pars, I'm turning triples into bogeys, which is just as important.

My renewed passion came a couple weeks ago in Ocean City, Md. I'd been playing horribly, coming off several straight rounds in the mid/upper 90s, including the day before. We were playing a tough course, but I felt comfortable and started simply enough with some pars and a birdie or two. I got to the turn and knew I was playing well, but really didn't want to think of anything other than making another par on 10. Got to 13 and one of my friends goes, "Holy crap, you realize you're 1-over???" I nearly wrapped my club around his throat. I ended up collapsing down the stretch to shoot 83 (yeah, 12 over on the last 6, but I won't chalk it all up to mental game, my blood sugar dropped really bad for a couple holes to the point my hands got all shaky until I drank a gatorade and stabilized it, but it put me into a real fog). That day I realized how close I was. I followed it up with a couple more rounds in the low 90s, but then another round of 83 (with a frustrating triple thanks to a ball in the water on 18). Since then, two 85s that were quite consistent, and an 87 on greens so slow I three putted 4-5 times and only made one putt longer than 6 feet all day.

I've got a nice break from work for July 4, so I'm playing this Thursday (possibly 36) and Friday, then Monday (probably 36), and possibly Tuesday and Wednesday next week, so I've got a nice chance to really pull things together. I've added this new 5 wood and a couple new wedges, which might mean a small setback, but I'm really confident I'm ready to move forward quickly.

[Jmuir]

  PhilsRHman said:

I've noticed more and more that there are a fair number of people in the same boat as me -- played a lot as a teen and through college, but the mid- to late-20s were spent away from the game (either too busy with work, too broke, or too frustrated trying to score playing montlhy like we did when we played 5-6 times a week).

I am right there with you, except for the time to commit to practice. Two kids and long days at work take up most of my time. I played and practiced a lot through college, but then I had to decide between paying the bills and playing golf. Being cautious about money, bills won. So at most I would get in 3-4 rounds each year and with no time spent practicing. The past few years I played a lot more and towards the end of last season made the decision to get serious about golf and make an effort to get better. First I worked on my swing and striking the ball better. With colder weather approaching I felt this would be something I could work on throughout the winter. I have a pretty good idea of the fundamentals of a swing so I set up a hitting cage and video camera in my garage. After seeing just a few swings the thought of giving up golf for good ran through my mind. I had developed some pretty bad habits. I worked out a lot of the bad habits in the hitting cage and then spent some time at a range that is open year round. Lets just say I was very pleased with the progress I was making and the thought of giving up golf is gone. I started off this year working on my short game. This time I set up a mock hole that will let me work on shots up to 50yds. Just mowed on circle (10 ft in diameter) on one end of the yard with the idea that all shots should land inside the circle and no care where the bounced/rolled to. I have also made an effort to go to a course near the office to work on putting a few times each week during lunch. Although I’m not there yet, I also feel I’m in a better position to play the best golf of my life. My index fell below 10 last month and my goal is to have it down into the 7-8 range by the end of the year. Reading puts is really holding me back right now. Way too many pars when i have birdie putts.

Do not know what to think about you scoring better on more difficult courses. I usually score in line with course ratings. Maybe the competitive nature in you comes out and your just play at your best. Good luck with your game! John

[NotAStick]

  saltman said:

Isn't that how its supposed to work? Sounds like you play courses exactly how the rating system suggests your handicap would play them.

Well, my differentials are much higher on harder courses. If I could shoot 69 on the easy course (I do), I should shoot about 74-75 on the hard course (I have averaged 78-79).

Not a big difference, but it's roughly equivalent (but opposite) of the OPs scores.

[saltman]

  NotAStick said:

Well, my differentials are much higher on harder courses. If I could shoot 69 on the easy course (I do), I should shoot about 74-75 on the hard course (I have averaged 78-79).

Yeah, I see what you are saying, but do you play a lot of courses where the rating is 75+? At least around here, the number of courses rated higher than 73 is very low. If you are not used to playing those courses and the premium they put on nutting 4,5,6 irons I would submit that a 1-2 stroke differential is pretty solid.

I have a similar trend as the OP. My lowest round of the season was at the hardest course I have played.

[NotAStick]

  saltman said:

Yeah, I see what you are saying, but do you play a lot of courses where the rating is 75+? At least around here, the number of courses rated higher than 73 is very low. If you are not used to playing those courses and the premium they put on nutting 4,5,6 irons I would submit that a 1-2 stroke differential is pretty solid.

Well, playing the tips on PGA length/difficulty courses puts you at about 75-76 rating usually. There are 3 or 4 courses in my area that host professional tournaments of various levels, from the US Amateur (Public Links) to the Colorado Open. All 4 of those courses are 7400+ yards. I play the next set of tees forward when I want to have a fun round and get some birdies, but I feel like I should challenge myself sometimes and it really beats me up, score wise.

[enis750]

this is a great topic
i too played a lot in H/S and university etc.
put the sticks away for a few years then picked them back up
i was a low hcp before (2-4 range) now playing a 9 or so

had a couple tough rounds this past weekend
i know i have the skill to get lower and know how to fix my flaws, but just dont have the pratice time
i try to get to the course 45-1 hour early to putt and chip..thats about it for pratice time
also try to play 2-3 times/week

it will all come around....im hopefull!! hahah! :)