Found a New Way to Suck

[Travtex]

Well, that was interesting. Zero penalty strokes, zero horrific blow up holes... and an utterly lousy score. Is that improvement or regression?

First nine played today after almost a month of hiding indoors from the rain + the extreme grip makeover. Went out fully expecting to suck it up, and I was in no way disappointed. But it was a bizarrely different sort of sucking.

1.) First hole is a Par 3, 187 yards. I hit a monster hook with a 6 iron. Ugly, but playable. Pitch rolled right off the back of the green (Deceivingly steep greens at my new home course). Chip and two-putt. +2 Ugh.

2.) Short Par 5. Laid into a driver, ended up 268 yard dead-center of the fairway. Skulled the planned lay-up. Lay-up attempt #2 (It's a nasty dogleg right with the green RIGHT over a pond. Evil hole.) puts the a giant tree and the water between the green and I. Shot of the Day with a 52* wedge straight over the stupid tree and softly on the green. No, wait... it rolls off again. Fringe putt. Putt... putt, damnit. +4.

3.) Short 4. 3 wood that looks nice, but the wind stuffs it. Whatever, it's in the fairway. Catch the wedge a bit thin and fly the green. Chip, putt, putt. +5

4.) Short 3. Top my 10 iron. Top my 58*. Chip, putt, putt. +7, and it's obviously gonna be a long day.

5.) Driver finds a tree branch on the right side, but it's kicked into the fairway. Drill a 6 iron, but it's waaaaaay left. Ugly line drive that fades and rolls clear past the #2 tee box. Fore. My bad. 52* out and put it just off the green. Fringe putt. Putt. DROP YOU MOTH... er... Putt. +9

6.) Monster Uphill Death Par 4. Drive is pushed a bit left, but in 'Okay' left rough territory. Not wanting to climb the mountain to find the green, I take playing partner's word for it. I scamper out into potential landing zone of 7's blind tee shot and hastily hack at where I kinda think the green might be. It's sorta in that direction, but much further than advertised. Third shot hits the green and, again, just rolls right off the back. Chip. Putt. Putt. What the...? PUTT!! +12

7.) Monster Downhill Blind Shot Par 5 with Water Right. Hit driver, and it isn't pretty... another low liner, but it's in the fairway and over the hill. Leaves me like 250 yards on a nasty downhill lie. So, naturally, I skull an iron which skips cheerfully up the fairway about fifty yards. Better lie, 4h... another liner, pushed left a bit.... and winds up about buried into a tree root. Chip back to freedom. Pitch, and you know the rest of the story. Chip, Putt, Putt. +14

8.) Middling Par 4 Over Lake. I SKY my driver, and have a moment of concern that the wind is going to blow it right back into the lake... BUT, it's clear and in the fairway. Top my approach. Sigh. And then comes The Horror, as I shank my 52*. While chasing that one down, I manage to narrowly avoid Death by Titleist. How's this go, again? Oh, yeah -- Pitch... hey, it held the green this time. That means I get to three putt instead of Chip Putt Putt. I succeed. +17

9.) Another drive that -almost- gets overcooked, which would put it in the river lining the backside of the fairway on a sharp dogleg right. But, safe in the fairway. I'm at about 155. Put an 8 iron just a couple paces shy of the green. Feeling like I haven't been enough of a jackass on this hole, yet, I chunk my chip. Chip, Putt, Putt. +19

Kinda feels idiotic to be hovering around twenty over for nine hitting six fairways. On the other hand, it's the most fairways I've actually hit, and there weren't any 'Okay, let's hit five from the tee' moments. It actually FELT like a solid step in the right direction, even though the scorecard begged to differ.

Jeez, I pay money for this?

[iPutt]

All I can say is if you feel like this is a step in the right direction, stick to that and use it to build confidence for the next round. Don't get hung up over the last time out, it'll only cause you to play worse. Oh and practice your short game

[Golf Guru]

Its important you realise the mistakes you are making in your round and try and rectify it in you next round. You go through bad spells, as all pro golfers do, its just important you get back out there and practice. And please just relax and mostly enjoy it, i guarantee you things will definitely improve for you.

[Doctorfro]

Heck, I hover around shooting 80-82 all the time and I do it in different ways. This weekend I play in a tournament and I shot 82-81. I played with the same ball all weekend. Nothing OB or in a hazard. I only three putted ONCE. And I got killed. I realize our scores are quite different but I have had rounds where I hit bunches of greens and putt terribly and still shoot 80-82. I have others where I can't hit a green or a fairway and I break 80. There's no sense to it. It's golf and it is what it is. Weird. No rhyme or reason. My suggestion: play the game and enjoy...somehow.

[drglew]

Sorry about your round. Golf has a way of making one humble (except for Tiger maybe where real life might make him more humble...but I digress...)

I noticed in your signature you play a "Handful of Random Balls", and during your description several of your better struck shots rolled off the green. I know there are a million other threads about this, but if you were using a 2-piece distance ball on those shots, i'd bet a whole 25-cent piece that a urethane-covered premium ball would have stayed on the putting surface. Just a thought, & hang in there.

