Scoring Consistency

[bluecollar01]

I play in a golf league and I noticed that a lot of the folks that play at my level (bogey) seem to get to their score very differently.  What I mean is you have a few whom basically bogey every hole where as others mix in several birdies with several doubles or triples to shoot roughly the same score.

What I'm curious about from the community here is:

a) which type of scorer are you (steady or erratic)?

b) do you think one scoring type (steady or erratic) is better than the other and why?

c) is one's "scoring type" indicative of potential / skill / etc.

Obviously, lots of factors (course length, course type, type of player, etc.) could effect scores and someone may not always play to their "archetype".  I was just curious of the communities thoughts on the subject... or lack thereof.

[geauxforbroke]

If I shoot 4 over, I'll probably have a couple of bogeys a side, maybe 5 total, and I birdie. I typically have more pars than anything else. I shot 73 a couple of weeks ago (+2) at the course I grew up on. Snap hooked the first drive OB and made double. 17 pars later, it was a 73.

[bluecollar01]

Originally Posted by geauxforbroke

If I shoot 4 over, I'll probably have a couple of bogeys a side, maybe 5 total, and I birdie. I typically have more pars than anything else. I shot 73 a couple of weeks ago (+2) at the course I grew up on. Snap hooked the first drive OB and made double. 17 pars later, it was a 73.

To me, that seems pretty steady and I'm sure the deviation for lower handicap players is much less.  That being said though, even on the touring level you have guys like Phil who IMHO seem to be erratic but still shoot great golf vs someone like, I don't know... maybe, Webb Simpson who is more of a consistent scorer type.

Maybe, all it indicates is how aggressive a style they play vs their ability to scramble?

[DeadMan]

I'm an erratic scorer for sure. I recently shot an 84 that included 4 birdies and 3 triples (still pissed about that round, ha ha ha).

I'm not sure if one way is better. I feel like, as an erratic scorer, I have the potential to go out and break 80 or break 90 (in a bad way) with every round. I think a lot of the people who have a similar handicap to mine don't have the potential to break 80 on a round. On the other hand, it's a constant struggle with me to get more consistentcy from hole to hole. If I eliminated anything over a double bogey, for example, I'd be consistently in the low 80s instead of sporadically in the 90s and mostly in the high 80s.

Erratic scoring, though, is fun for match play. It means one bad hole won't put my round in the toilet like it does with stroke play. It's also great to bounce back from a triple bogey with a par or birdie because of how it messes with your opponent.

[bluecollar01]

Originally Posted by DeadMan

I'm an erratic scorer for sure. I recently shot an 84 that included 4 birdies and 3 triples (still pissed about that round, ha ha ha).

I'm not sure if one way is better. I feel like, as an erratic scorer, I have the potential to go out and break 80 or break 90 (in a bad way) with every round. I think a lot of the people who have a similar handicap to mine don't have the potential to break 80 on a round. On the other hand, it's a constant struggle with me to get more consistentcy from hole to hole. If I eliminated anything over a double bogey, for example, I'd be consistently in the low 80s instead of sporadically in the 90s and mostly in the high 80s.

Erratic scoring, though, is fun for match play. It means one bad hole won't put my round in the toilet like it does with stroke play. It's also great to bounce back from a triple bogey with a par or birdie because of how it messes with your opponent.

I see lots of people in league that shoot scores in a manner similar to yours.  I'm fairly consistent in that I'll make mostly bogies with a few pars sprinkled in and a few doubles but I don't often have the big number.

And, I agree that as a steady player I don't feel like I have that ability to go out and score way under my average but I usually don't shoot much over it.  I didn't know if that meant I'd never get much better or that I'd just improve slowly. Thought it might point to potential but maybe it just has to do with aggressive vs conservative play.

[Nutter]

I'm definitely steady, if I shoot poorly it's because I'm carding too many bogeys but I hardly ever make doubles or worse.

Steady IMO, a steady player usually will have just as much potential to make birdies as an erratic player but without wasting them to make up for big scores.  To answer your third question I think both would have equal potential if they are shooting similar scores, they may just play the course differently or one could be a better decision maker.  Some of that is natural.

I'm not including steady scorers who are short knocking grinders in this comparison, these guys may shoot in the mid 70's to low 80's but they hardly ever have the game to make birdies which is what's needed to shoot even or better.

[Dave2512]

Even though it feels erratic it's probably not as bad as it seems. I track stats so I can pull up what my average scores are from one round to everything I have logged in 5 round increments. I look more at the trends of GIR and FIR but I do look at scores from time to time it doesn't vary more than 5%.

I just looked at my stats, everything I have in there dates back to late 2012. Using just the highest scoring percentages from day one par 26% bogey 46%. Last 20 rounds par 31% bogey 42%. Everything else is significantly lower.