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

[Kalnoky]

1 hour ago, saevel25 said:

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

I've noticed better players do this ^^^

I fill out my scorecard every 3 holes but I don't dare tally my strokes when I'm playing. When I play I just try to get the first par. And then the second par. And so on. If I make 4 or more pars in 9 holes I have an idea I'm playing very well. But I don't math my exact score until the end. 

[Fourputt]

Don't make a point of it, but when I'm playing well, it's pretty easy to track for at least the first few holes.  After about the 5th hole, I just don't think about it any more.  I don't usually even add up the front 9 at the turn.  I know if I'm doing well or poorly just by how the round seems to flow, but I prefer to just be surprised by the actual score when I total it up at the end.

[golfer6258]

I am very competitive and ALWAYS keep track :)

PS hate when partners / buddies do not.

[Apoc81]

I always know where I am in relation to par, but it's not something I fret about. Hell, after 3 years away due to injury (though I saw a swing coach and practiced indoor on a gc2+hmt all winter at home), my goal for this year was to break 85 this season. I did that within a month of being back on the course, so I have nothing to stress about. 

 

Now, when I was young, and actually playing in amateur tournaments, I was obsessive about my score. Nowadays, with my new Game Golf, I don't even try to keep track of each hole. Just keep hitting the little white ball towards the hole. I know if i'm up or down, but i just look at my game golf stats afterwards to see which holes I bogeyed or birdied. 

Edited July 20, 2017 by Apoc81

[Rsuslow]

I typically look at it at the turn, and then if I feel I'm having a good round, I'll look at it around or after 16 to see what I need to do coming in to keep it a good round.

[Valleygolfer]

1 hour ago, golfer6258 said:

I am very competitive and ALWAYS keep track :)

PS hate when partners / buddies do not.

I kinda like that it grinds my playing partner's gears... I don't think I would say I knew, even if I did....

[WUTiger]

I have a pretty good sense of whether I'm tracking to break 90. I'll check at the turn, but then mainly focus on the hole in play.

[NCGolfer]

I always know where I stand but I try very hard not to think about chasing a score if I'm playing well.

One shot at a time.

[jsgolfer]

14 hours 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.

 

14 hours ago, Golfingdad said:

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? ;)

 

14 hours ago, DaveP043 said:

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.

What these guys said.

[scotth]

Over the years have been on every side of this thread.  When I started making real improvements in my game, I self sabotaged a lot of rounds.   I realized if I kept such a close eye on the total it lead to some awful back nines and closing holes.  

Noticed when I started just writing the score and concentrated on the next hole without adding the round went better for me.

I have an idea what I might be shooting, but try very hard to not to focus on it till after.....

[JGus]

I do a little of both, but am trying really hard to not count towards a final number, when I do this it backfires on me.  But as others have said, I usually know where I am at during a round, but just have to control not trying to calculate what I want to shoot, and just play instead.

[mcanadiens]

I don't know and I don't want to know. Being the tightly-wound sort, the less I think about the score, the better things tend to go. Even a the turn, I don't add up the front nine. Only on the 19th hole, with my post-round beer do I do the heavy number crunching.

If match-play ever starts being more of a thing for me, that would have to change.

 

[RayG]

Once you figure out that the: "I only need a bogey to break XX!!!" usually will lead to an epic f*ckup, you will tend to keep AWARE of your scores for each hole without dwelling on it. I usually have an idea of where I stand based on how I'm playing and will just drop in the numbers when I think about it a couple of times a round. I won't tally after 9 either, only when I'm done.

[Patch]

It just depends on the situation. If I am with my regular friends, and a few beverages might be on the line, then I watch mine and theirs. Our group has invented many creative ways of scoring over the years. 

If I am by myself, or with folks I don't know, then not normally. I have a vague idea what my count is, but it's not important. I just hit the ball. Go find it, and hit it again. 

Two, sometime 3 times a month, I will play serious rounds for handicap purposes. 

[DaveP043]

17 minutes ago, Patch said:

Two, sometime 3 times a month, I will play serious rounds for handicap purposes. 

I assume you know that ALL of your rounds are required to be posted for handicap purposes.

[dbrux]

I'm learning that checking my total seems to be the kiss of death, and needs to stop.

[Patch]

12 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

I assume you know that ALL of your rounds are required to be posted for handicap purposes.

You assume correctly. But why post a high scoring, goofy round, being played just for fun, that might inflate my hdcp? Why not just post scores that are actually represententive of my true ability. If I posted all my rounds, I could play in tournaments as say a 18 capper, but then play to actual 10. Would that not make me a sand bagger? It's a mute point for me anyways, since I only play child diabetes charity events anyways. I keep my serious rounds for myself. 

[onthehunt526]

I personally think if you're on top of it too much, you put unnecessary pressure on yourself, while not knowing you play too careless... Rough idea is close enough for me. 

During tournament play, since I usually am the guy who transfers scores to the big scoresheets, I'm usually glad, I only have to keep one fellow competitors scores, I do mine... But I really don't look, except after maybe 9 and 18.