[Harp]

Short Game!! Short Game!! Short Game!!!!

Take a look at your round....19 putts (ouch!) and you were on the fringe or just off the green on 8 holes. during my rounds i take note when i'm just off the green because i expect to put it close and one-putt. you had 27 strokes from just off the green or on the green. that is astronomically high. work on your chipping and putting and try and get that number down to 18 or so. that means either a chip and one-putt or two-putt a GIR on every hole. that will save you 9 strokes right there and makes a 55 a 46...a much more respectable number.

[BonoVox]

Looks like no 3 putts good job!

[Travtex]

(For the supportive folks, thanks, but it's more of an amusement with myself than any legit frustration. Again, I'm still viewing things as a bit of an improvement because the atrocious chipping and putting was a bit of an anomoly -- aforementioned 'New Way' to suck. Think this was my first round without any lost balls, too. As much water as I was looking at, I'm pleasantly surprised.)

As for the ball rolling off the green. I've upgraded my random balls to recycled random balls. Was playing a couple titleists and a srixon that day.

As for the short game... Yeah, no doubt. The topped approach shots caught my attention a bit more as they're viciously frustrating, but the putting and chipping was horrifying. Might be a good object lesson in practice... When I was living in San Antonio, I spent all of my time at the practice facility working on chips, pitches, and putts... little time on the range. Since moving, I have yet to FIND a similar facility and have to work on those things at the course.

With visibly bad results, haha.

[Paz]

I stopped reading to post this when I read "Went out fully expecting to suck it up, and I was in no way disappointed."

You were already at a huge disadvantage. I go out expecting to shoot 79 every round but I don't. But I feel like I definitely have it in me because I've been somewhat close to that a few times. low 80s and mid 80s.

Expecting to shoot low really does increase your chance of doing it.

[Travtex]

You were already at a huge disadvantage. I go out expecting to shoot 79 every round but I don't. But I feel like I definitely have it in me because I've been somewhat close to that a few times. low 80s and mid 80s.

True. Though I'd think over the long haul, expecting to have a Career Round after a month of being unable to really play or practice isn't a help to one's overall confidence. The line you quote is essentially the poetic hyperbole version of, "I wasn't expecting too much, all things considered."

[Paz]

True. Though I'd think over the long haul, expecting to have a Career Round after a month of being unable to really play or practice isn't a help to one's overall confidence. The line you quote is essentially the poetic hyperbole version of, "I wasn't expecting too much, all things considered."

Yeah, I get that.

Don't expect more than your capable of. Just expect to play as well as your capable of, everytime. Then, you might even suprise yourself with setting a new "capable of" standard for yourself.

[Travtex]

So... Revenge of the Hacker.

Went back after work this morning (That's probably not the -best- time to golf, staggering onto the grass at seven in the morning after a twelve hour work shift... but damnit, you take what you can get, right?)...

1: Hey, not bad. Twenty feet off the green rather than pull-hooked into the practice area. However, the short game translates a makeable par into a +2.

2: Decent drive on the Par 5. Tails off a bit and ends up about 240 in the left rough. Second shot is the Enforced Layup (I'm not trying to clear the pond at 220 off a sidehill lie. I suck, I'm not stupid). Meh, a bit thin, but I'm just getting into position for a short iron or wedge into the green so I don't really care. Then I skull one into the pond. Going on tilt, I Tin Cup the hole, sending another ball into the water to save the first. I limp away with a 9. +6 through two. Looks like another one of those days.

3: Lovely 3 wood off the tee (235... why do I even BOTHER with that stupid driver?). Hit the green with the wedge... the damn thing rolls off again. Chip and three-putt like a moron. +8 through three.

4: I hit a horrific push off the tee. Hit a provisional horrific push off the tee. When I find them, it's not quite as horrific as I'd originally thought (What's that thing about your horrible misses getting less -actually- horrible?)... but here's the stupid thing. I top the wedge. As the other ball is right there, and I'm owning an empty course... I top IT to within a foot of the first one. Jeez. +10 through four.

Anyway, just when it looked like I was planning to out-do my previous +20... I bogey out. +1, +1, +1, +1, +1.

+15... nowhere near what I'm capable of, but certainly feels like another step in the right direction. Eliminate some of the stupidity (Jeez, just those first three should have been Par, Bogey, Par rather than +2, +4, +2. Came within inches of a couple pars on the last five.) and I really don't think bogey's an unrealistic season goal.

[fr0sty]

Two observations:

1. As someone else mentioned: invest in a good three-piece ball. This might help you hold a few more greens

2. Figure out how to avoid hitting your shor irons thin.

Between those two things you should shave at least 4 strokes from your score. Get your chipping/putting up to snuff and you could save another 4 and put your where you want to be.

[Doctorfro]

Shot 75 with 8 one putts on the back nine. Short game is huge in scoring. I testify.

[SpoiledRotten]

Well, that was interesting. Zero penalty strokes, zero horrific blow up holes... and an utterly lousy score. Is that improvement or regression?

This sure makes me feel better!