Hitting Greens, bad scorecard?

[Backspinalot]

Hello,


Today in my round I hit 10-12 Greens in Regulation. I shot 87. I am hitting great shots most of the time it is just sometimes I throw a bad swing and it mentaly brings me down on that hole. I sometimes stand over the ball and don't feel confident in that certain shot. Even when I practice at the range. When I do hit good shots, they are very solid and right where I aimed. Heck, All the times I had my 52 Degree wedge in for Eagle, I left my self birdie puts under 15-20 feet. My putting is OK but could improve howver that is not my focus right now.

Could anyone help me get my confidence on track and help my consistency? I know I have potential to hit a good shot and I have done it before many times. for example on the Par 3, the last 10 tee shots on that one hole have been dead solid and I almost feel as if I am probably going to mess up that shot because I haven't messed up on that hole in a while. I get up and skull it into the creek. I know I have a good solid swing and could be a really good player if I had more shot-to-shot consistency. If that makes sense.

Thanks

[Dad-2-3]

Hitting greens with bad scorecard = more putting practice! I know you said that's not your focus right now, but be honest with yourself.

[rebby]

If you're hitting 12 greens a round, that sounds pretty good to me. 12 is the number of greens that I aim for on a round to round basis, often times I hit more than that but many times I don't.

Here is what I don't understand though. 87, assumming a regulation par 72 course, that's 15 over par. 12 greens in regulation should clear those holes at even par, maybe even 3 over, worst case senario (which assumes that greens are huge, your approach shots are no where near the stick, you didn't make a single birdie and the greens are very difficult to putt). This means that you would have had to double bogey the remaining 6 holes, all of them! This isn't really adding up for me.

Can you be a bit more detailed in the description of your round? Did those 6 holes where you missed the green really account for that much of a score inflation or are we dealing with a short game issue here? My advise, knowing absolutely nothing about your game mind you, is to stay off the course for a few days and instead spend those 4 hours/day on the practice green. Once you start holing birdies and getting up and down, your scores will improve tremendously. It's quite amazing how a quality up and down will carry over to the next hole. Confidence breeds success, success breeds confidence. Confidence breeds consistency, consistency breeds confidence.

If you haven't already, buy the Scorecard application that is advertised on this site. It's a good app and will go a long way in telling you exactly what part of your game needs work.

[crayputter]

As with rebby above, I have the same question. You hit 10 - 12 greens, and you play 87 ?? That means 2 things. 1) You're triple putting like crazy or 2) You are having some very bad holes on the rest of the greens you miss

Either way, you need to work on your short game buddy...practice chipping and a WHOLE lot of putting...and you should be closer to breaking 80 very soon !

Happy golfing !

Ray

[Randy4h]

Backspin: Aren't you the guy who is offering advice on how to spin your wedges? Sounds like you may need a little more work with those suckers around the green. 15 over with only 6 missed greens. Short game...short game...short game...

[saevel25]

The only way to get spin on the wedge or irons is to make sure you hit the ball first. This takes practice, and if you hit it out of the rough, forget about spinning it. The only thing that helps you out of the rough is hitting it high. But from the fairway, you want to contact the ball first, and compress the ball againts the clubface. Just work on solid contact, most people can get alot of spin just by improving contact. I had two golf balls spin back on me in the past two rounds. I am usually able to dead spot it, one yard hop and stop. But i am getting better at hitting the ball the right way and i spun two wedges back pretty good.

[Backspinalot]

Well it seems like when I hit a bad shot, it is like dominoes. the next shot is bad, and the next shot is bad. And no actually I left my self pretty close puts for Birdie. I didn't 3 putt too many times. My problems come very random. Sometimes I just stand up to the ball and don't feel right and put a bad swing and I slice it, hook it, chunk it, blade it... I am trying to get my shots more consistent where that doesn't happen. While they punched the greens, they are very unpredictable so putts are kind of harder to make than normal. If I just hit a bad shot on a hole, it isn't just one stroke, it usually costs me a double bogey because if I mess up one shot, I almost feel like I messed up the hole and I stop trying or something. But my swing isn't bad, I just hit a bad shot every now and then and that leads to another. One more thing I would like to mention. If I screw up the first or second hole and fall back a few strokes from a bogey or double. I play the rest of the round bad because I feel like I already blew a good round.

