Is score the most important thing to you? If so, you might want to rethink this game.

[DaveP043]

1 hour ago, Lihu said:

Yes, how well you do is basically the score, but is it how well you played?

So, I read this post about the book "Golf in the Kingdom", and it kind of made me think about the topic of score.

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“Donna worry about the score so much, it’s not the important thing.”

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What's interesting about this OP is that the quoted bit comes immediately after this one:

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“An eleven”. “Put down your score, it will do you good”.

Apparently for Seamus the score IS an important thing, even if its not THE important thing..

Being with friends, enjoying the outdoors, playing with integrity, simply striving (and occasionally succeeding) to make each shot successful, all of these are important.  Failing in any of the golf-performance aspects doesn't ruin my day.  Failing to enjoy my companions, or failing to play with integrity, those are failures.  For the rest, I only see varying degrees of success.  

For me, at the end of the day its the score that counts. Its a success if I shoot a good score by scrambling and putting to overcome bad ball-striking, or I shoot a good score while hitting almost every fairway and green.  Neither one is better than the other, the score is what matters in that particular evaluation.

[RandallT]

Being the mild-mannered guy that I am, @Lihu, you'd probably think I'd agree with you here. I basically took the year off from really scoring to focus on developing my game. In this phase (for me), score wasn't important- but developing skills is (has been).

Those skills are for scoring. So watch out as I rain holy hell upon your argument. 

First, this is all so subjective. You are stating opinion. Fine. What might be good for you at a certain part in your life doesn't mean it's good for others. But your title is commanding me to rethink my opinion. Not a chance. Well, ok, I rethought it. I still think score is the most important thing.

All the work. All the zen about enjoying the process and not worrying about score. Guess what- for me, it still adds up to creating the conditions to score better. 

So while I see where you're coming from, I strongly disagree with that opinion. In conclusion, however, I think you should rethink your title. 

[David in FL]

5 minutes ago, Lihu said:

 

Obviously, you do it consistently. So, no argument here. . .

Sadly, not enough.  

Of course, "scoring well" is relative.  A score that pleases me, may have others looking for a tall building to jump from, while a score that makes me want to take up tennis, may represent a personal best and genuine reason to celebrate for someone else.  Regardless of the actual number though, it's the number that I'm chasing.

[CarlSpackler]

Just now, David in FL said:

Sadly, not enough.  

Of course, "scoring well" is relative.  A score that pleases me, may have others looking for a tall building to jump from, while a score that makes me want to take up tennis, may represent a personal best and genuine reason to celebrate for someone else.  Regardless of the actual number though, it's the number that I'm chasing.

It also depends on the conditions. A number that I would normally be disappointed with could be a good number on a very windy day.

[RandallT]

As a moderator, I should try to figure out how to add a poll retroactively. The question is already in the title "Is Score the Most Important Thing to You?". A simple yes/no?

If I can figure it out, I think there might be a lot of "rethinkers" here.

[DaveP043]

1 minute ago, RandallT said:

As a moderator, I should try to figure out how to add a poll retroactively. The question is already in the title "Is Score the Most Important Thing to You?". A simple yes/no?

If I can figure it out, I think there might be a lot of "rethinkers" here.

Or perhaps the poll should ask "What is most important to you?"  with a number of choices, including score, friends, winning money, ball-striking, etc.

[Lihu]

11 minutes ago, RandallT said:

As a moderator, I should try to figure out how to add a poll retroactively. The question is already in the title "Is Score the Most Important Thing to You?". A simple yes/no?

If I can figure it out, I think there might be a lot of "rethinkers" here.

Hah, I made you rethink!

That's basically it. Everything we do is to improve the score.

 

14 minutes ago, RandallT said:

Those skills are for scoring. So watch out as I rain holy hell upon your argument. 

Yes, the skills are for scoring better, but what I wanted to get a gist of is how many people are willing to take a crappy game that scored well over a well played game with a mediocre score.

