So I shot a 52 on 9 holes yesterday....

[MikeLowry5]

So I shot a 52 on 9 holes yesterday.... :(

The worst part was it was with two guys who work at the local course and I had been talking about all of the improvements that I made to my game and I was finally getting into the low 40's, high 30's on 9 hole rounds.

A few things that contributed to the worst score on 9 this season:

1. Not picking a specific enough target from the tee.
-I know when I am going well I am not focusing on my swing, only hitting a target. Just like in Sniper, "One shot, one kill".

2. Not clearly recognizing my goal of par for each hole. There were a number of shots that I hit not knowing what my goal was or what I stood to gain or lose by hitting that particular shot.

Example:
-I hit a very long drive I pushed terribly into the middle of the next fairway on a par 5. I had a clear line to my 90-100 yard landing area needing only 160 to get there. Instead of taknig out an 8 iron and hitting it to that spot I chose to hit a hybrid trying to get as close to the green as I can. I hit a high draw which works away from the green, rolls off the side of the hill and I lose a stroke.

3. Chasing a number.
-I got off to a horrible start posting an 8 on the opening hole and from there on I was chasing my tail trying to make birdies even though I've never made more than 3 birdies on 9 holes ever. This dictated my thought process (as non existent as it was) the entire round and caused me to make poor decisions with club selection and chasing down flags in tucked areas.

Hopefully this is a lesson to me and to all others who read this. The game is as much about thinking as it is the physical part. I did not hit the ball bad however stupid chance taking and not focusing on where I wanted the ball to end were the death of the round.

[BigMikey]

Mike,

I know how you feel. Everytime I take a lesson inherently my next game or two sucks. Not a 52 on 9 but I definitely notice it.... To your point it helps to do your thinking about swing / mechanics off the course and be relaxed while thinking only about how to manage the course with the tools you have.

[rjfan91]

I feel your pain. We had a Ryder Cup type of event between my home course and another local course. Each day had 2 nine-hole formats. I shot a 56 on the first 9 (fortunately a 2-man team format that allowed us to tie) and then a 38 on my individual match. I can't explain it.... It just happens sometimes.

[rdwoody]

I know exactly how you feel. I recently backed up a 9 hole round of 39 with a 9 hole round of 48. It Just happens sometimes. I think I got a little too cocky and made some stupid decisions. But, you're right, a bad score on the first hole can completely change your game, usually for the worse. If you don't keep cool, you're busy the entire day trying to pull off hero shots and erase the bad hole.

[soloredd]

Well, I played 18 yesterday after a 84 (42/42) last week. Front 9 shot a 52, back 9 49. It sounds like we had similar experiences. It felt like I was blindly hitting balls out there. I only hit 2 fairways all day and those were with 5 irons off the tee. Couldn't chip or putt to save my life either. On two of the Par 3 holes I took a 7.

[MikeLowry5]

I was calm all day and didn't even get upset because I wasn't hitting the ball badly. I was not good off the tee but usually I overcome that with great approaches/chips and not 3 putting. My issue was I chased down that 8 all day whether it was consiously or unconsiously and made bad second shots on every hole.

Of that score I had 2 birdies, now you must see how bad I played :).

I posted this to help with the pain for one :) but for others as well so you might see how you lose shots. I think course management is a huge part of the game and it is the sole reason why I have got down in the low/mid 80's in the last 4 weeks. Yesterday was a flashback of the guy who put up 95's at the end of last summer.