Would you rather...

[res0n0xg]

Shoot an 87 from a course 74.4 / 139 7111 yards or 79 from a course 68.3 / 108 about 6100 yards. The courses are in dfw, Bridlewood, and Lake Park. I have done both in the last week... I really enjoyed playing from the tips today as I usually play with my good friend who has about average distance so we never play from the tips...

[Beachcomber]

I'm not a long hitter. In fact, out of the the foursome I typically play with, I'm the shortest of the group. But I can still hit my driver on average around 240 to 250. Legit. And my 3W 235 to 225 and 5W 225 to 215. Sometimes if I hit it really clean, get a nice bounce, or have wind helping each of these can go a little further. Point being that I can play some of the longer courses in the Orange County area (6,800 to 7,000 at or near sea level with wind) and play fairly decent. Typically, my rounds are right around 77 to 82. Sometimes 74 to 84. And I've found this is typically true even if I play a tough or easy course. For whatever reason, I don't seem to really score significantly lower on the easier courses? It is strange. I could perhaps just have a mental issue where when I start to play above average, say I rattle off a run of birdies, it gets into my head? But I just can't seem to go really lower than that mid 70 range right now, no matter the slope/rating. So for handicap purposes, I'd rather play the more difficult rated course. In fact, I'm going to start doing that at the course I have a card at, and play regularly. I'm going to start playing from the tips and believe it will help my differentials. I typically shoot 78/79 from the Blue Tees: 6,547, 71.2/130. Whereas the tips or Black Tees: 6,973, 73.5/136. I haven't played the tips yet because of the two par 3's on the front have intimidating water carries. And both can play into the wind.

[rkim291968]

Either is fine with me.  Both challenging and easy courses have their merits.

[k-troop]

Huge fan of Bridlewood. Only played it once but it kicked my butt (I was wild off the tee that day). I'll agree with Beach in that course rating and slope don't seem to have a direct impact on my score.

[David in FL]

Bridlewood was the better round with a full point better differential.  10.2 vs. 11.2.  That's an awful lot of golf course.....

Is that 15 your current hcp index?  If so, those are both very good rounds for you.  Nice job!

[kw purp]

Probably the 79. I realize they are both pretty equal rounds as far as performance, but seeing an 87 on the card just doesn't leave me feeling good after the round.

[Meltdwhiskey]

Bridlewood was the better round with a full point better differential.  10.2 vs. 11.2.  That's an awful lot of golf course.....

Is that 15 your current hcp index?  If so, those are both very good rounds for you.  Nice job!

I think David has nailed it.  I know everyone thinks of that raw number - but I have come to think in terms of differentials.  The lower differential is the better round for me.

[Big C]

I'm not a long hitter. In fact, out of the the foursome I typically play with, I'm the shortest of the group. But I can still hit my driver on average around 240 to 250. Legit. And my 3W 235 to 225 and 5W 225 to 215. Sometimes if I hit it really clean, get a nice bounce, or have wind helping each of these can go a little further. Point being that I can play some of the longer courses in the Orange County area (6,800 to 7,000 at or near sea level with wind) and play fairly decent.

Typically, my rounds are right around 77 to 82. Sometimes 74 to 84. And I've found this is typically true even if I play a tough or easy course. For whatever reason, I don't seem to really score significantly lower on the easier courses? It is strange.

I could perhaps just have a mental issue where when I start to play above average, say I rattle off a run of birdies, it gets into my head? But I just can't seem to go really lower than that mid 70 range right now, no matter the slope/rating. So for handicap purposes, I'd rather play the more difficult rated course.

In fact, I'm going to start doing that at the course I have a card at, and play regularly. I'm going to start playing from the tips and believe it will help my differentials. I typically shoot 78/79 from the Blue Tees: 6,547, 71.2/130. Whereas the tips or Black Tees: 6,973, 73.5/136. I haven't played the tips yet because of the two par 3's on the front have intimidating water carries. And both can play into the wind.

Beach, is that Tijeras Creek? One of my favorites in Orange County....

It's funny because as I was reading your post, I was thinking to myself that my approach would likely be the exact opposite of yours. Your issue isn't with navigating the distances from the back tees, but rather scoring as low as you think you are capable of. You suggest it might be a mental barrier of sorts. In that case, I would move my game up a set of tee boxes to whites. From there, 75 or lower would be the expectation, and you might even have a chance to go REALLY low into the 70's if your game was on fire. Once you cross that mental threshold, it's no problem to move back a set (or two) of tees, but the knowlege that you can post those scores will stay with you.

