Does Your 1st Hole Score Affect Rest of Round?

[MEfree]

Does a really good or bad score on the 1st hole tend to have an effect on how you score the next 17? I was going to add a poll, but I am having trouble seeing that option.

[iacas]

Does a really good or bad score on the 1st hole tend to have an effect on how you score the next 17?

I was going to add a poll, but I am having trouble seeing that option.

Added. And fixed your misspelling of "affect."

It's not difficult to find:

I voted no.

[ditchparrot19]

Used to if it was on the negative side, but not so much anymore. That first one's gone as soon as I walk off the green.

Just last Saturday I made a double on No. 1 when it took me two tries to get out of a bunker, but I immediately offset that with a textbook birdie on the par-5 2nd and went on to have a good round.

[David in FL]

Nope.

[flintcreek6412]

Only if I get a get a tap in birdie because I know I just used all of my good shots for the day............

[Fourputt]

Nope.  I've had good starts that went bad, and horrid starts that became good rounds.  What I have more trouble with is if I start well, then have a couple of early blowups to turn the round south.  It's harder for me to regain focus and recover some good from that.

[Jeremie Boop]

I voted no. A start for me, good or bad, is little indication of how the overall round will go.

[MEfree]

Nope.  I've had good starts that went bad, and horrid starts that became good rounds.  What I have more trouble with is if I start well, then have a couple of early blowups to turn the round south.  It's harder for me to regain focus and recover some good from that.

IMO, it does sound like a really good or bad 1st hole score may have an effect on the rest of the 17.  These are some examples of a really good or bad 1st hole score effecting the rest of the round.

1.  Start thinking about shooting a really good score after a good 1st hole and then blowing up.

2.  Free-wheeling after a bad 1st hole and shooting a good round.

3.  Getting more focused after a good 1st hole and shooting a very good round.

4.  Losing focus after a bad 1st hole and shooting an exceptionally bad round.

When I say "effect" I mean a positive OR negative correlation with the rest of the round.

I am really impressed by how often Touring Pros seem to block things out and be able to play and execute 1 shot at a time regardless of what has happened previously, while many amateurs I see don't seem to have this skill.

[Gunther]

Guess I'm in the minority. Does affect me cuz I'm a frickin head case.

[Slice of Life]

None of my holes affect any of the others.

A typical 9 hole score from me will look like:

Bogey, double bogey, birdie, par, par, par, double bogey, bogey, double bogey.

There's no rhyme or reason lol

[Dave2512]

Maybe coming back from a triple can be tough but if it is in my head it's just for that side. I make pars about half the time and double or worse not much, worse is less than my birdie % so I know it won't comlpetely derail me. I certainly don't do anything crazy trying to fix it.

[Golfingdad]

nah.

[CarlSpackler]

Not unless I sustain some sort of injury. Some of my best rounds started off with double.

[dbuck]

I wish I could say no, but I honestly said yes.

My usual first hole is an easy par 4, and the second hole is a fairly difficult par 4. If I don't do well on the first, it is pressure on me to catch up, and it is in my head. I know I shouldn't think that way, and I am working on it. That said, I very often have a better score on the more difficult second.

[mdl]

Used to.  Not anymore.  In my last round I started triple-bogey-bogey-double-bogey. Kept a good attitude and played well for the last 13 holes.

[turtleback]

IMO, it does sound like a really good or bad 1st hole score may have an effect on the rest of the 17.

I'm confused.

At the time you posted this not one single person had said yes, you had one ambiguous answer, and everyone else said no effect.

And your conclusion was yes it did have an effect.

How does your conclusion follow from the responses?

[Dave2512]

Honestly the only time a score on any hole bothers me is if I 3 putt.

[Bogeyman65]

It affects me. I play at a course that doesn't have a driving range so I spend a little time chipping and putting before I tee off. If I take a double bogey on the first hole I keep thing about how I'm going to get those strokes back on the next few holes.