Please help analyze my round

[$2 Nassau]

I shot an 85 (par 71) on Saturday, a good score for me.

Does anything jump out at you as being good or bad? I realize it's just one round worth of data to look at, but any comments are welcome. Just curious how this would compare to other golfers of my skill level.

Score: 85
birdies: 1
pars: 6
Bogeys: 7
Double Bogey: 4

Fairways hit: 4/13 = 31%
GIR: 4/18 = 22%
Up and Downs: 4 (I think this is good, normally get only about 2 of these)
Sand save: 1 **
Putts: 33


**Question: the one sand save I had was on a par 5, my 2nd shot landed up by the green in a bunker, I got up and down out of the sand for a birdie, so does that count both as a 'sand save' and an 'up and down?' (that's how I counted it in my stats).


Thanks,

$2

[TourSpoon]

My 2 cents:

Try to work on eliminating the doubles and 3 putts (did you have any?). Obviously hitting fairways/greens is one aspect, but it really comes down to getting up and down, especially at a 15. The birdie/sandie had to be a highlight.

Congrats on a good round.

[$2 Nassau]

My 2 cents:

Yes, 2 three-putts. Really ugly ones too, not that there's a pretty 3 putt, but these were just sensless.

[Elvisliveson]

I shot an 85 (par 71) on Saturday, a good score for me.

Nice round. I think you need to cut down on the number of double bogeys. 4 is about twice as many as someone who plays in the low to mid 80s usually makes. Also, if you can make your goal for every round to have 32 putts or under that would help too.

[Sowbug2000]

I shot an 85 (par 71) on Saturday, a good score for me.

Two Bucks, Love your avitar, by the way! Good round. IMHO, total chips and putts can kill me...not on every hole, but on a few. Perhaps, on your doubles? I am trying to improve my lag putting (to eliminate 3 putts) and improving the "Bump and Run" so I can one putt more often. Do you count your chips?? I just started doing that, and its an area that I need improvement on. I shot an 87 yesterday (good for me) with one bird, 5 pars, 7 bogeys, 3 dubs, and a QUAD!!! On the bright side, I eliminated the triples! Good luck!

[Shindig]

I shot an 85 (par 71) on Saturday, a good score for me.

How good are the greens at your place? 33 Putts for an 85 can be either terrific (in the case of bumpy greens) or poor.

Congrats on the sand saves. I've had two in my life, so you had a good one. One thing I found useful is Golf Digest Challenge - www.golfdigestchallenge.com - to track my "long game handicap" and "short game handicap." It also gives practice tips.

[TourSpoon]

Yes, 2 three-putts. Really ugly ones too, not that there's a pretty 3 putt, but these were just sensless.

OK, so there's two more strokes.

Like I said, getting up and down is essential for any player to improve. Knowing that when you miss a green you have a good chance of getting up and down will give you more confidence and you will hit more greens. Spend half of your practice time around the greens and it will pay off in many different ways. The other point is eliminating the doubles by hitting shots that you can hit and missing in the correct place where you have the best chance to save par is huge. Again, play to take the big number off the table. If you look at your round, I am sure that you can see where you could easily been closer to 80 with a little more strategy and skill around the greens. It is only a matter of time. Good luck.

[DBake]

I shot an 85 (par 71) on Saturday, a good score for me.

Since I am above average from around the greens, I felt that I I needed to get my tee ball in the fairway to lower my scores. By focusing on hitting my drive in the short grass, I has allowed me to have a clear shot to the green even if I do miss the fairway, because it is not by much.

[LSeca]

The other point is eliminating the doubles by hitting shots that you can hit and missing in the correct place where you have the best chance to save par is huge. Again, play to take the big number off the table.

As a 15 myself, I find this tip to be very good. Typically, I find my bogeys to be more of a course management issue. I just can't help but go for it most of the time, unfortunately it usually puts me in a bad position.

