The KyleAnthony Golf Opera Thread

[MacDutch]

Oh yes, I can say that easily. First it has to do with the definition of a bad round, second it has to do with accepting that you do your best. Made a couple of 100+ rounds this year. Played a course and wanted to stay under 100 and made 95. I was happy.

[k-troop]

You get frustrated easily. Mostly because you see yourself as a better golfer than you are.

Quote:

QFT.

This statement should be preserved, maybe as a bumper sticker.   Right along with "You're not good enough to get that angry at a bad shot."

NOT just for Kyle, but for a LOT of us......

Agree with @David in FL , but that's not necessarily a knock on Kyle.  I shoot even par or better once or twice a year (more when I'm playing a lot), so I think I should be scratch.  Anytime I shoot above 76 I feel like I had a bad round.  Reality is that of my last 21 rounds, only 6 of them were 76 or better and 6 were 80 or above.  When I'm out on the course I'm really just trying to make consistent contact, stay on plane, and hit greens, but I also keep count of 5s and 6s, which I feel should rarely appear on my scorecard.

Of course, that's different from Kyle's situation in one key aspect:  I haven't proclaimed that my primary goal is to cut my handicap in half within six months.  I just play golf, because I like playing golf.  If you're really "trying" to halve your handicap, you have to have a plan with focus areas and practice goals.  You have to measure your progress relative to that plan, not just go hack it around the course (which is what I do) and then bitch that you're not playing as well as you'd like.

[Abu3baid]

appear on my scorecard.

Of course, that's different from Kyle's situation in one key aspect:  I haven't proclaimed that my primary goal is to cut my handicap in half within six months.  I just play golf, because I like playing golf.  If you're really "trying" to halve your handicap, you have to have a plan with focus areas and practice goals.  You have to measure your progress relative to that plan, not just go hack it around the course (which is what I do) and then bitch that you're not playing as well as you'd like.

Well said!

[bplewis24]

I just hope to best my last score there which was a 92.

I mentioned this before (long time ago), but it might be better to change your goals and get more specific.

If you're really "trying" to halve your handicap, you have to have a plan with focus areas and practice goals.  You have to measure your progress relative to that plan, not just go hack it around the course (which is what I do) and then bitch that you're not playing as well as you'd like.

^^^ This.

[saevel25]

Quote:

Agree with @David in FL, but that's not necessarily a knock on Kyle.  I shoot even par or better once or twice a year (more when I'm playing a lot), so I think I should be scratch.  Anytime I shoot above 76 I feel like I had a bad round.  Reality is that of my last 21 rounds, only 6 of them were 76 or better and 6 were 80 or above.  When I'm out on the course I'm really just trying to make consistent contact, stay on plane, and hit greens, but I also keep count of 5s and 6s, which I feel should rarely appear on my scorecard.

Of course, that's different from Kyle's situation in one key aspect:  I haven't proclaimed that my primary goal is to cut my handicap in half within six months.  I just play golf, because I like playing golf.  If you're really "trying" to halve your handicap, you have to have a plan with focus areas and practice goals.  You have to measure your progress relative to that plan, not just go hack it around the course (which is what I do) and then bitch that you're not playing as well as you'd like.

As for setting goals, I understand handicap is a logical goal setting mark, but I rather set goals on achieving the 5 keys more consistently. I trust that my game will get better because of it. That is why its been said a lot on this forum. Focus on ONE thing at a time. Set your goal to master what you need to master in your swing. It will take time.

[Lihu]

Nobody on here can say they don't get frustrated at a bad round. I had a bad round. I got frustrated. That's it.

This the main difference between the two of us. If I score a round in the mid to high 80s, I consider it a minor miracle. It's the exception. When I score in the low 90s, that's more the rule. Or somewhere in between. I also play really hard courses. Sometimes, I play from the tips for the fun of it, and also score in the mid-90s. Yet, I have not had an over 100 round in a long time (4 months, but a long time relative to my short golfing career), even playing a new course. The difference in our outlook on the course is that you list yourself as an 11 handicap, and I keep the one given to me at 17. Yet we overlap scores many times. For the last 4 months, I can see minor incremental improvements to my score because I practice what I am told to practice by my instructors. On top of that, I really putt badly, and could easily improve my scores by 6 strokes with the 65/25/10 type practice. Currently, I am at 98/2/0. I'm not saying that we have the same potential or anything, but just pointing out that the main difference is our outlook to this game while we score roughly the same on roughly the same courses from the same tees. Of course, I would be elated to get a 78, which I think you managed once or twice?

