Playing with a Scratch Golfer - thoughts?

[David in FL]

I reached one of my goals earlier this year when I broke 100. Did that twice and was very proud of myself.

I'm getting a golf net for Christmas and am planning on signing up for elvolr so hopefully that will help me get to the goal of consistently scoring in the 90-100 range by summer and maybe get to scoring in the 80-90 range consistently by the end of next season. The second goal might be unrealistic but don't really know if it is or not.

Good for you!

Don't get frustrated along the way.  The game is hard and the better you get, the harder it gets to make those incremental improvements.  You'll find it MUCH easier to get into the mid-90's than to get into the 80's......and there are those that never do.  Just don't give up when you hit those inevitable barriers where you just seem to stall out.  As with most things, at least for us schlub amateurs, it's the journey, not the destination!

[RFKFREAK]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RFKFREAK

I reached one of my goals earlier this year when I broke 100. Did that twice and was very proud of myself.

I'm getting a golf net for Christmas and am planning on signing up for elvolr so hopefully that will help me get to the goal of consistently scoring in the 90-100 range by summer and maybe get to scoring in the 80-90 range consistently by the end of next season. The second goal might be unrealistic but don't really know if it is or not.

Good for you!

Don't get frustrated along the way.  The game is hard and the better you get, the harder it gets to make those incremental improvements.  You'll find it MUCH easier to get into the mid-90's than to get into the 80's......and there are those that never do.  Just don't give up when you hit those inevitable barriers where you just seem to stall out.  As with most things, at least for us schlub amateurs, it's the journey, not the destination!

Yeah, I hear ya.  I'm just very enthusiastic about the game but I'm not really one of those people that enjoys the journey - haha.  I like getting to a certain level and where I feel I've accomplished something.  Not there yet.  Haha

[geauxforbroke]

[QUOTE name="David in FL" url="/t/71567/playing-with-a-scratch-golfer-thoughts/108#post_931988"]   [QUOTE name="RFKFREAK" url="/t/71567/playing-with-a-scratch-golfer-thoughts/90#post_931983"] I reached one of my goals earlier this year when I broke 100. Did that twice and was very proud of myself. I'm getting a golf net for Christmas and am planning on signing up for elvolr so hopefully that will help me get to the goal of consistently scoring in the 90-100 range by summer and maybe get to scoring in the 80-90 range consistently by the end of next season. The second goal might be unrealistic but don't really know if it is or not.[/QUOTE] Good for you!   :-) Don't get frustrated along the way.  The game is hard and the better you get, the harder it gets to make those incremental improvements.  You'll find it MUCH easier to get into the mid-90's than to get into the 80's......and there are those that never do.  Just don't give up when you hit those inevitable barriers where you just seem to stall out.  As with most things, at least for us schlub amateurs, it's the journey, not the destination!  [/QUOTE] Yeah, I hear ya.  I'm just very enthusiastic about the game but I'm not really one of those people that enjoys the journey - haha.  I like getting to a certain level and where I feel I've accomplished something.  Not there yet.  Haha

Believe it or not, by breaking 100, you've already done something that a lot of people will never be able to do. Just enjoy it, work hard, and more importantly, work smart. Have a game plan when you practice, and stick with it.

[markred]

I believe there is a key point missing here. I am a decent player, ( 2 'cap ) am 59 and been playing since age 5. There was a time I was +1, but that was years ago and with business and family obligations the ability the regularly practice and play has taken it's toll.

I play with people at all handicap levels and have noticed that the higher 'cap player will say nice shot because to him/her it is! They would be thrilled hit the same shot no matter where it ends up, within reason. They tend to look at the initial ball flight, the sound of the ball off the club and wish they could do the same.

We, lower 'cap players, go by results or feel at impact and we know when we hit it well almost immediately. I have learned 2 things when p[laying with players of lesser skill; 1. When they say nice shot, I say thank you. Then I will follow-up with, I hit it a little off the toe, heel, thin, fat, didn't mean to draw it that much etc... This way they don't bad about the 'nice shot' comment and learn as we play the difference between what is good and bad for us.

An easy fix for the higher handicap or anyone playing with a player better than yourself, I have played in my pro-ams and learned early, is to say, " To me that looked like a really good swing. Was it? The better player will appreciate that it's your perspective and will offer you an explanation most of the time. It can make for good conversation on the walk to your next shots.

On advise...most will not offer advise. You will have to ask for it. The golf course is not usually the place for it unless it's a small tweak to say the grip or stance width. Most would be more than happy top spend 20 minutes or so on the range after to try to help.

Sorry for the long winded reply.

[saevel25]

They tend to look at the initial ball flight, the sound of the ball off the club and wish they could do the same.

