Do you keep close watch on your score during a round?

[Valleygolfer]

My playing partner is beside himself when he asks me where I am at in my round and I answer I don't know for sure. Yeah I have a rough idea but exactly, I often don't know. He remembers everything and knows his score to the "T" and is always fretting about where he is at score wise.

I tend to be oblivious to my score although I know when I am having a good or bad round or when I really need a birdie to help my score. It doesn't make me try harder knowing my score. I am always trying to shoot the lowest score possible regardless.

I guess I don't understand why he is up in arms when I tell him that I don't know "where I am at."

What say you?

[David in FL]

I don't "fret" about it, but I know exactly where I am.  With respect to my own score, and also where I stand in whatever match that we're generally playing.

[Piz]

I am aware enough to write down a correct score for each hole; but I never add it up until the round is over.  I do better when I don't know, at any given moment, where I stand relative to par.  The guys I play with, who obsess about it, always seem to fall apart late in the round.  

[Grass Destruction]

I'm the same way. I know if I'm having a good or bad round. And if it's a match play format I make sure to know where my/our score is relative to the other person/team. But if a playing partner is keeping score and asks me at the turn if they have the correct score, 90% of the time I have to go over it in my head before I can answer. I find using the app 'The Grint' is helpful in those situations cause I can just click on 'view scorecard' and verify the score for them. 

[dennyjones]

Usually I have a feel if I'm playing well but an actual score waits until the end.  

[Shindig]

I try to not do so.  In tournaments it seems common to compare nines to check that the marker and you have the same total at least.  I hate that, because I try to not know where I stand, but it is what it is.

Sometimes I know where I stand and the scorecard looks back at me.  A few weeks ago I was at 40 after the ninth hole.  I started thinking what my eighteen hole score could be.  Triple-triple on 10 and 11 dissuaded me that I might break 80 that day.

[Yukari]

When I started out playing and got really hooked on the game, I used to recall every shot and remembered my score even when I wasn't trying to.  But now that I have played for few years, I know how good/bad I am doing and know generally what my score is, but I don't know the exact score until I add them up at the end of the round.

[Hacker James]

unfortunately, I have not learned to not pay close attention. All the above also pertain. I might shoot a low score on the front and visualize doing the same on the back, but on a sub-conscience level puts pressure on me and I will usually have one or more blow up holes. 

[saevel25]

I intuitively know how many over or under I am. I don't really keep track exactly. 

[rehmwa]

it seems that the better I'm playing the less conscious I am about it.  Pars don't annoy me, so if I'm doing my job, I don't think about it at all.

[Golfingdad]

26 minutes ago, David in FL said:

I don't "fret" about it, but I know exactly where I am.  With respect to my own score, and also where I stand in whatever match that we're generally playing.

Exactly.  If I'm playing at all decently, then it's hard not to know where I stand because I won't be that far away from par.  If I'm playing poorly ... then, eff it, who cares anyway? ;)

[baller7345]

I can't help but keep a tally of how many over / under (very very rarely and usually for short amounts of time) I am.  I almost never write it down (playing partners take care of that), but I always know my score whether I want to or not.

[DaveP043]

I'd say I'm the same as @Golfingdad, I know without paying attention where I am if I'm playing well.  If I'm playing poorly, I can add it up at the end.  If I'm playing a match, I always know how the match stands, even if I don't know where my score stands.

[Valleygolfer]

I agree on matches. It is hard not to know where you stand because it is discussed throughout the round, but in casual rounds (which I mostly play) I tend to turn a blind eye.

[DeadMan]

Yes, I always keep track of my score and where I am. I enter my score into my GPS unit at all times, so I know how many over par I am at all times. I get that this could be pressure, but I got used to it pretty quickly, and it's good practice for when you need to make that par in match play, or on the final hole of a tournament, etc.

[InTheRough]

I always know where I am in relation to par.  I actually consciously started paying attention to my score because I don't want to be one of those people that is having a great round, but doesn't know their score, then when they figure out that they only need to par the last two holes to card their best ever score they freak out and end up triple-bogeying both holes.

[bkuehn1952]

As others have said, when playing well it is not important to know "how well."  When the wheels are wobblin' or have fallen off, I typically check so I can set a revised goal like "keep it under XX".

[billchao]

No. Sometimes I don't even add up my score after the first nine. I tell how well I'm doing by a general feel of whether I'm making a lot of bogeys and no pars or whatever.

I don't play in matches or tournaments so I have very little reason to keep tabs on my hole-by-hole score.