BTW, everyone. I didn't say a bad score, I stated mediocre. I didn't define the term in the OP. I meant "run-of-the-mill".

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me·di·o·cre

ˌmēdēˈōkər/

adjective

adjective: mediocre

1. of only moderate quality; not very good.

   "a mediocre actor"

   synonyms:

   ordinary, average, middling, middle-of-the-road, uninspired, undistinguished, indifferent, unexceptional, unexciting, unremarkable, run-of-the-mill, pedestrian, prosaic, lackluster, forgettable, amateur, amateurish; More

 

9 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

Or perhaps the poll should ask "What is most important to you?"  with a number of choices, including score, friends, winning money, ball-striking, etc.

If we add a poll this makes sense. Perhaps even multiple answers should be allowed?

[cromulent]

8 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

Being with friends, enjoying the outdoors, playing with integrity, simply striving (and occasionally succeeding) to make each shot successful, all of these are important.  Failing in any of the golf-performance aspects doesn't ruin my day.  Failing to enjoy my companions, or failing to play with integrity, those are failures.  For the rest, I only see varying degrees of success.  

Damn you sir, for putting things into perspective!

I think my favourite round of golf was last autumn on a misty Irish morning, squirrels running about, doing a bit of male bonding with my father in law. But then again I also got my first ever birdie on a par 4 on that round.. hard to say which was the better!

[Lihu]

1 minute ago, cromulent said:

Damn you sir, for putting things into perspective!

I think my favourite round of golf was last autumn on a misty Irish morning, squirrels running about, doing a bit of male bonding with my father in law. But then again I also got my first ever birdie on a par 4 on that round.. hard to say which was the better!

The birdie was better of course!

Nah, I think it was the entire experience, it was memorable and not mediocre for sure.

[DaveP043]

1 minute ago, Lihu said:

Yes, the skills are for scoring better, but what I wanted to get a gist of is how many people are willing to take a crappy game that scored well over a well played game with a mediocre score.

AAhhhh, now that the question is phrased clearly, I'll say it again.  I don't care how I get there, the score is what matters most.  Case in point, while in CA I got to play with @mvmac and @tristanhilton85, and shot 76 while hitting exactly 3 greens in regulation.  The full swing game wasn't horrendous, but it sure wasn't sharp, yet I shot a good score.  A couple days later, I hit nearly every fairway, hit lots of good irons, and shot 79.  This time of year, I'm happy with any score in the 70s, and those were the only two I had of the 7 rounds I played that week.  The 76 was more satisfying, simply because the score was better.

5 minutes ago, cromulent said:

I think my favourite round of golf was last autumn on a misty Irish morning, squirrels running about, doing a bit of male bonding with my father in law. But then again I also got my first ever birdie on a par 4 on that round.. hard to say which was the better!

I have to admit, every round I've played in Ireland was satisfying, no matter what the weather, no matter what the score, its one of the great places in the world!

[RandallT]

4 minutes ago, Lihu said:

If we add a poll this makes sense. Perhaps even multiple answers should be allowed?

I'll add the poll (I think I've figure it out now- not difficult), if you don't mind. Not sure if it'll modify your title though. I've gotta run some errands, but hopefully a bit later, unless another mod jumps on it.

Also, it'll piss @bkuehn1952 off if I ask which is the most important thing, and then allow multiple answers!

The current list of choices is: 

1. score
2. ball striking (i.e., perception of how well you are playing)
3. exercise
4. social aspects
5. competing to win money or achievements (this sorta goes with score though)

[GolfLug]

26 minutes ago, GolfLug said:

'Great score' and  'great round' are synonyms.

Luck swings either ways and is a wash. I accept luck breaks with gratitude and bad breaks with with a shoulder shrug.

Above was a quick post on my phone so thought I say more.

This wasn't always the case. As a beginner back some 12 years ago I remember feeling good about a round if I lost 3 balls or less. Little victories count.

