Advice from a Beginner to other Beginners

[Draftstone]

Hi!

This thread is mostly towards high handicapper, but low handicappers, feel free to pitch in!

And it is based solely on personal experience, so your expericen may vary, but I think this could really help a lot of high handicappers around.

Some background. I live in Quebec, Canada and I've been playing golf seriously for only one year. This winter I decided to play at an indoor simulator facility at least once a week (impossible to play golf under 6 feet of snow hehe) to keep practicing (they use the same simulators as the one you can see on the golf channel on a lot of their shows). I currently carry a 22 handicap calculated only on real courses last summer, not the simulator ones.

So far, I was playing around 100 (lowest was 96 and highest was 110) on the simulator, mostly playing at Pebble Beach white tees (I like that course). I play a lot like many of high handicapers I see on the course, that is if the pin is inside my 3 wood range, I'll try it. Always driver on the tee box. etc...

2 weeks ago, when I was playing, the guy that had booked the same simulator arrived earlier and we started to talk a little while I finished my round. While we were talking, he asked me if I wanted a simple advice from an ex-high handicaper that is now playing a 3 handicap. I said sure, go ahead. He simply replied: "I saw you play and simply try to play smart. I don't want to be rude, but at your skill level, you don't have what it takes to try to reach par 5s in two. You are not consistent enough to hit well protected greens from 150-160 yards out. I was once playing as you are, everyone does that, but play smart and you'll see your score drop".

And I realized that it's true. Most people I play with have handicaps around mine and we all try to hit "THE SHOT" that will make us remember that round. When we hit "THE SHOT", god we feel great, but when we miss it 10 times on the next 10 holes, we feel like crap.

So I booked another 18 holes a couple of days later and decided to try that. Took Pebble Beach once again. And I started to "analyse the holes" as being one stroke over par that they were to give me some room. Anyway, playing the course as if it was par 90, it is still lower than what I shoot. So I started taking my 3 wood or my irons on tee boxes of par 4. I started to aim the fairway in front on protected greens to leave me with a 40-50 yards shot to hit the green instead of aiming directly for the green. And you know what, I shot the best round of my life. I shot a 90.

Even playing as par+1, I did 4 real pars on the course. I was so confident with my game, always hitting fairways (since I was hitting shorter clubs that are easier to hit), that some of my 30-50 yards shot were leaving me with a makeable putt that I was making. I never felt the "oh god" moment when you hit "THE SHOT", but I felt so great with my round overall. I now know that I have the capability to shoot lower scores if I simply play smart. And with more practice, I'll be even able to shoot even lower.

Couple of days later, I played another 18 holes and played a 91. Having took no lessons in between, I went from playing around 100 to 2 rounds of 90 and 91.

My dad (who never played under 115 on the simulator) tried that the same day I played my 91, he shot 101. 14 shots difference simply by stopping to try to aim for a number written on a scorecard. And he had a blast seeing his score lower than usual hole after hole.

So my little advice to anyone that starts, don't try to shoot what is written on the scorecard, you won't be able to. Play the course as a par+1 (or even +2 if you still shoot over 110). Play the course according to your skill level. You will have a blast. Instead of searching for your ball in the woods and being pissed about losing another ball, you will practice you irons, hit fairways and have fun!

[festivus]

I won't discount your experiences or advice but joint point out not everyone has the same goals.

Some golfers play in 3 scrambles a year and just want to have fun, drink, whatever.  For them going for the memorable shot is possibly the best choice on a regular basis.  They my not be a huge segment of the marketplace but they'll buy a dozen balls each outing and the odd new driver.

Others are obsessed with breaking 90 or 80 or 70.  Yep, that's often course management, focus, etc.  Your advice is terrific.

In years of caddying and teaching I've also found a ton of golfers who SAY they want to break 80 or whatever but whose real goals are revealed by their actions.  They want good times with friends, the odd hero shot to brag about, time away from work, etc.  They can often end up miserable because they just won't admit to themselves that fun is the real point of the game for them.  This causes so many to quit the game out of frustration.

Nobody's right, nobody's wrong because the game has so much to offer...to each his/her own.

So I'd add a preface to your post: think about what you want to get out of the game - that can change over time but at least give it a thought.

Score is rarely the correct answer.  Then go ahead and think about how to reach your goals.

[Draftstone]

Thanks for your feedback, and you are totally right. My post was aimed to people that are aiming to shoot lower scores and I wanted to provide an easy way to drop a high score by a couple of shots, forgot to mention that.

Golf can be played for a lot of reasons, and I hope fun is one of them. If someone is having fun trying to replicate awesome shots they saw on tv, then they should play that way!

So I would add to my previous post, if your goal (not what you say it is, but what you want, like festivus said in his post) is not to shoot lower scores, forgot what you just read and simply go out and have fun. And I hope I'll meet you on a course someday, there is nothing better that being grouped with someone that plays for the fun the game brings to him! :)

[festivus]

Yeah - and you gave great advice!  What I find funny is how many people start the game for social, exercise, or family reasons.  They often start with such low standards and actually find reasonable results.  Then the floodgates of expectation and score set in...it often gets ugly after that.  At that point there is generally a fork in the road where you get obsessed or quit playing regularly.

Some people do in fact derive a lot of joy from that competitive scoring aspect....more power to them.  Again, what is the goal of the individual?