Better courses = Lower scores!

[itching4scratch]

Is it just me, or does everyone else shoot better on well maintained courses?  Maybe it's just mental, but I always do a lot better on courses with plush fairways, soft sand, manicured greens, and level tee boxes.

On several of my home courses, I usually have to look for a level spot to tee from, pick up my ball off the dirt on the fairway and put it on a patch of grass, which is usually crab grass or is about the height of what first cut rough should be, and if I'm hitting from the sand I have to test the sand in another spot (which is illegal) just to tell how hard it is.  Then most of the greens have remnants of unrepaired ball marks on them.

I believe I'm losing strokes because of it, and think that better courses = lower scores.

I've played courses that I've never played before that were "immaculate" and I shot some of the best scores I've ever shot.  Yet I continue to shoot in the high 80's and low 90's on my home courses, with the rare 100 on a bad day.

Like I said, maybe it's mental.  I'm sure people shoot par on these crappy courses.

[Bananarama]

I generally shoot worse on well maintained courses due to the layout being more challenging!  My home course is very very forgiving, i.e. you can do a rediculous rope hook a fairways over and often make it to the green in reg rather than it blasting straight into the woods.

However, I do seem to hit the ball nicer, especially out of the bunkers as they have sand and are actually raked instead of being like a 1 inch layer of concrete.

[Sliceapotomus]

I think it boils down to the same thing as playing better when you play with better golfers. You always play up to your competition. I think the same can be said about courses.

[Shindig]

I know I'd play better if my course were better maintained.  I've had so many putts the last two rounds that deflected perpendicularly to what I believe the line of the putt was!  And I know those greens well enough to know that that wasn't break happening.

[allin]

As long as I pick the right set of tees I score better.  It seems to be the better greens and better fairway conditions.  It might be focus also, I don't get to play better courses to often.  In defense of my usual haunts the public courses in my area are in pretty good shape for the costs and number of rounds.  Most courses can be played with a cart for around 40 dollars, a bit more on the weekends.

[TourSpoon]

I think a better question to ask is whether or not you would score better if your course was better maintained.  I think all of us would agree that the average course would play better given proper maintainance versus being maintained poorly.

[B-Con]

Green quality can't be overlooked. Bad greens can make holing out from outside of six feet a complete game of chance, and can make short putts more tricky than they already know. I care more about the green quality than anything else. I know I've lost a couple strokes more than once just due to short putts that bumped and veered around like they were drunk.

[allin]

Good point, I suspect golfers from 30-40 years ago would find our expectations odd.  They seemed to be less focused on their scores and more on beating their opponent.  On the plus side your handicap should travel well if playing on a course with better grooming. I used to hate playing against guys from a club about 30 miles south of my city.  Their course was short but very hilly, you never got anything close to a level lie.  On a course with flatter lies they were 2-3 shots better.  I wonder if the course rating gives enough weight to the difficulty average golfers have dealing with that type or condition.  I suspect low handicap golfers have less trouble adjusting.  Probably their swings are more controlled and their balance is better.

Originally Posted by TourSpoon

I think a better question to ask is whether or not you would score better if your course was better maintained.  I think all of us would agree that the average course would play better given proper maintainance versus being maintained poorly.

[04v8s4]

^^ it's funny you say that about hilly courses.  My home course is quite hilly and normally fairly windy.  Combine that with the fact that it's not a particularly pricey course (40 dollar rounds with a cart)....the course has a decent degree of "difficulty".  I usually shoot mid 80's on my home course.

When i go to nicer courses...I tend to shoot better.

I went to a very nice course at the end of last season for the first time and shot an 81?  The course was nearly 7000 yards from the blues...but was immaculately maintained!

[Cut68]

My home course is hilly, sometimes bumpy greens, and a challenging layout to boot. I find when I play other courses, especially in flat area's (florida comes to mind) I ALWAYS score better.