[rebby]

While you're working on your short game, I suggest that you do some reading as well. Try this and this .

[jlh1508]

If you hit 12 out of 18 greens, left yourself good birdie chances and didn't 3 putt, then you are at worst even par through those 12 holes. Did you seriously double and triple the other 6 holes on the course?

[Scott_K]

It sounds like you're having "blow up" holes. Most of your round you're actually scoring around your capability, but a couple of holes, you just have a disaster and give up on your game. I encounter this with my game as well. For example, I'll hit a bad tee shot on a par 4, but hit a good trouble shot to put myself with an oppurtunity for an up and down. At that point though, I'll be still upset with myself for the tee shot which is well behind me. It distracts me of hitting the proper wedge shot at hand. I might end up carding a 6 or 7 because of a few sloppy shots. I basically lose the hole on the walk from the tee to the 2nd shot. I focus too much on the bad tee shot rather than good low hooking 4iron I hit from the trees.

I noticed this "blow up" occur on a few scorecards and picked up Dave Pelz Damage Control book. Nothing earthshattering yet, but it's shed some light on my thought process of course management.

[lonewolf]

First reply - introduction here.

I too suffer from blow up holes. Last round I played was 86. Hit 8 greens; had only one 3-putt; hit two balls OB and left two in the trap. A snowman 8 and a 7 on par 4's will kill a scorecard quickly.

I am going to try walking more-carting less. I seem to cool down when walking after a poor shot.

Good luck.

[drglew]

Hmm...the PGA Tour 2009 stats show Tiger Woods' GIR at about 68%. If you really hit 10-12/18 GIR, that's in the 55-66% range -- that's what would be expected for a scratch golfer or even a tour pro.

I played today and only hit 2 greens in regulation, i.e. 11%, despite hitting 11/14 fairways (i.e. irons were atrocious) -- but still managed an 89 due to mostly to solid putting (only 28 putts) and decent chipping.

As noted by others that without hole-by-hole scoring and some basic stats, it's harder to find out the root of the problem. Lots of 3-putts will quickly inflate your score. If you don't already, you should keep track of number of putts at minimum when you keep score. I put dots next to each hole's score to count putts, and currently work to keep the putts less than 36 per round.

Bad blowup holes also can do this -- note although they really affect your gross score more than your adjusted score for handicap purposes. if posting for an official handicap you are supposed to use Equitable Stroke Control -- and guessing by your stated index of 11.0 your course handicap will likely be in the 10-19 range where you're supposed to post an adjusted score where 7 is the max you can record. I.e your snowman just turned into a 7, so now you shot an 86!

[Backspinalot]

I almost broke 80 today (80) on a Par 73. I was hitting driver dead accurate, only missed the fair way a few times. I hit 10 G.I.R. today. I was 3 over after 15 holes! I then left my self a 25 foot put from the fringe on the next hole, they punched the greens so they are not the best. I 3-putted that hole. next hole is the hardest on the course :/ the tee shot mostly. There is a creak running diagnol down the fair way. I hit a slight faded drive and the next shot was hit a little fat and into the lake that the creek feeds into. I doubled that hole, next hole missed the green right (par 4) and managed to get up and down. These are highlights of my game today. Here is shot by shot:

