Are you a Better Golfer than a Year Ago?

[BallMarker]

15 hours ago, iacas said:

Yeah, you can chip it close and one-putt for a seven. Woo!

Or, you can chip it 30 feet away and hope for a 9.

Isn't 7 better than a 9?

Depends on how you look at it.

[DaveP043]

14 minutes ago, BallMarker said:

Or, you can chip it 30 feet away and hope for a 9.

Isn't 7 better than a 9?

Depends on how you look at it.

I wouldn't call a 7 on any hole "scoring".  I shot my best score of the year on Sunday, and got up and down on 3 of my 5 chances.  If I'd gone 0 for 5, I'd still have tied my previous low for the season.  I scored with full swing stuff.  The short stuff was just the icing on that particular cake.

And yes, I'm better now than a year ago.  For the first time in over 20 years, I've taken a bit of (very productive) instruction, and am actively working to reinforce some changes.  My handicap is at its lowest ever, and it looks like its going even lower.  As for next year, who knows?  

[BallMarker]

2 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

I wouldn't call a 7 on any hole "scoring".  I shot my best score of the year on Sunday, and got up and down on 3 of my 5 chances.  If I'd gone 0 for 5, I'd still have tied my previous low for the season.  I scored with full swing stuff.  The short stuff was just the icing on that particular cake.

And yes, I'm better now than a year ago.  For the first time in over 20 years, I've taken a bit of (very productive) instruction, and am actively working to reinforce some changes.  My handicap is at its lowest ever, and it looks like its going even lower.  As for next year, who knows?  

I think you're proving my point. If what you said is true, you shot your lowest score because your were able to chip and putt 3 out of 5 times.

[GolfLug]

3 minutes ago, BallMarker said:

I think you're proving my point. If what you said is true, you shot your lowest score because your were able to chip and putt 3 out of 5 times.

LOL! Did you read the next sentence??

[DaveP043]

10 minutes ago, BallMarker said:

I think you're proving my point. If what you said is true, you shot your lowest score because your were able to chip and putt 3 out of 5 times.

No, I shot my lowest score because I hit 13 greens, and was damn close to 4 of the remaining 5.  Without that, all the up and downs in the world wouldn't have got me anywhere near that score.

[djake]

Yes I am, this forum has really helped from the advice in my swing thread to the reminder to practice more with the long irons, hybrid and fairway woods.  Great place to learn and talk about golf

[iacas]

5 hours ago, BallMarker said:

Depends on how you look at it.

Not really.

5 hours ago, BallMarker said:

I think you're proving my point. If what you said is true, you shot your lowest score because your were able to chip and putt 3 out of 5 times.

You didn't keep reading. He didn't prove your point. He could have gone 0-for-5 and still tied his best score of the year.

[JonMA1]

Nope.

While some things may have improved very slightly, my overall game is worse. I'm resigned to playing a course shorter than I should. Not because I lack the distance but because I can't keep the ball in play.

Not a big surprise. I've been to the range like once this year. The majority of my practice lately involves hitting into a field with irons. Still, I'm working on specific changes. Perhaps my approach with improvement needs to be more long-term... I don't know.   

I'm trying to avoid the same mistakes I make year after year by becoming so consumed with improvement that it starts to eliminate some of the enjoyment - especially by the end of year.

I'll see if i still feel the same way by October

[mparks270]

I'm a much better golfer after putting in a ton of time at the driving range and taking lessons over the winter.  However, this has resulted only in keeping the scores of my bad rounds slightly lower.  Not a huge help for my handicap.  My handicap has actually increased by a stroke but that is probably because I've eliminated a lot of mulligans and foot wedges. LOL!

[pganapathy]

I have definitely improved a great deal in the last couple of months.  All my rounds have been + 9-14.  It has more to do with me understanding my game and more than likely a purple patch which could lead to me breaking 80 if I could play more often than once a week at best.  For me I can definitely improve if I can make the time to practice and play more than once a week.  Another thing that has helped me is my course management skills have definitely improved

[mailman]

I think the simple truthful answer is NO.

Ive been stuck on 18 for what feels like an eternity and worst still, this year Ive been struggling with a power hook! Coupled with being busy at work and having no time for practice and lessons its really been killing my enjoyment of the game (where it got to the point I was going to chuck it in when it came to renewing my membership in June because i wasn't able to get out and play golf as much as I wanted to!).