Plus, I could make the case that the lower course ratings adding strokes to your index in the short-term might actually be a good thing! Does that make me a sandbagger???

To the O/P, I'd rather shoot a mid-80's round on a long difficult course. My personal achilles heel is wildness with my driver - any time I shoot a decent round on a course 6,700 or longer, I consider that to be a success.

[Dave2512]

I'm not fond of playing courses with ratings so low the differential ends up being higher than the number of strokes. That's why I don't frequent my former home course much anymore. What really bothered me was despite the low rating 69.3/119 the course plays tough and most of the time I played at higher rated courses I typically scored better. I don't fixate on HI but getting away from that course dropped my index. I'd rather shoot the 87.

[inthehole]

Shoot an 87 from a course 74.4 / 139 7111 yards or 79 from a course 68.3 / 108 about 6100 yards. The courses are in dfw, Bridlewood, and Lake Park. I have done both in the last week... I really enjoyed playing from the tips today as I usually play with my good friend who has about average distance so we never play from the tips...

I play around 6100 on avg & haven't broken 80 yet ... so I'm going with the 79 !

[David L Yskes]

i'm probably going with option # 1, since it's a harder course and your playing 1000 more yards over the course too... which for me is tough enough as is cuz my drive is only about 250 yards at it's best... maybe more if i get a good bounce and just kill the ball..

[BuckeyeNut]

Shoot an 87 from a course 74.4 / 139 7111 yards or 79 from a course 68.3 / 108 about 6100 yards. The courses are in dfw, Bridlewood, and Lake Park. I have done both in the last week... I really enjoyed playing from the tips today as I usually play with my good friend who has about average distance so we never play from the tips...

This is how I judge:

87-74.4= 12.6

79-68.3=10.7

The 79 is clearly the better round by nearly 2 strokes.  If you want to get serious, you can calculate the differentials to be exact.  With that said,  I prefer the challenge of difficult courses and the higher scores that come with them.

[res0n0xg]

Update, shot an 87 today at Bridlewood but from the blue tees around 6557 yards, finished triple triple. Almost holed out sand wedge from 105 spun back about an inch from the cup. Sad I scored the same.

[David in FL]

This is how I judge: 87-74.4= 12.6 79-68.3=10.7 The 79 is clearly the better round by nearly 2 strokes.  If you want to get serious, you can calculate the differentials to be exact.  With that said,  I prefer the challenge of difficult courses and the higher scores that come with them.

The differential includes a factor for slope. In fact, the 87 has the lower differential..... 87-74.4 x 113/139 = 10.2 79-68.3 x 113/108 = 11.2

[Beachcomber]

Beach, is that Tijeras Creek? One of my favorites in Orange County.... It's funny because as I was reading your post, I was thinking to myself that my approach would likely be the exact opposite of yours. Your issue isn't with navigating the distances from the back tees, but rather scoring as low as you think you are capable of. You suggest it might be a mental barrier of sorts. In that case, I would move my game up a set of tee boxes to whites. From there, 75 or lower would be the expectation, and you might even have a chance to go REALLY low into the 70's if your game was on fire. Once you cross that mental threshold, it's no problem to move back a set (or two) of tees, but the knowlege that you can post those scores will stay with you. Plus, I could make the case that the lower course ratings adding strokes to your index in the short-term might actually be a good thing! Does that make me a sandbagger???

Yep that is Tijeras. Solid track... I may weasel my way out there next week and give the tips a go? But I also like your idea of playing one box up and trying to go low. The thing is I'm trying to get my cap back below a 5. And down to my goal of a 3 for 2013. I'm running out of time... So it's go time!! :golf clap: I played Tustin Ranch from the tips and shot a 76 with a double on #11. So I was pretty stoked with that 2 differential and it dropped my cap down to a 5.4.

[Golfingdad]

Yep that is Tijeras. Solid track... I may weasel my way out there next week and give the tips a go? But I also like your idea of playing one box up and trying to go low. The thing is I'm trying to get my cap back below a 5. And down to my goal of a 3 for 2013. I'm running out of time... So it's go time!! :golf clap: I played Tustin Ranch from the tips and shot a 76 with a double on #11. So I was pretty stoked with that 2 differential and it dropped my cap down to a 5.4.

Thursday afternoon ... Book it!

[Beachcomber]

Thursday afternoon ... Book it!

I will once I see how things go on Tuesday. Some orders are pending.