[newtogolf]

Score is a measure of the quality of your; golf swing, putting ability, course management, performance under pressure and a few other variables.   You don't seem to track the statistics of your game in enough detail to understand why you don't score to your expectations.  In your last round, you hit;

• 2 Penalty Shots - what were the circumstances? Were they incurred off the tee or 2nd or 3rd shots.
• 35 putts isn't that bad given your other stats, average 1.9 putts.  How many 3+ putts did you have, why did you have them, poor putting or poor approach shots
• Only 2 fairways - if you were having issues with your driver why not switch to a 3W, hybrid or iron off the tee (If you're practicing, then score shouldn't matter)  If my driver swing is off I switch clubs off the tee is score is important, otherwise I try to work out my driver swing during the round.  What were your misses?  Were you slicing or hooking or both?
• 6 GIR is probably a symptom of only hitting 2 fairways.

Point is, if your practicing then the score is secondary and you shouldn't get frustrated, instead you should learn from the round areas you need to improve - especially all the great advice and drills Mike provided you with.

[Dave2512]

Been a while since I have looked at charts but I think 6 GIR would be sbove average for a 12 hc and 35 putts wouldn't be much higher than average if not on the number. If it was me the takeaway would be those stats are good now where do I look for room to improve.

[turtleback]

QFT.

This statement should be preserved, maybe as a bumper sticker.   Right along with "You're not good enough to get that angry at a bad shot."

^^This.  I enjoy the game a lot more now that I have made this one of my guiding principles.

[newtogolf]

Quote:

Been a while since I have looked at charts but I think 6 GIR would be sbove average for a 12 hc and 35 putts wouldn't be much higher than average if not on the number. If it was me the takeaway would be those stats are good now where do I look for room to improve.

I wasn't critiquing the stats, I'd be pretty happy with the score and 6 GIR.  I just pointed out that if the score frustrates him he should look deeper to find out where he struggled and why.

[Lihu]

Score is a measure of the quality of your; golf swing, putting ability, course management, performance under pressure and a few other variables.   You don't seem to track the statistics of your game in enough detail to understand why you don't score to your expectations.  In your last round, you hit;

2 Penalty Shots - what were the circumstances? Were they incurred off the tee or 2nd or 3rd shots.

35 putts isn't that bad given your other stats, average 1.9 putts.  How many 3+ putts did you have, why did you have them, poor putting or poor approach shots

Only 2 fairways - if you were having issues with your driver why not switch to a 3W, hybrid or iron off the tee (If you're practicing, then score shouldn't matter)  If my driver swing is off I switch clubs off the tee is score is important, otherwise I try to work out my driver swing during the round.  What were your misses?  Were you slicing or hooking or both?

6 GIR is probably a symptom of only hitting 2 fairways.

Point is, if your practicing then the score is secondary and you shouldn't get frustrated, instead you should learn from the round areas you need to improve - especially all the great advice and drills Mike provided you with.

There are plenty of flaws, and I am not sure you can lump that all into "quality". The basic swing could be good enough and the direction of the ball could be as intended, but the ball striking could be lousy. One could be hitting thin or high on the face or even worse yet, a little on the toe that can cost 10 to 15 yards. More advanced, is that it can also not spin enough on landing or not take the flight path you intended and end up hitting a tree.

I agree that an 8 to 12 handicap should be able to get about 6 GIR, and putt 35 or less. I don't think you can hit 6 GIR if you only hit 2 fairways , that would be much harder. More than likely you would need to hit 8 or 10 fairways to get 6 GIR.

Been a while since I have looked at charts but I think 6 GIR would be above average for a 12 hc and 35 putts wouldn't be much higher than average if not on the number. If it was me the takeaway would be those stats are good now where do I look for room to improve.

Agreed.

[Dave2512]

Quote:

I wasn't critiquing the stats, I'd be pretty happy with the score and 6 GIR.  I just pointed out that if the score frustrates him he should look deeper to find out where he struggled and why.

Didn't think you were. Just pointing out that if he came away from that round bummed it's obvious he did some things well. Looking from afar it should be easy enough to find out what went wrong. When you are playing to a 11-12 and hit 6 GIR after only hitting 2 FIR it seems like things went well from the tee most of the day. The 35 putts suggest he didn't fall apart on the greens so where was the trouble. My guess is penalties led to big numbers on just a couple of holes and chances are he got frustrated and didn't bounce back on the next hole.

When I look back at my stats I also pay attention to how the scores fell on the card. Did I follow a double with a bogey because I tried to be a hero on the next hole etc. You suggested he look deeper into the stats and I agree, but only because he should have seen something was positive. But that's just for what happened on that particular day. I don't think that is what his "problem" is. Honestly I don't think he has a problem just that blind ambition has gotten in the way of having fun golfing. Like most of us he's a high handicap golfer. The difference is he seems convinced in his case he can play his way through it. His goals and his method to improve seem to be heading in opposite directions.

