Ever have a good round but....

[GolfGuy123]

Had a good 9 holes today (for my personal handicap), shot a 44. Normally I would be pretty happy about that score but feeling a bit dejected due to the fact I triple bogeyed the 7th and doubled the 9th.

Frustrated knowing I was standing in center of the fairway on the 9th, about 155 yards out with a 7 in my hand and got nervous / anxious thinking to myself "all you have to do is bogey this hole to shoot personal best" (44 is my personal best on this particular 9 holes, bogey would have given me 43). Ended up hitting a terrible low slice that almost went OB, then bad chip to front edge of green and 3 putts from there for a double...I know that was a bad thought and should have just been concentrating on the shot but how does one keep such thoughts out in that type of situation?

My other question is - if anyone else here has had similar experiences - where you have a good round (for your personal handicap / skill level) but still feel frustrated for how the round played out / costly mistakes? Thanks

[bradsul]

I imagine everyone has had those kinds of rounds!  It's probably the main reason I don't add my score until the round is over when I'm playing stroke play.  I never do well when I'm thinking "you just need to X" before I hit a shot.

[GolfGuy123]

I imagine everyone has had those kinds of rounds!  It's probably the main reason I don't add my score until the round is over when I'm playing stroke play.  I never do well when I'm thinking "you just need to X" before I hit a shot.

Great advice that I should listen to lol! I really need to stop paying attention to where im at (score wise) after every hole / shot. Weather its middle of the round or tee box on 18, I always know and am thinking about what im shooting...bad habit, need to break.

[Hammer 4]

Also, might try playing a round or 2 without keeping score, that way you just have to have fun, and usually have a good round, I say Usually.

[Strandly]

I'm too new to the game to get frustrated I think.  I'll occasionally get paired with guys who hit a bad shot and flip out, pout, swear, toss a club, etc and I find it mostly pretty silly... but maybe that's just how it is after you've been playing a long time.  Anyway, as far as I'm concerned I just expect my play to be erratic so when I hit a good shot I'm happy and when I hit a bad one I'm not terribly surprised.  So my first suggestion would be to not expect too much of yourself.

Another thing that I think helps even though it's painfully cliché is to stay positive.  Until I'm actually putting for bogey I'm usually thinking I can still make par.  When I pull it off it's a excellent confidence booster and when I don't.. well, I can simply admit I was in a bad spot anyway and move on.

Try those out and see if it helps.

[MS256]

Unless I'm in a competition where it's required that I write down a score I don't. After the round I replay the holes in my mind and write the score down. Usually I know where I stand in relation to par but it's one of those deals where I know but I don't know. Even when I'm keeping a scorecard as I go all I really care about is my next shot and "the score" is only somewhere in the back of my mind and doesn't even matter. I'm not very likely to break any personal scoring records anyway so all I'm doing is having fun, trying to figure out how to not make bogey, and seeing how many birdies I can make. One shot at a time and one hole at a time.

[HackerBill123]

I'm pretty anal about keeping score. I want to know where I'm at scorewise always. I record shots to the green and putts. I normally average in the high 80's to low 90's. One of my best memories is sitting on a 72 on hole 17. I thought I could double bogie (it was a par 5) and still break 80. I didn't get excited and shot a par for a 77 and a P.R. I'm still chasing it but what I remember is I could stay in the moment and play one shot at a time. I have several rounds where I performed way outside my experience zone. I try and remember those moments before I play to keep my confidence up before any difficult shot,

[BuckeyeNut]

I'm frustrated with good rounds if I know I played better than my score.  I can think of some rounds where I played great tee to green but holed NOTHING on the greens.   If I play great and card a 76 (which is good for me where I play) when I know it could have easily been a 72.......I walk off the 18th green shaking my head in disgust because I know my score should have been lower.

On other days, I can shoot the same score and be thrilled with myself, because I know it could have been a lot worse due to playing much poorly from tee to green than my score would suggest.  For me, my satisfaction boils down to how well I score relative to how I play.

[GolfGuy123]

I'm frustrated with good rounds if I know I played better than my score.  I can think of some rounds where I played great tee to green but holed NOTHING on the greens.   If I play great and card a 76 (which is good for me where I play) when I know it could have easily been a 72.......I walk off the 18th green shaking my head in disgust because I know my score should have been lower.

On other days, I can shoot the same score and be thrilled with myself, because I know it could have been a lot worse due to playing much poorly from tee to green than my score would suggest.  For me, my satisfaction boils down to how well I score relative to how I play.

This pretty much sums it up, perfectly.

Only in my situation on this particular day - I think it was letting my nerves get the best of me on 2 of the last 3 holes - knowing I was scoring well (for me standards) and was hitting, putting etc. well (for my standards). I was 4 over by the seventh hole which is a little out of my comfort zone. Sounds like the key is learning to play / concentrate when you find yourself out of comfort zone?

[tomvk77]

At my home course my personal best was 72 (par 70 ) and had that score a few times already.

Till last week i was level after 17 and i just kept positive thoughts in my head. I was remembering last round i played the 18th

i made a solid par. And just kept that feeling going, ended up holing a 12 footer for birdie and my first ever under par round.

[inthehole]

If I know Im having a really good round - I won't total up the score until its over ... I always find a way to blow it if I know I have to make par on the last hole, etc.

[bkuehn1952]

If I know Im having a really good round - I won't total up the score until its over ... I always find a way to blow it if I know I have to make par on the last hole, etc.

I believe the above statement is a pretty common among those of us who struggle to make bogey or par on any given hole.  My experience is the less one dwells on the potential final score, the better one will play down the stretch.  It is too easy for me to get ahead of myself and subtly change my game when I know a good score is in the offing.

