Building Off a Good Round

[billchao]

This past Monday, I played really well. I had been struggling with the longer clubs and the driver lately so beforehand I decided to move up a set of tees and hit irons to wide fairway spots. I executed well and matched my career low round on that course, which incidentally I hit using the same strategy.

I have a tee time set at the same course on Sunday. I'd like to score better. There are a couple of decisions I'd like to take back from Monday's round, but for the most part I think my scoring was primarily due to hitting the ball well. I can't assume I'll hit the ball just as well (or better), so I'm not certain if I'll be able to go back and repeat or even best my effort.

Anybody have any tips on how to build off a good round?

[DaveP043]

58 minutes ago, billchao said:

This past Monday, I played really well. I had been struggling with the longer clubs and the driver lately so beforehand I decided to move up a set of tees and hit irons to wide fairway spots. I executed well and matched my career low round on that course, which incidentally I hit using the same strategy.

I have a tee time set at the same course on Sunday. I'd like to score better. There are a couple of decisions I'd like to take back from Monday's round, but for the most part I think my scoring was primarily due to hitting the ball well. I can't assume I'll hit the ball just as well (or better), so I'm not certain if I'll be able to go back and repeat or even best my effort.

Anybody have any tips on how to build off a good round?

I wish I had some foolproof advice.  But the question comes, was there a reason that you struck the ball well?  Did you relax a little, because you weren't hitting driver?  If there was something you did differently, whether its a different thought process, a slightly different swing movement with shorter clubs off the tee, try to keep that going.  And if it doesn't work, its just golf.

[billchao]

9 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

But the question comes, was there a reason that you struck the ball well?

That's the question of the day. I don't know TBH. I'd like to think it's from getting back to practicing and this is how I should have been hitting the ball (my irons at least) this year if my season didn't get interrupted. But I'd also like to think that my driver/hybrid issues are from something simple I'm overlooking like ball position, so my perspective is colored by my own optimism.

14 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

Did you relax a little, because you weren't hitting driver?

Yes, for two reasons:

1. It's less stressful to play golf when I'm not constantly trying to navigate trouble.
2. Golf is less frustrating when I'm hitting the ball well.

These reasons aren't driver-specific. It's only recently (last 3 weeks or so) that I'm having these issues. Earlier this year I was hitting the driver pretty well and even when we played together last month, I was driving the ball much better than I am now.

I'm always going to be more relaxed when these two things are going for me.

26 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

If there was something you did differently, whether its a different thought process, a slightly different swing movement with shorter clubs off the tee, try to keep that going

In terms of mechanics, yes. Right about when I found a feel to hit my mid-irons better is when I started hitting hooks with the longer clubs. I'm not going to mess with that, I want to keep that going.

I also feel like I haven't been using the proper strategy to play to my strengths, which is something different I did this past round. For my handicap group, I've always been an above average iron player and a below average driver. But instead of playing the game by hitting mid-short irons to greens, I'm trying to play it driver-wedge and I'm just not good enough with the driver to play like that. I believe I lose more strokes hitting errant driver shots than I do from giving up distance off the tee by hitting iron.

42 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

And if it doesn't work, its just golf.

Yea. But it's also Thursday and I have lots of time to think about golf