Hole 1: Par 5, fairway drive, then 4-wood to about 100 yards, pitching wedge to about 15 feet. missed Birdie put, got a par.
Hole 2: Par 3 slightely fat tee shot, 3 feet off the green, chip to 3 feet. When I went to putt, the ball lipped out of the hole at least 90 degrees. Bogey
Hole 3: Par 5 Swooped under the ball (sky shot) pull. hit out to the fairway, pushed third shot right and short of the green with a 17 degree (4-wood). Failed to get up and down.
Hole 4: Par 4 (begining of great playing streak.) Very solid drive down middle, 8 iron in, hit perfect, just not quite there (there is a hill/ridge in the middle of the green) the ball landed on it and spun a bit. 30 foot put. knocked it to 5 feet, made it for par.
Hole 5: Par 4 another great drive down fairway. 8 iron hit to 20 feet of hole. 2-putt for par
Hole 6: Par 3 tee shot to about 20 feet of hole, drained the putt for birdie
Hole 7: Par 4 Another good drive, 7 iron to hole, 30 foot putt, 2-putt for par
Hole 8: Par 5 90 degree dog leg right, great drive, great second shot, pitching wedge hit to 20 feet. 2-putt for par
Hole 9: Par 4 Big lake in right fairway. Great drive, 9 iron to about 15 feet, barely missed put, par
Hole 10: Par 5 Uphill dog leg left. Good drive, fairway, good second shot up hill, Pitching wedge not hit solid. In the bunker with a steep lib before green. I get a bad lie with the steep lip, hit out to about 15 feet, missed putt. Bogie.
Hole 11: Par 3 22 degree wood to front of green, 30 footer 2-putt for par
Hole 12: Par 5 dogleg right, good drive and second shot. 5 iron to green, just short and on the fringe. 3-putt from ther 40 feet.
Hole 13: Par 5 (short one) bad drive to left rough. hit second shot to 8 iron distance, 10 foot putt for birdie, 2-putt for par.
Hole 14: Par 3 not solid 6 iron, short of green, got up and down for par.
Hole 15: Par 4 Decent drive, 4-wood to 30 yards, great chip, made par.
Hole 16: Par 3 Solid 8 iron to back fringe of green (wrong club) 3-putt from 30 feet, ball was jumpin all over the place because of green aeration
Hole 17: Par 4 Great drive, second shot with 5 iron was hit fat into pond. Had to drop and hit P wedge. 20 footer, 2-putt for double bogey.
Hole 18: Par 4 Fairway drive, second shot was pushed into a free drop area because they are building bunkers, failed to get up and down, bogeyed

tell me what you think I need to work on based off what I said.

[crayputter]

I almost broke 80 today (80) on a Par 73. I was hitting driver dead accurate, only missed the fair way a few times. I hit 10 G.I.R. today. I was 3 over after 15 holes! I then left my self a 25 foot put from the fringe on the next hole, they punched the greens so they are not the best. I 3-putted that hole. next hole is the hardest on the course :/ the tee shot mostly. There is a creak running diagnol down the fair way. I hit a slight faded drive and the next shot was hit a little fat and into the lake that the creek feeds into. I doubled that hole, next hole missed the green right (par 4) and managed to get up and down. These are highlights of my game today. Here is shot by shot:

Dude...WT...??

You're playing some unbelievable golf man !! What exactly are you trying to accomplish here, joining the PGA Tour ??? Just kidding....look they way I look at it, your game's fine...Your handicap says 11, and this game, you just shaved 4 off, and are now a single handicapper. Dude, do you know you're in the upper percentile of golfers globally ?? Maybe what you can do is also take some time to think about the shot a little before you make it....case in point would be, that 30ft triple putt. Honestly, 30ft is not a distance for triple putting...so as you walked on to the green you should have noticed the condition of the green and adjusted your putting stroke accordingly, instead of just walking to your ball, reading the green and just going for it ! But still, all in all, your game's pretty solid...keep it up Ray

[drglew]

agreed, you're close enough to scratch golf--overall, keep doing what you're doing!

Looks like if you wanted to improve scoring, short game practice is what you need most, i.e the ability to get up/down when missing a green:

i might have lost track but it looked like 35 putts including two 3-putts, which is a little high if you want to be a single-digit player. Improving in that area combines putting practice, as well as pitching/chipping practice (i.e. chipping to close enough distances where 1-putts are realistic). If your pitches and chips aren't within 10 feet of the cup, you're not realistically going to convert many of those chances. I.e even though tour players only hit ~2/3 of GIR, they get up and down a whole lot more often than us human beings.

[Backspinalot]

Thanks for the support. I will try to keep doing what I did yesterday on every round. I just started hitting good shots and I felt like I could not hit a bad shot, like it wasn't even possible until the last 3 holes :(.

[rebby]

Thanks for the support. I will try to keep doing what I did yesterday on every round. I just started hitting good shots and I felt like I could not hit a bad shot, like it wasn't even possible until the last 3 holes :(.

That's a huge part of it. Don't get too high or too low (emotionally) and things tend to go quite a bit better.