How do you score during aeration?

[Jimdangles]

I was just curious on how you score yourself when the greens are aerating. I tend to basically get a little more generous with my gimme putts. But now i just feel unfair because my scores lately have been consistently just tipping between 88 and 90 and they are my best. today i shot an 82 but i just feel like it was so much better than my other scores that i dont feel comfortable saying i shot an 82. 6 better than my best. just wondering what your guys' opinion is.

[scv76]

I score very poorly!!! :))

It can be very disappointing when your putt is headed right for the middle of the cup then jumps radically one way or the other; eventually going by the cup and not in it.

What do I do? firstly, I don't plan on posting the score..I consider the round strictly a lesson in technique.

If I think the aeration caused the miss (obvious effect on the roll) and the ball was headed to the hole in a manner it could not do anything but go in the hole, I count it as a made putt. Keep in mind that there are no wagers or bragging rights for these rounds.

As far as lag putting goes, I don't find them effected much by punched/sanded greens

[ForeRight]

My score stays about the same. Sure some putts jump offline when they were going in but some wonky ones off the face jump on line and go in.... My putting is so erratic that it usually works out fair during 18 holes :)

[deronsizemore]

Don't score much different at all. Sometimes I even score better because when I get on the green I'm not putting additional pressure on myself to make a putt. I realize the greens are bumpy, I realize I'm going to miss a few so I just hit it and don't worry about it.

[The Tin Man]

Originally Posted by deronsizemore

Don't score much different at all. Sometimes I even score better because when I get on the green I'm not putting additional pressure on myself to make a putt. I realize the greens are bumpy, I realize I'm going to miss a few so I just hit it and don't worry about it.

Same with me.

[Motley01]

Oh I can't stand playing on airrated greens. If I find out the course has done this, I don't play it, at least for a few weeks. Plenty of other courses to choose from.

[mchepp]

I find that the greens go through some different periods of recovery after aeration. When they are first done the sand keeps the greens pretty level and I play almost the same sometimes better. Then the grass starts to grow but not completely in the areas where the sand is in the holes. Then I start to play worse. The ball seems to bounce around more at this phase. Then the greens completely recover and it is back to normal.

[zipazoid]

First off, all aerations aren't the same. You can verti-cut & if done properly you barely need to top dress them. Then there's the issue of top-dressing. I played the other night at Casselberry GC - an iffy muni track that has cheap rates ($12 after 3p). The had just aerated the greens & they didn't "top dress" them per se - they glommed about 3 times more sand than needed onto the greens & it wasn't smoothed out. You felt like you were putting in a g-damn sand trap. Heh, every time me or Mike hit a shot onto the green sand would fly up & we'd say "Splashdown!"

And wouldn't you know it - ironically I had a great ball-striking round but cuz of the greens couldn't make anything. I shot a 71 that could have been a 67 easy if the greens weren't aerified - I missed 6 putts inside 8 feet.

But anyway. To the question posed by the OP - it all depends on how the aerification is done. Can go anywhere from barely makes a difference to you gotta be effin' kidding me.

[BuckeyeNut]

I score about the same.....  Providing it isn't a hack-job, the ball will still roll and it's just a matter of adjusting for the speed.  My course just received a full blown aeration on TUE-WED of this week and I only needed 28 & 29 putts on Thur/Friday(today).  Once you have the pace down, it shouldn't matter unless the grounds crew doesn't know what they are doing.

[wokkerk]

I focus on just putting it close to the hole and get that guaranteed 2-putt rather than taking a good run at the hole when they have aerated.  Not that my putting is that great when they haven't aerated but I just focus more on getting the ball close when they have.

[BuckeyeNut]

What drives me most crazy is constantly wiping all the sand/grit off the ball and putter face.........LOL

[wokkerk]

Originally Posted by BuckeyeNut

What drives me most crazy is constantly wiping all the sand/grit off the ball and putter face.........LOL

definitely takes longer when I have to mark after every putt to wipe off all the wet sand....I hear you on that one.

[Roblar]

My best round ever (6 over) was when I had to play the back-9 twice because they were aerating the front 9.  I've like the aeration season ever since!

[Zeph]

A round of golf with gimmie putts is not a "real" round in my view. I call it a practice round. If you putt well, you can score well on aerated greens too. I'll putt out and look at my putting stats at the end of the round, compare it to a round on normal greens.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by Zeph

A round of golf with gimmie putts is not a "real" round in my view. I call it a practice round. If you putt well, you can score well on aerated greens too.

I'll putt out and look at my putting stats at the end of the round, compare it to a round on normal greens.

Eh. I don't always putt out. If I chip it to a foot I will often just scoop it up to save myself having to bend down to get it. ;-) I'm lazy like that.

I think putting is easier during aeration in terms of speed (they're slower so you have more margin for error) but actually making putts (like a ten footer) is more difficult. I average a putt or two higher when they're at their worst, I imagine.

[Paradox]

the long ones are the ones I find are harder, too.  They get pushed more offline by the irregular surface...it doesn't really change my putting stats much, though.  I actually think the worst time is about a week or so after aeration where the sand has been worked in/tracked away enough that the surface is kind of rough from the aeration holes.

forgot to add that about three weeks ago they were aerating my course and we started on the back and by the time we came around they were finished with the front and let us play the front 9...talk about bite!  Hitting into sandy greens was pretty fun.

[gwlee7]

Originally Posted by iacas

Eh. I don't always putt out. If I chip it to a foot I will often just scoop it up to save myself having to bend down to get it. ;-) I'm lazy like that.

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  You cheater!!!!!!!!!!111111111111

[Laws of Woo]

I typically don't like playing courses that recently aerated. But my home course reduces Greens Fees 30% for 10 days from the start of aeration, which is nice. So when I play there, I think of it more as a practice round. I won't really keep score, may play multiple golf balls (depending on how busy the course is), and usually wont putt out...if its within a couple feet, its good. If I want to play a serious round, I'll play a different course.