So if I were going to give you three pieces of advice (recalling that free advice is typically worth the cost):

1. Just write down the score for each hole.  Restrain your tendency to keep a running total or to track where you are in relation to par.  Just work at playing each shot as best as you can.  Write down the total at the end of the hole.  Wipe the slate clear and begin the next hole.

2. Don't change the way you play as you near the end of the round.  If you typically hit driver on #18 and usually have a playable drive , then hit driver.  Don't change to a 3-wood or 7-iron to "keep it in play" or play for a bogey.

3. Analyze your play and try to identify holes on which you almost always post a large number.  On those holes, think about whether a different approach might yield a better result.  If there is a hole where 90% of the time you are in trouble off the tee, maybe it is time to hit that 7-iron or 3-wood and develop an alternate approach.  There was a hole we used to play in league.  It was into the setting sun, over a cross hazard, narrow with a severely canted fairway that required one to hit to the right side which was bordered by woods.  Everyone, including me, almost always hit a driver into trouble.  Eventually I teed off with a 4-iron.  Yes, I sometimes got into trouble with the 4-iron, too.  But there were many more times I found the fairway and started to make a few pars and bogies.

So good luck in posting more and lower "bests" and I hope we don't completely screw your game up with our advice.

[scorpion12]

Yep. I know what you mean. I played last Wednesday after work and (while I hadn't been on a course in a few years) I wasn't doing too terribly bad. On or around the green in 3 for the par 5's, on the green in 2 or 3 for par 4's, and on the green in 2 on par 3's or so... give or take a few shots.

What absolutely killed my game was the 3 and 4 putts. For whatever reason I was not able to read a green at all and I couldn't find the correct speed. Part of it may be that I was having issues aligning my putter but I'll work those issues out and hopefully bring my score down below what I clocked last week.

[Gunther]

I am aware of my score most of the way around the course, when I'm playing OK; when I'm not, I ignore the scorecard and usually end up a few strokes better than I thought I'd be. I know that when I was trying to break 80, I used to mess up on 17 and 18 all the time. Can't tell you how many 80s and 81s I had before I broke through and they would frustrate me to no end. Once I carded a few 70s rounds, I no longer had the fascination with it and was able to let it go. So today, I have about 4 80's in my last 20 but in none of those cases was I grinding to make a 79. In other words, I'm not dying to break 80 like I once was. I'm pretty dang pleased with an 80. So I guess the point is, keep playing, improving and soon those old barriers won't hold the romance they once did and you'll be able to play to the end, add em up and who knows, you might just end up with a par, birdie finish and come in with a great score.

[GolfGuy123]

I believe the above statement is a pretty common among those of us who struggle to make bogey or par on any given hole.  My experience is the less one dwells on the potential final score, the better one will play down the stretch.  It is too easy for me to get ahead of myself and subtly change my game when I know a good score is in the offing.

So if I were going to give you three pieces of advice (recalling that free advice is typically worth the cost):

1. Just write down the score for each hole.  Restrain your tendency to keep a running total or to track where you are in relation to par.  Just work at playing each shot as best as you can.  Write down the total at the end of the hole.  Wipe the slate clear and begin the next hole.

2. Don't change the way you play as you near the end of the round.  If you typically hit driver on #18 and usually have a playable drive, then hit driver.  Don't change to a 3-wood or 7-iron to "keep it in play" or play for a bogey.

3. Analyze your play and try to identify holes on which you almost always post a large number.  On those holes, think about whether a different approach might yield a better result.  If there is a hole where 90% of the time you are in trouble off the tee, maybe it is time to hit that 7-iron or 3-wood and develop an alternate approach.  There was a hole we used to play in league.  It was into the setting sun, over a cross hazard, narrow with a severely canted fairway that required one to hit to the right side which was bordered by woods.  Everyone, including me, almost always hit a driver into trouble.  Eventually I teed off with a 4-iron.  Yes, I sometimes got into trouble with the 4-iron, too.  But there were many more times I found the fairway and started to make a few pars and bogies.

So good luck in posting more and lower "bests" and I hope we don't completely screw your game up with our advice.

Seriously...THANK YOU, as this is good "free advice" lol.

First off its comforting to know this sort of thing happens to players of all handicaps (seeing you are a single digit) not just higher cappers like myself.

Also, what you say resonates in a major way - especially #2. When I approached the 7th tee box, I was 4 over par - which is out of my comfort zone and had my mind racing and getting way ahead of myself, especially because this is a hole I normally par (short-ish par 5) and the whole time im thinking "wow if I par this I will be 4 over through 7!" So what did I do...I took a 5 iron off the tee to make sure I keep it in play when I normally take driver and am usually in the fairway or playable rough. Anyways I chunked the heck out of the 5i and my tee shot went about 115 yards and to the left. Long story short, that set off a chain reaction of bad decisions, poorer than normal swings and ultimately a triple bogey.

So in taking your advice, next time im in a similar situation I am definitely going to play the remaining hole(s) like I would any other day...or maybe I wont even be paying attention to my score in the first place ;)

[late347]

Well if you play stableford, a couple blown-up holes out of full-18, it doesn't really matter. For a high handicapper at least it won't matter. Then you simply aim for bogeys and the occasional pars. Gotta gather those stableford points somehow,right? ;)

[CarlSpackler]

I like to know where I'm at during a round, but I try not to let it affect my game. I am where I am. In my pre-shot routine, I tune everything out, especially on putts, and just focus on the target. I keep my breathing slow and steady and tell myself, "You got this." I think about similar shots in the past that came out awesome. The mind is very powerful in these situations.

[jmsage]

Everyone does that.  For me I can play the best round of my life and look back and say.. Oh well I should of shot this.