Shot one of my best rounds, but keep making double from 120 yards out

[Gerardv]

I shot one of my all-time best rounds today, an 82 at Turnberry Golf Course in Pickerington, Ohio.

It was only an OK round,however, since I keep making bogeys, and double bogeys from the middle of the fairway between 80-120 yards out. The 10th and 11th holes are perfect examples of how my short iron game sucks.

The 10th is 348 yards and I had roughly 100 yards left after my drive in the absolute center of the fairway. From there, I made double by dropping my wedge in the bunker and then blowing up from there. The 11th is 354 yards and again I had roughly 100 yards in. In this case I missed a little long and just missed getting up and down by burning the right edge on my par putt.

From 130 yards +, I usually hit the green, but anything closer is my throw up zone.

I know I can choose to lay up a little on similar length holes to leave me a distance I'm more comfortable with, but I would rather learn to hit my short irons better.

There were four holes where I had 80-120 yards left from the middle of the fairway and didn't make par. Had I made par on even two of them, I would have shot 80, which is my personal best score, ever.

Here is a little background info. About 8 years ago I was diagnosed with a very rare neurological disorder which led to several major surgeries that left me with serious problems with my right arm/hand. It took a long time, but I am now playing golf again.

I've been through times where I thought I was going to be paralyzed, or worse. So, in the grand scheme of things, golf problems are not really problems at all. I refuse to take it too seriously. Still, coming so close to shooting my personal best, only to be derailed by short irons is frustrating.

Thanks, everyone, for letting me vent. I need to rant about it a little and my wife didn't want to listen to me go on and on about my golf game.

[whetstone]

Play to your strengths on the course, get better on the practice range... but you already know that.

[Saint]

I found something that really helps me. Instead of saying, go for par, go for par, I now say, just hit this fairway, and the GIR. When i think about hitting fairways and GIR, it helps my score alot.

[enduro]

So if 130+ is your magic area then why not play for it? If that's the case, the game should be even easier since you can use a 3W off of a tee instead of a driver.

Play the hole backwards to setup your next shot. It's how you have to play this game. If the hole is 350 yards long and you want to play a 130 yard shot after your drive, use a club that will get you 220 yards. In your case it sounds like a 3W.

Save your driver for the 400 yard holes.

A good strategy is to try and find a range, 100 yards, 120 yards or whatever...something that can be had easily for you off the tee and really hone that shot. Make it as comfortable as possible. As automatic as possible. A distance you can reliably hit a green with and get to with a driver or 3W. GIR should go way up.

[golfbarefoot]

Turnberry is a fun track. From the tips, it's more of a challenge than it appears. The par 3's get tougher as you move move along, 160, 185, 210, 217. Overall the course is only 6800 yards from the tips but the Donald Ross layout uses it well and it feels much longer

As far as your 'rant' as you put it, it sounds like you need to work on your bunker play and short game. Shooting 81 is no easy feat at any course from any tees.

My main advice to you is..

..dont 'rant' so much about what went wrong, but talk about how great you played and how many great shots you must of hit to score so well. I truly believe in the power of positive thinking... As for the two blow-up holes. just forget about what happened but work on the aspects that can improve it.

Kudos to you for recovering and getting back out there and playing well, keep it up. And remember to keep the visuals of all the good shots and let go of the bad

[Gerardv]

Thanks for all the advice. As for bunker play, I hit two really good bunker shots today on other holes, and the one complete no-hoper I already mentioned.

Because I am happy just to be playing golf after all the medical problems, I usually don't rant about my golf game. Hell, I used to be one of the guys that almost never hit driver and played very conservative. Not knowing if you will have the use of your right arm when you wake up from surgery makes hitting a tee shot in the trees seem a lot less important. Although the point is well taken, instead of being upset I played so poorly on a few shots, I should be thrilled I shot one of my personal best scores.

I can even look at it this way - since I had all the surgeries, I had to completely rebuild by swing and game. So, in a way, this is my personal best score ever. All the other low 80s rounds came pre-gimp, as I like to call it. (might as well laugh about the medical problems a little)

All of the suggestions so far are well taken, and I appreciate them.