[Lihu]

Didn't think you were. Just pointing out that if he came away from that round bummed it's obvious he did some things well. Looking from afar it should be easy enough to find out what went wrong. When you are playing to a 11-12 and hit 6 GIR after only hitting 2 FIR it seems like things went well from the tee most of the day. The 35 putts suggest he didn't fall apart on the greens so where was the trouble. My guess is penalties led to big numbers on just a couple of holes and chances are he got frustrated and didn't bounce back on the next hole.

When I look back at my stats I also pay attention to how the scores fell on the card. Did I follow a double with a bogey because I tried to be a hero on the next hole etc. You suggested he look deeper into the stats and I agree, but only because he should have seen something was positive. But that's just for what happened on that particular day. I don't think that is what his "problem" is. Honestly I don't think he has a problem just that blind ambition has gotten in the way of having fun golfing. Like most of us he's a high handicap golfer. The difference is he seems convinced in his case he can play his way through it. His goals and his method to improve seem to be heading in opposite directions.

That's the main loss of strokes on the courses around the desert/inland empire where he plays. It's really tough to keep things playable with so many red and/or red/yellow markers all over the place.

That's kind of what I was trying to get at. His outlook is very poor. If he is happy with his occasional good results and takes on the attitude that his "bad" scores are the normal ones, he will find some way to improve them. He needs to look at the bad scores as the normal case and improve the bad scores, not the good ones.

[LuciusWooding]

You get frustrated easily. Mostly because you see yourself as a better golfer than you are.

Don't we all.

This is why they tell us to practice in front of a mirror. Gives us a chance to reflect on our game.

[MS256]

I don't think you can hit 6 GIR if you only hit 2 fairways, that would be much harder. More than likely you would need to hit 8 or 10 fairways to get 6 GIR.

I'm not much of a stats guy but I think you are putting way more importance on hitting fairways in relation to GIR than anything I've seen, by a long ways.

Of course it depends on the course and how penal the rough is, how badly the fairways are missed, and how much trouble there is on the course.

My main objective off of the tee is to stay out of trouble (hazards, OB, and places where I don't have legitimate second shot). Fairways? Meh. It's great if I hit them but not a big deal if I don't.

I wouldn't say that I intentionally miss any fairways but lets just say that if there's trouble down the right or left I cheat toward the other side, miss the fairway fairly often, and I'm completely satisfied with that miss.

[14ledo81]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lihu

I don't think you can hit 6 GIR if you only hit 2 fairways, that would be much harder. More than likely you would need to hit 8 or 10 fairways to get 6 GIR.

I'm not much of a stats guy but I think you are putting way more importance on hitting fairways in relation to GIR than anything I've seen, by a long ways.

Of course it depends on the course and how penal the rough is, how badly the fairways are missed, and how much trouble there is on the course.

My main objective off of the tee is to stay out of trouble (hazards, OB, and places where I don't have legitimate second shot). Fairways? Meh. It's great if I hit them but not a big deal if I don't.

I wouldn't say that I intentionally miss any fairways but lets just say that if there's trouble down the right or left I cheat toward the other side, miss the fairway fairly often, and I'm completely satisfied with that miss.

Agreed.

How far you are missing fairways plays a part as well.  If I miss 10 fairways, but 8 of them are only by 10' or so, this is not such a hindrance to hitting GIR.

[Lihu]

I'm not much of a stats guy but I think you are putting way more importance on hitting fairways in relation to GIR than anything I've seen, by a long ways. Of course it depends on the course and how penal the rough is, how badly the fairways are missed, and how much trouble there is on the course. My main objective off of the tee is to stay out of trouble (hazards, OB, and places where I don't have legitimate second shot). Fairways? Meh. It's great if I hit them but not a big deal if I don't. I wouldn't say that I intentionally miss any fairways but lets just say that if there's trouble down the right or left I cheat toward the other side, miss the fairway fairly often, and I'm completely satisfied with that miss.

I'm being anecdotal, but. . . If I miss a fairway, it's a lot harder for me to make a GIR. I hit shorter than you do (IIRC, roughly 30 yards), so if I have 80 yards from the rough it's harder than 100 from the fairway. If you played the courses I played, you might have only 50 yards from the rough or 80 from the fairway. I agree this would not be that different. The extra 30 yards you get off the tee makes it easier to get GIR without fairways.

[MS256]

I'm being anecdotal, but. . . If I miss a fairway, it's a lot harder for me to make a GIR. I hit shorter than you do (IIRC, roughly 30 yards), so if I have 80 yards from the rough it's harder than 100 from the fairway. If you played the courses I played, you might have only 50 yards from the rough or 80 from the fairway. I agree this would not be that different. The extra 30 yards you get off the tee makes it easier to get GIR without fairways.

I agree that the rough is less of a factor with longer tee shots that get closer to the greens, and I have been on some courses where the rough was so high and thick that it had to be avoided at all costs, but that's not typical.

BTW. I have never said how far I typically hit my driver. Not going down that road.