We, lower 'cap players, go by results or feel at impact and we know when we hit it well almost immediately.

Yep, something I learned after getting better with contact, is knowing before I even see the ball flight how the shot is going to turn out. This helps a bit in the late fall when the sun is right in the eyes.

[mdl]

This thread has gotten me thinking a bit more about how I've been interacting with randos I've been paired with recently.  Of course, almost never are those randos low single digit, much less scratch, and none have been the past couple weeks.

I tend to try to be fairly sociable during my rounds.  Given my HC, most golfers are a bit better than me to a bit worse than me, so it's pretty clear from the start that their expectations of what's a good shot isn't too far from mine.  So I tend to cheer like I do my friends who are approximately as good as I am, cheering on nice shots, commiserating over worse results than you might expect.  I'm wondering if a lot of guys think I'm slightly annoying, just not enough to give me little disapproving looks or even say something.

A couple examples I can think of that might be the most likely to be annoying:

1) Say the player hits a pitch from somewhere the green runs slightly downhill from him to the hole.  Looks like good contact with low-ish trajectory and on the first hop looks like it's got good spin and might hop and stop or hop and slow and end up near the hole.  But instead it takes sort of an indeterminate 2nd hop and then releases and runs 15 feet past the hole.  I might say something like, "Bummer, looked like that had the spin to stop."

2) I'll cheer on good luck.  If a playing partner hits a so-so approach that should have just missed the green but takes a lucky roll or sideways hop or whatever, I might interject with a "Nice kick!" or something.

Should I take a look at the kind of comments I make and maybe try to refrain from anything but "shot" or "putt" on tee shots bombed down the middle, long putts made with the right speed, or approaches or chips that sounded pure and go to within a couple feet?

[markred]

Hello,

I see nothing wrong with your examples. We all know 'rub of the green' runs in both directions, good and bad. For you to say nice bounce, looked like it had plenty of spin etc is fine in my opinion, for what it's worth. A simple 'shot' or 'putt' in a competitive match is fine. In a social round it is fine to be more demonstrative. If your playing partners find it annoying they will most likely let you know, hopefully in a nice way. Just don't go overboard. If the remark would not be annoying if said to you, then it should be fine.

A previous post talked about someone saying nice putt when it lipped out, as if that was wrong to say. Remember that the pros are at about 60% on 6 footers. Outside of that distance a putt finishing within 18" inches, hopefully past the hole, IS a good putt and the comment is appreciated, by me anyway.

[markred]

Congratulations!! You are now in top 15% of all who play the game. Good for you. Remember, practice inside 100 yards, chipping and putting the most. That's where you can get even lower scores

[MS256]

This thread has gotten me thinking a bit more about how I've been interacting with randos I've been paired with recently.  Of course, almost never are those randos low single digit, much less scratch, and none have been the past couple weeks.

I tend to try to be fairly sociable during my rounds.  Given my HC, most golfers are a bit better than me to a bit worse than me, so it's pretty clear from the start that their expectations of what's a good shot isn't too far from mine.  So I tend to cheer like I do my friends who are approximately as good as I am, cheering on nice shots, commiserating over worse results than you might expect.  I'm wondering if a lot of guys think I'm slightly annoying, just not enough to give me little disapproving looks or even say something.

A couple examples I can think of that might be the most likely to be annoying:

1) Say the player hits a pitch from somewhere the green runs slightly downhill from him to the hole.  Looks like good contact with low-ish trajectory and on the first hop looks like it's got good spin and might hop and stop or hop and slow and end up near the hole.  But instead it takes sort of an indeterminate 2nd hop and then releases and runs 15 feet past the hole.  I might say something like, "Bummer, looked like that had the spin to stop."

2) I'll cheer on good luck.  If a playing partner hits a so-so approach that should have just missed the green but takes a lucky roll or sideways hop or whatever, I might interject with a "Nice kick!" or something.

Should I take a look at the kind of comments I make and maybe try to refrain from anything but "shot" or "putt" on tee shots bombed down the middle, long putts made with the right speed, or approaches or chips that sounded pure and go to within a couple feet?

I would stay away from both 1) and 2). On the first there is no way a good player is going to be happy with that shot and likely didn't hit the shot they were trying to hit and probably doesn't want to hear anything. On the second it may come across as you didn't think it was very good but got lucky.

Interesting that in a book I'm reading Ben Hogan hated to play with amateurs mostly because he hated it when they heaped praise on him after every shot. One guy went on and on about how Hogan could stop the ball on a dime with a 7 iron and kept asking for tips about how he did it. Finally Hogan asked the guy how far he hit his 7 iron. When the guy said 120 yards Hogan said, "Why in the Hell would you want it to stop?" (from The Match)