Worst end to a round that you have ever experienced?

[trackster]

Today I was playing very well.  I was 3 over after 5 holes and seemed to be primed to have a chance to shoot in the 30's on the front nine.  I then proceeded to card 6, 6, 6, 6 to finish with a 48.  While 6's do not seem to be that bad of score, I need to put this into prospective.  I scored a 24 on the first 5 holes and a 24 on the last 4 holes.  The first five are par 21.  The last four are par 14.  I hit 2 balls out of bounds off the tee on consecutive par 3's.  I also had to take a lost ball on the last hole.  That is 6 wasted strokes before I even got a ball in play.  I can laugh it off, but that was a terrible finish.  Any stories anyone has?

[LovinItAll]

The first good chance I had to card a round in the 60's, I needed a bogey and made triple on an easy finishing hole. After that, there were a couple of times I needed to shoot one over on the last two or three holes and blew it. Finally came through, though.

For me, if I become results oriented, bad things happen. One shot at a time and all that.......

[Mattplusness]

What's weird is when I start to have a crappy round for the first 5-6 holes, I start to not care anymore. I remember a specific example where I shot a 58 on the front then had a 43 on the back.

The ****?

[k-troop]

Too many times.  I don't make a lot of birdies, so shooting in the 60s is an extremely rare event for me--like twice in my life rare.  About 2 months ago, however, I was standing on the 16th tee at a local course 3 under par.  The 16th is an easily reachable par-5 if you hit a good drive, and the 17th is a driveable par-4, though with a very difficult elevated green and some nasty bunkers.  I'm playing for -2 on these two holes, but average about -.75 for those two historically.  I'm thinking I'll be -5, or -4 at worst, on the 18th tee.

So I hit a perfect drive on 16, have a straightforward 4-iron to the green.  I completely toed it and was left with a tricky pitch shot from the rough over a bunker.  Par.  Hit a solid tee shot on 17 just right of the green, and have a pretty simple pitch shot from about 5-feet below the putting surface.  I shorted it, and was chipping again for birdie.  Bogey, and my -2 dreams turned into a +1 reality.

So I'm on the 18th, a 185-yard par-3 that I don't usually play well, thinking even if I bogey it I'll finish under par for the day--a success by any measure.  Not so fast.  I managed to hit a 5-iron about 130 yards, and about 40 yards right.  From there I duffed a pitch shot into a bunker, and failed to get it up and down from there.  Double.

I can't remember the last time I was so completely fumed over a 72.  It will happen again.

[Beachcomber]

Worst end to a round that I ever had was being DQ'd.  At the league championships on the 18th hole during my senior year of high school back in 1994... I was playing poorly that day, and had a short putt and it lipped out.  Out of frustration I picked the ball up and threw it into the woods and walked off the green of the 18th.

I didn't finish the hole, and our team who was a favorite to win the league championship - lost (I can't remember if the team ended up 2nd or 3rd?).  Ultimately, I prevented our team from winning the league championship.  I was suspended from the golf team and missed districts a few weeks later.

Pretty sad situation, as I've had regrets for being a jackass on that day for a long time.  Having a bad round doesn't constitute for you/me acting like a fool.  I definitely learned how to control myself after that.  I was a spoiled shit head and had to grow up.  Lesson learned.

[Dave2512]

Actually happened yesterday and I blame myself for committing what I consider a jinx, adding up my score on the tee box of the last hole. Was on my way to a 8 over round, which is great for me, and thought to myself I'll do no worse than bogey to finish. Carded a 10 on a par 5. Water off the tee, blown 3rd shot. Flew the green with a SW, bad recovery, too many putts. It was messy.

[Aquaguru]

Happen two weeks ago.  After the 14th hole I was -1 and was trying to have my first round ever under par.  Well that didn't happen as I went on the make four straight bogeys.  Pretty disappointing when its right there and you just can't make par.

[hendog]

Originally Posted by Mattplusness

What's weird is when I start to have a crappy round for the first 5-6 holes, I start to not care anymore. I remember a specific example where I shot a 58 on the front then had a 43 on the back.

The ****?

Originally Posted by LovinItAll

For me, if I become results oriented, bad things happen. One shot at a time and all that.......

Agree with both of these.

My "ah ha" moment was about 7 months ago. I was playing in a Saturday Stableford at the club and started +10 after 6 holes. I was ready to pack it in but for the first time a new voice popped in my head that said "You've got twice as much golf left to play as you've already played. Focus and save this thing". I went +5 over the last 12 for an 87 and took home a little cash. Now I always know that I can reset at any time if necessary.

