Wierdness????

[Rynofskie]

I don't know what happens when I play 18 holes. My average 9 hole score is 8 over. My average 18 hole score is 30 over. Shouldn't I be closer to 20 over? I don't know why my strokes seem to balloon out of control when I play 18 holes. Do any of you have this problem?

[iacas]

I don't know what happens when I play 18 holes. My average 9 hole score is 8 over. My average 18 hole score is 30 over. Shouldn't I be closer to 20 over? I don't know why my strokes seem to balloon out of control when I play 18 holes. Do any of you have this problem?

Where do things start going badly? Towards the end (fatigue, unfamiliarity with back nine?)? In the beginning (mental issue, didn't warm up properly?)?

Really, if you shoot +8, you should finish at +8 on the other nine or even a little better since you have a better feel for the course that day.

[$2 Nassau]

I experience that as well, not quite to that extreme, but I can't seem to put together a complete round. There is no specific trend though, could shoot 41 on the front, then 48 on the back. Or 47 on the front and a 39 on the back. Wierd indeed.

[Diggitydog]

It obviously could be hundreds of reasons why the second nine is worse.
1) My first thought is fatigue.
2) Second thought is trying to put up a specific score by counting what you think you should end up with (focus basically)
3) Lose interest and your focus diminishes. On one hand you may trying too hard on the other maybe you're just getting lazy near the end and slapping at putts etc.
4) Maybe the greater power doesn't want you to break 90. j/k
5) Is the second 9 more difficult?

Give more insight, maybe you can narrow it down if you give some detail about generally what is happening. Title it "Anatomy of My Back Nine Collapse"

[Rynofskie]

"Anatomy of My Back Nine Collapse"

I go to several 9 hole courses in the areas around my house. I routinely shoot a score of 8 to 10 strokes over. If I play 18 holes I end up around 25 to 30 strokes over.

1. Fatigue is not an issue, I have plenty of juice.

2. Iacas, I am really unfarmiliar with the back nine of most courses, when I played regularly in highschool we only practiced on the front 9.

3. DiggityDog could be right on points 2 and 3. I do count my strokes and try to keep my score under what I think I'll hit. Also, I do tend to lose focus easily if I feel rushed, or if I have a poor tee shot, which is pretty much every hole.

[Diggitydog]

Ok, so I think you are on to something then.
1) Partly due to course familiarity. It's the reason Tour Pros practice at the specific course and get better as they continue playing courses over time. It's really the same principle for us as amateurs. Familiarity will help

2) Your game is not at the level yet where you can set a number. My game is not at that level either. When I do that I struggle, the thoughts creep in and erode at my focus. Do this, it sounds easy but it's not. Focus on each shot on each hole. After the hole is done record the score and FORGET about it. Don't get too jacked up by a huge drive or too down by a poor one. Getting too excited is just as problematic for the golf swing as being frustrated.

Basically play the course a shot at a time. Even in the middle of a blowup hole you still want to save strokes. It's easy to think. "Oh I'm going to get no better than a double bogey so what does it matter if I get a quadruple bogey, who cares" But if you think about it grinding out for that 6 instead of settling for an 8 will go a long way to a lower score. I've started doing that and it really helps mitigate the damage on blowup holes. This is especially true when putting. FOCUS on making them.

[lamebums]

It's not weird, as far as I've ever seen. Consistency - and the ability to grind it out for a long time - is one of the difference between us and the pro's.

Since you mentioned you're not as familiar with the back nine, why don't you try and play that in a nine hole round on a day where it isn't crowded. It should just be a matter of asking the starter and him checking to make sure there isn't anyone making the turn. If you score +8 or so that time too, then it's probably fatigue, whether you know it or not. Or the back could just be a lot harder than the front.

I suffer from the same problem - and just as extreme. One time, playing the Willows, I dumped the front nine with a 48 after tripling the first three holes (not warmed up), but after a drink and hot dog at the turn, I pounded it miles down each fairway, hit long shots into greens, and sank putts, I somehow came back with a 37 on on the most penal nine holes I've ever played on. If I'd played that well on the front I would have probably been two or three under for the whole day.

Or going 56-41 in the club championship - where we first teed off on #10 hole.

[Roody]

Two words: Golf Gods :)

The past 2 or 3 rounds I've played I seem to be experiencing that. I don't think I am tired, so I am not sure if I can blame in on fatigue. I think I'm merely losing focus. Sometimes when I play a good first nine I tend to relax a little too much on the back. My guess is mental fatigue is your problem.

[jaqattack02]

Interestingly i have almost an opposite problem. My scores tend to be very consistent from front to back, usually within a stroke or 2 of each other. Unfortunately they are consistently bad. I'm still working on breaking 100. But I think what helps me stay consistent is what someone else already mentioned, playing the round one shot at a time. You have to get over that bad drive you just made, and concentrate on making that shot out of the rough a good one.