Also, I think a feeling of 'great' is also somewhat dependent on whatever your recent struggles are. So if you have had last 3 rounds of 'hitting it great' but scoring poorly then one more round of the same will not really feel great. You will expect more.

Similarly if you have had no feel for your swing last few rounds and have been hitting it terribly regardless of score, a decent ball striking day regardless of score can feel good. I am all about finding your romance wherever or in whatever you may, but definitely important that you find it..

 

 

 

[Lihu]

39 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

AAhhhh, now that the question is phrased clearly, I'll say it again.  I don't care how I get there, the score is what matters most.  Case in point, while in CA I got to play with @mvmac and @tristanhilton85, and shot 76 while hitting exactly 3 greens in regulation.  The full swing game wasn't horrendous, but it sure wasn't sharp, yet I shot a good score.  A couple days later, I hit nearly every fairway, hit lots of good irons, and shot 79.  This time of year, I'm happy with any score in the 70s, and those were the only two I had of the 7 rounds I played that week.  The 76 was more satisfying, simply because the score was better.

That's exactly what I was getting at in the OP. The 76 to me was a bit lucky, while the 79 was good playing and representative of what you can do on a mediocre round (which is pretty incredible in winter conditions, BTW). Obviously, you were satisfied with that score over your better playing on the 79 round.

So, I'm wondering if you should just be satisfied with the mediocre rounds that you can reproduce or if you should consider yourself a better player than your "mediocre" score? Because your handicap would reflect that better "lucky" player?

For worse players, if they are so focused on only score, they might even create a gimmick to "fool" themselves that they are "improving" or whatever?

 

33 minutes ago, GolfLug said:

Above was a quick post on my phone so thought I say more.

This wasn't always the case. As a beginner back some 12 years ago I remember feeling good about a round if I lost 3 balls or less. Little victories count.

Exactly, wouldn't you consider that a gimmick to make yourself feel better about the round that otherwise was probably not too good?

 

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Also, I think a feeling of 'great' is also somewhat dependent on whatever your recent struggles are. So if you have had last 3 rounds of 'hitting it great' but scoring poorly then one more round of the same will not really feel great. You will expect more.

Of course, it depends upon your skill level, but that's why I think it applies to golfers of all skill levels. You are where you are, but how do you react to a mediocre score with your best skill at play?

 

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Similarly if you have had no feel for your swing last few rounds and have been hitting it terribly regardless of score, a decent ball striking day regardless of score can feel good. I am all about finding your romance wherever or in whatever you may, but definitely important that you find it..

Again, I'm not thinking "bad" score, I'm thinking of a "run-of-the-mill" score. Would you rather have one of those great ball striking days with good putts, and your average score, or a great score from just plain luck?

 

I only got two answers from a + handicap( @Groucho Valentine ) and a solid single ( @DaveP043 ), who probably "skanks" balls like we hit our best shots anyway.

 

[rehmwa]

I don't focus on score.  If I'm playing good, my round has a certain feel to it.  That's what I assess.  (later I double check stats, Fairways Hit, Putts, GIR for the 'real' stuff).

If I have a round with that 'feel' to it - the score kind of takes care of itself. 

I've had that 'feel' I'm looking for maybe a dozen times in the last two years.  And quite a bit more lately.  For me, those are the rounds close to par.  Including my only two under par rounds of my life.  I want that feel, all the time.

Strangely enough, I'm such a bad putter, most of my best rounds don't have a lot of birdies.  Just good regulation holes, with good scrambling when I miss a green.  I still need to putt better, and do something with my approach shots to get closer to the hole rather than just on or near the green.  It's so close, tantalizingly close.  If only I could hit during rounds like I do at the range....

[Lihu]

11 minutes ago, rehmwa said:

Strangely enough, I'm such a bad putter, most of my best rounds don't have a lot of birdies.  Just good regulation holes, with good scrambling when I miss a green.  I still need to putt better, and do something with my approach shots to get closer to the hole rather than just on or near the green.  It's so close, tantalizingly close.  If only I could hit during rounds like I do at the range....