As for being results oriented, for whatever reason, once I got to the point I knew I would break 90 almost everything, I stopped worry about my scores. I write down my +/- for each hole but never really pay attention to the total until the turn and the club house. About the only exception is if I pop a couple birdies early but even then I'm not thinking "Oh man this could be it" but rather I'm thinking "Ok, I've got some money in the bank now so I can survive some bumps".

One shot at a time. Forget your score. If you know on the 16th tee you have a chance to break ?? then you have already lost. This is advice from a guy who has learned the hard way.

Good luck :)

[Wansteadimp]

A couple of years ago I finished, double, birdie, double, double to shoot 6 over gross, I was off 11 at the time. The last 2 holes are the easiest par 4's on the course both drivable, on both holes I was against trees where I had no option but to take an unplayable.

I finished 6th in the tournament 1 shot off the winning score, a proper choke job!

[xmanhockey7]

Made a quad 8 on the last hole of a 36 hole tournament to lose by one shot. Talk about choking. I was pissed about it for a solid 2 weeks.

[Wansteadimp]

Originally Posted by xmanhockey7

Made a quad 8 on the last hole of a 36 hole tournament to lose by one shot. Talk about choking. I was pissed about it for a solid 2 weeks.

You're over it??? Every week in the club house there's the honours board mocking me, that should be me my name on there!

[MrSandman]

When I was younger I used to have plenty of rounds where I was on the cusp of breaking 80 and then go 5 or 6 over on the final two holes.  17 was a par 5 with out of bounds on the right that seemed to attract my ball like a magnet, and 18 was the hardest hole on the course.  An OB double or triple followed by another double or triple would turn that 77 into an 82 real quick.

[xmanhockey7]

Originally Posted by Wansteadimp

You're over it??? Every week in the club house there's the honours board mocking me, that should be me my name on there!

Yeah I was probably 17 when it happened, I'm 20 now. I use it as a way to talk about horrible finishes/chokes. I've won tournaments since then. It's one of those things that was a learning experience.

[walk18]

Posted a 12 on the 18th hole that took me out of possibly winning a tournament a few years ago. Sorry, I'd rather not relive the details but lets just say there was lots of water.

[mdl]

Man I've got nothing to compete with some of these stories.  My worst was one of the first times I really threatened to break 80.  Was +6 through 15 with two straightforward par 4s and a reachable par 5 to finish.  Figure I can get through those three +1 or better no problem.  Hit a nice drive down the middle of 16 (the longer of the two 4s), start getting excited, skull my 7i 40-50 yards, miss the green with the wedge, double that hole, then bogey the last two to come in at 82.  Was still one of my better scores at the time but didn't make me feel any better.

[lostmyballs]

At the 18th hole on my second ever round of golf I I come to a par 3 that demands a shot over water. My friend (equally new) and I are tied playing match play, so the hole is very important. He hits his tee shot *plunk* into the pond. I follow his shot with a wild pull into a big oak tree. I couldn't tell if it was lost or not, so I walked over to it to look. Thinking the 5-minute search rule applied, I spent the whole 5 minutes looking, knowing how important the hole was to our match. After 5 minutes and no luck, I decide to join my friend at the drop area rather than walk back to the tee (though I realize now I should have hit a provisional). Anyway, my friend drops his ball and pitches it nicely over the water and onto the green. I take a drop and prepare to swing, and at this perfect moment the starter comes over toward the green (this was the 18th hole by the clubhouse, remember) and yells at me "hey, hurry up!". Which is pretty much the last thing you want to hear as a new golfer on the 18th hole as you prepare to pitch from the rough over water. You probably guessed that I shanked it into the pond, and you were right. At this point I'm flustered and embarrassed, so I pick up my ball and concede the hole. Thanks a lot, deusche. See if I ever play at that golf course again.

[zipazoid]

I wrote this a few months back -

http://zipsclips.blogspot.com/2012/04/ooh-my-head.html

Quote:

Golf is essentially played between the ears. Yes, there is a lot of mechanics involved in executing a proper swing, but ultimately it is about using your brain to a point, then shutting it off – you have to use it to calculate yardage, wind direction, the lie, where you want to hit it and so on. Then you have to shut it off when it’s time to hit the ball. Trust what you got…and just swing.

And for Christ’s sake, do not think about what your score is.

My head hurts.

[meenman]

One stroke tourney a few months ago, i was in the money through 17, proceeded to put 2 into the hazard on the final hole on my way to a 10 (#1 handicap hole, par 4 - net+4), leaving me 2 strokes out of the $$$.

My pain was dulled when I got in and found out one of my normal playing partners put up a 14 on one of the easier par 5s.