Anyway, congrats on the round $2. Btw, what was teh birdie on? I usually can only get them on a short par 3, sometimes (rarely) on a longer par 5.

[supercow]

Do you miss big or small (in regards to both GIR/Fairways)? Do you have a tendency to miss to one side? Is there a pattern to the holes where you are losing strokes (i.e. lose strokes mostly off of par 4s)? Is there a pattern to the shots that you tend to miss (i.e. miss mainly using mid-long iron shots)? Do you three putt because you're so far away from the hole are you just a bad putter? Is your inability to get up and down because you can't chip/pitch the ball close enough? Do you tend to blow up mentally for a series of holes or are bad holes interspresed with good holes?

[$2 Nassau]

Thanks for all the responses.

Sowbug2000: No I don't count my chips, however I should and it would probably be easy enough to go back over my round and count them. It's something I've gotten better at, I use to short-arm or chunk chips all the time, but rarely do that anymore if ever.

Shindig: The greens are average. It's a fairly busy public course but stays in pretty good shape considering. The greens are not cut that short however this time of the year they are probably at their best because they are dry and firm.

And yes, obviously I need to cut down on double bogeys, the 4 DB's I had were all mainly due to poor tee shots. I'm not a huge hitter and use the 3 wood or hybrid off the tee at times so usually I hit more fairways...iron game is usually the problem. But wouldn't you know, that day my iron game was a lot better and of course my tee shots were off.

[$2 Nassau]

Supercow:

Do you miss big or small (in regards to both GIR/Fairways)?

I'll say small for fairways...or probably should say "smaller" this year. During that round I did not hit any tee shots that were OB or in unplayable lies. There were not always in desireable places, but they were reasonably playable. GIR's are small misses these days, something I have improved on (iron game).

Do you have a tendency to miss to one side?

Yes, left (I'm a righty). I'm a right to left player so sometimes that draw becomes a hook off the tee. Although during that round, I was trying to get awy from hitting a draw and just hit the ball straight and ended up blocking some tee shots to the right. When I miss a GIR it's usually a little to the left as well.

Is there a pattern to the holes where you are losing strokes (i.e. lose strokes mostly off of par 4s)?

Not that I have noticed, kind of a mixed bag.

Is there a pattern to the shots that you tend to miss (i.e. miss mainly using mid-long iron shots)?

Sort of, given the increased difficulty of hitting a longer iron vs. a short iron I will tend to miss a little more, but not big misses. I'm not out there trying to drill 4 irons 220 yards or anything.

Do you three putt because you're so far away from the hole are you just a bad putter?

Usually it's from being too far away from the hole. Sure, I hit some bad putts out there though every once in a while. I feel that while other parts of my game have improved my putting really hasn't over the past couple years.

Is your inability to get up and down because you can't chip/pitch the ball close enough?

I could stand to be a little closer, during that round I had a couple that I chipped within inches of the cup. Man it's nice to have those. Usually, on a normal chip I'll leave myself with a 4-6 footer...not exactly ideal. Just getting a couple feet closer would probably help greatly.

Do you tend to blow up mentally for a series of holes or are bad holes interspresed with good holes?

It comes in bunches, both the god and the bad. I've made a big improvement in this department though, the huge blowups are not that huge anymore. Double bogeys have replaced the 7's and 8's I used to get but I'll still rattle off 2-3 DB's in a row every now and then.

[golfchief]

Interesting, no penaltys. What caused the dlb. boggies and boggies? that's how to analyze your game.

[$2 Nassau]

No penalties but my tee shots on those double bogey holes were in terrible positions....had to punch out but still a long way from the green. Then the next shot misses the green, then chip on and 2 putt. Played smart after the bad tee shot but just didn't execute. Tee shots were a bit of a sore spot, even with my 3wood or hybrid, just couldn't get anything going off the tee.