However I put my man pants on, invested in a few lessons and set aside time for practice to try and sort these things out and the enjoyment is back. Shot at 84 two weeks ago that included three triples and 4 doubles but also had 2 birdies and 4 other realistic birdie chances! That round was enjoyable BECAUSE I had been working on eliminating the hook and instead of losing eight balls off the tee box I only lost 2 :)

Edited August 11, 2017 by mailman

[pulledabill]

Due to raising my daughter i went from 2-3 times a week to no golf with the exception of bucket of balls or par 3 on an occasion.  Since my daughter is 17 and busy, i ended my 15 year hiatus and am back to playing several times a week.  Upgraded my old clubs to some Ping Eye 2 ...ha ha...and splurged on a driver and a couple fairway woods.  Took couple lessons and really focused on course management and good swing every time. Im older, wiser, and more patient.  Went from 20 handicap to a 10 with hopes of single digit next year or before. 

[takemoney]

i dont play golf often but for sure every time i go to the range i can see that i get more accurate and know my body flow and all that there is to golfing. a year ago i would miss the ball most of the time i swung 

[jackn]

I am much better then last year. I couldn't break 100 last year and now I am shooting low 80s and sometimes high 70s. It has taken immense work but its all worth it. Sometimes it seem like a waste of time, but when you shoot that low round it feels like all the work has paid off. I have had a rough last few matches at my high school, but a 78 a few days ago has helped me in my maintaining confidence. I'm no expert but I would say the reason for no improvement is to much play and not enough practicing. 

On ‎8‎/‎8‎/‎2017 at 3:49 PM, BallMarker said:

I think you're proving my point. If what you said is true, you shot your lowest score because your were able to chip and putt 3 out of 5 times.

I agree!!! I have been focusing on short game and putting for most of my practice, and the other day I shot 78 with only hitting one green in regulation!!! Improving from bogey to par golf I would say is based mostly off short game and  putting. Improvement in golf is making 3 shots into 2.   

[DaveP043]

11 hours ago, jackn said:

I agree!!! I have been focusing on short game and putting for most of my practice, and the other day I shot 78 with only hitting one green in regulation!!! Improving from bogey to par golf I would say is based mostly off short game and  putting. Improvement in golf is making 3 shots into 2.   

If you were to read my posts that @BallMarker was commenting on, you'd see that I hit 13 greens in regulation that day.  If I had 2-putted every single time, I'd have shot 5-over 77, a pretty dang good score.  The short game stuff took a very good round and made it special, but it was a good round because my full-swing shots were consistently good.  Its all important, but the full swings can ruin your day, or make it.  

[Antneye]

On 8/8/2017 at 4:01 PM, DaveP043 said:

No, I shot my lowest score because I hit 13 greens, and was damn close to 4 of the remaining 5.  Without that, all the up and downs in the world wouldn't have got me anywhere near that score.

This is why all of my practice work the past few months has been on the full swing.  Particularly my driver.  If I hit fairways (or simply do not lose my drive OB) I have a shot at most greens.  My low rounds have all been days when I am getting off the tees.  When I don't have my driver it does not matter what I am doing.

BTW....I am better than when I made my initial post in this thread.  Down a few strokes and on my way to my first set of goals thanks to the great folks on this site.

[Patch]

Well it's been quite a while since I answered this question the first time. 

Since then, I have been fortunate to maintain a steady consistency in my game. This, after a few medical set backs that caused me to miss a few weeks of play. 

My personal playing season will be over in a few weeks. I don't actually quit playing. I just start over again after some equipment cleaning and/or refurbishments. Tell myself "wow, what a year".........

Edited August 29, 2017 by Patch

[Hooter]

I am a diligent tracker of scores. Using game golf has really helped with that (jallen1008). Because of this, I have realized my starter set of clubs needs to be more accurate that currently in the bag. I am hitting my starter set (3 years old) Callaway XHot with a uniflex shaft.

 

Understanding more and more about the game each year has helped me to learn the feel of a good shot, bad shot, and a pure shot.  I look forward to seeing everyone else improvements from last year.