Yeah, I hear you. I find that the practice greens on public courses don't even come close to representing the kinds of breaks you'll find on a real hole. You can really fool yourself into thinking that putting is  easy and then find out on the course that you have absolutely no feel, at all. . .I'm convinced that once you learn to make a basic putting stroke that you can only really "get" putting by playing/practicing on the course.

The range could be bad because, again, you could just hit ball after ball and easily get into a groove that allows you to correct your faults.

[Fairway_CY]

Truthfully... score is the ONLY thing important to me when it comes to how I measure a round as a success or a failure.  

How I'm striking the ball... how I'm chipping... how I'm putting... it all leads to the score.  Whether I'm playing a money match, a fun match with some friends or a tournament... my ultimate goal is to post the lowest score I can.  

If I have to 'trick' myself into thinking about holes in relation to net par so that I'm not getting discouraged by a string of bogeys... I'll do it.  But at the end... the number of total strokes I took is what matters to me.  

I don't have my low net rounds listed in my signature.  They're my best overall scores.  The little number beneath my location that says index is and indicator of my ability to score as compared to others.  The lower that gets, the better I am.  The only way to get THAT number lower is to score lower.  

I hit a couple shots yesterday that I can look at as examples.  On one hole, I hit a thin 8 iron approach.  It ended up 3 feet from the hole.  Was I happy with the strike?  No.  Did that discourage me from writing down the 4 and circling it as a birdie?  Hell no! 

By comparison, I pulled a tee shot out of bounds later in the round.  I then hit a decent follow-up drive, a solid second shot and a pretty good approach and I two-putted for a 'second ball par' which went down on my scorecard as a double bogey.  Was I happy with the fact that I avoided the triple after the initial tee shot?  Yes.  Did that make my scorecard 2 strokes lower than it actually was?  Not at all.  

I can TAKE positives and negatives from each round... each hole... each individual hole but at the end of the round, the measuring stick is how many total strokes I took.  

I still enjoy my time on the course even when I shoot a 98.  I will always have a handful of shots I can go to bed thinking about that will give me hope for the next round.  I just enjoy my time more when I shoot an 85 and I have MORE shots I can go to bed thinking about.  

If I go out and play with a scratch golfer and he shoots 72 while I shoot 84... his score is lower than mine.  He beat me.  He's the better golfer and I want to get to his level some day.  That's the goal, anyway.  

I guess the short answer to the question is... I'd rather post an 86 like I did yesterday with 2 really poor holes that hurt my scorecard than post a 94 where I hit the ball solidly but just couldn't get the ball in the hole.

CY

[Lihu]

7 minutes ago, Fairway_CY said:

I don't have my low net rounds listed in my signature.  They're my best overall scores.  The little number beneath my location that says index is and indicator of my ability to score as compared to others.  The lower that gets, the better I am.  The only way to get THAT number lower is to score lower. 

Half the time. . .

 

7 minutes ago, Fairway_CY said:

I guess the short answer to the question is... I'd rather post an 86 like I did yesterday with 2 really poor holes that hurt my scorecard than post a 94 where I hit the ball solidly but just couldn't get the ball in the hole.

For a 14 a 94 is not really a "mediocre" score. I'd say that's near the top of your distribution but not your worst. . .

[Fairway_CY]

Just now, Lihu said:

Half the time. . .

True enough... but I'd rather post a bunch of 11.3 differentials and a few 9.4 differentials than post a bunch of 17.8 differentials and a handful of 12.6 differentials.  

Consistency is what's going to ultimately drive my scores down.  That's what's changed in my game so drastically in the last year is being consistent with keeping the ball out of trouble.  Early last year, I was averaging 4-5 penalties for 7-10 strokes each round.  Right now, I average 1-2 penalties for 2-3 strokes per round which is a BIG difference in my game and my scoring.  

CY