One was on a par 3, this was the real killer. Theses types of holes used to be very common for me but I've eliminated most of them, but not quite all of them apparently.

Simple 176 yard par 3, miss the green slightly to the left, maybe 2-3 yards off the green. Ball sitting down in the rough a little but not too bad, plenty of green to work with too. Caught the chip a little thin, went past the hole and caught a little ridge. Ball ended up about 40 feet from the hole way on the other side of the green. Lag it up there to about 3-4 feet then lip out the bogey putt. Ouch.

What I mean by saying these types of holes used to be common is that I would take a very simple miss on a simple hole and turn it into a mess!!

[supercow]

Seems to be a pattern here which makes it easier to analyse

I have the funny feeling that you may be trying to guide your shots around the course rather than actually swinging and trusting that the ball will end up close to your target. One thing that I could recommend here is to find a field (or a driving range), drop a stack of balls, and then start swinging away away at random targets. This will hopefully help you to begin to 'trust' your own swing and stop attempting to guide shots toward your target (this is assuming your swing doesn't contain significant flaws which would cause you to hit these shots in the first place).

Its obvious that your short game needs work if you want to score better. One of the things that I noticed while watching good amateurs (at least sub-4 handicaps) is that even though they may drive the thing miles and absolutely everywhere (compared to professional golfers) they are either extremely good chippers/pitchers or putters. Those people who possess a combination of both tend to dominate local tournaments.

You need to be able to remain in the 'present'. That is, you need to be able to remain relatively 'mentally stable' and take the good shots with the bad so that when you do have bad shots they do not impact on what occurs thereafter. I think this often comes with maturity, more time playing the game, and sometimes reading certain mental game books.

[billbern]

I know for me, there is much more improvment (stroke wise) for every hour spent on my short game than spent on my full swing.
Although I do LOVE to pound those buckets 'o balls LOL
Bill

[$2 Nassau]

So I played another round this past weekend and shot my best 18 hole score ever!! An 84 on a 6537 yard par 72, 71.2/129. Comparing the numbers from the other round I posted, I can see that it’s certainly my short game that is holding me back right now(especially chipping/pitching). No up and downs!! The “other” that I got was a 6 on a par 3, not much to say about that one, just played it very poorly. First tee shot O.B., the next in an unplayable lie.

Definite improvement on fairways hit and GIR from the previous round I posted. Also, 3 less putts. Chipping was very poor.

Getting there though.

Score: 84
birdies: 2
pars: 6
Bogeys: 7
Double Bogey: 2
Other: 1

Fairways hit: 8/14 = 57%
GIR: 6/18 = 33%
Up and Downs: 0 !!
Sand save: 1 (not sure if this technically counts as a sand save, I only found one bunker all day, a fairway bunker on my tee shot on a short par 4. I hit my second shot onto the green and 2-putted for par)

Putts: 30 (17 on the front, 13 on the back)

Here's the other round:
Score: 85
birdies: 1
pars: 6
Bogeys: 7
Double Bogey: 4

Fairways hit: 4/13 = 31%
GIR: 4/18 = 22%
Up and Downs: 4 (I think this is good, normally get only about 2 of these)
Sand save: 1 **
Putts: 33

[TheNextBen]

So I played another round this past weekend and shot my best 18 hole score ever!! An 84 on a 6537 yard par 72, 71.2/129. Comparing the numbers from the other round I posted, I can see that it’s certainly my short game that is holding me back right now(especially chipping/pitching). No up and downs!! The “other” that I got was a 6 on a par 3, not much to say about that one, just played it very poorly. First tee shot O.B., the next in an unplayable lie.

I can compare this easily with my game. I have about the same Driving acc. % and twice as good GIR %. And the putts per round is about the same. But here's the interesting thing, I get it up and down about 60% of the times that I missed the green and you've got 0%. I shoot arround 68-78.

So if you just improve GIR % a little bit and your scrambling by alot , you'll be able to shoot really low.