Keeping a Second, Imaginary Score

[ZANDER1994]

Something I often do when I golf is keep a second, imaginary score in the margins beneath my actual score on the card. I started doing this in the Fall because of how common it was for me to lose a ball in the leaves that frankly should have been easily findable. I'd take the required drop and penalty stroke for the lost ball, but then keep the second score just to keep track of what my score would have been had I found it. This helped give me a better idea of how well I was actually playing at the end of the round.

In the Spring I kept up with the habit, but it slowly turned into a way for me to keep my spirits up when my score was suffering for things that didn't feel as much in my control. For example, when I play blind at a course I've never played before, if the ball ends up in a hazard solely because I wasn't aware it existed (i.e. purposefully allowed myself to miss long being unaware there was a hazard on the other side of a green), the imaginary score doesn't count the drop. The imaginary score makes all those *gimme* putts I missed in a moment of laziness. The imaginary score also doesn't count a putt that missed because of all dead spots on a poorly maintained public course green. 

I do this solely to keep the game more fun and account for the "aw, come on" moments golf seems to have. I've noticed keeping track of the imaginary score in addition to my true score gives me a really good confidence boost walking up to the next tee because it's an easy way for me to think "look, you aren't playing bad at all without counting all that stuff". It gives you something to still play for on the days your score is looking bad and I recommend it to people whose games are easily shaken by a couple bad shots/holes.

[Hardspoon]

This is actually a good idea.  But...why not keep three?  A typical round for me would be:

• "Real" score: 91
• Imaginary score (eliminate bad breaks not in my control): 82
• Imaginary score (also eliminate good breaks not in my control): 91

Oh, crap...look at that!  😉

Seriously, though...after reading the first two paragraphs, I though this was the stupidest thing ever.

But...

1 hour ago, ZANDER1994 said:

I do this solely to keep the game more fun and account for the "aw, come on" moments golf seems to have. I've noticed keeping track of the imaginary score in addition to my true score gives me a really good confidence boost walking up to the next tee because it's an easy way for me to think "look, you aren't playing bad at all without counting all that stuff". It gives you something to still play for on the days your score is looking bad and I recommend it to people whose games are easily shaken by a couple bad shots/holes.

...this does make a bit of sense.  If you're using your "imaginary" score as a mental trick to keep your confidence up when things go off the rails, that's not really a bad thing.

However, if you're deluding yourself into thinking you're better than you actually are because your bad holes are due to bad luck or lack of course knowledge, you're probably hurting your own chances at improvement.

Just my two cents.

[billchao]

Not a fan of the idea. Kind of reminds me of this thread:

I'm not big on that either.

Just feel like this is a way to delude myself. I shot what I shot, both good and bad. I can't just ignore the bad stuff because of reasons but take credit for all the good breaks. Yea it was a total bummer that I airmailed that green on 14 and lost that ball, but I also pushed the approach on 16 and it bounced off the side of a mound and ended up 2' from the pin. How can I tell myself I didn't deserve that bad break on 14 but I earned the good one on 16?

[NM Golf]

I go beyond imaginary scores, I actually have an imaginary life where I am on the PGA Tour with a smoking hot imaginary wife, and I live in an imaginary mansion, and I drive an imaginary Ferrari, and I fly everywhere on my imaginary private jet.

 

[boogielicious]

I put this in the same category as folks who use the phrase, "bad data" in my line of work. There is no such thing. There is only data. Just because the result is not what you want, does not mean the data or score is bad. It is telling you something. Adjust what you're doing to correct. Work on things off the course to make yourself better. 

When I get a funny bounce that results in a no win situation, I know I will get one that benefits me later. They always balance out over time.

[dbuck]

I don't keep one, but I will review my actual scorecard as a "shoulda".

It is my way of reviewing my mistakes.  I should almost never make a double. If I make a double, I like to review the hole to see what my mistake was. Of course I can hit a bad shot; plenty of them. When I make a double, it is often the result of an attempt at a heroic(for me) recovery.

[Vinny Cap]

Yea this doesn't really sound like a good idea.  Play golf, log your actual score, no mulligans, breakfast balls, foot wedges or cheating and that's that!

My BIL usually drops a ball down when he shoots a bad shot and says "I wanna see what should of happened if I hit it good"  Drives me nuts and adds to how long we are out there.  Sometimes I say NO, take the penalty and lets move on!

I finally got him to stop the mulligan or two a side but that's only cause we play for beer so no cheating!!

Coulda, shoulda and woulda's don't really help you in life so why mess with your golf.  Go play and take your medicine.  You are what you shoot.

[Eric C]

I agree that there's value in recognizing and understanding where you missed opportunities during the course of a round, but the effort is perhaps better put towards tracking meaningful statistics versus an imaginary score that doesn't really fit the reality. Like an honest handicap, true learning comes from long-term statistical analysis based off of real data.  Not fake data.  If fake data was real data we'd all still be smoking Camel unfiltered cigs ... (I've never actually smoked a cigarette)

Your data won't help you learn where you need to improve, and I really struggle to understand how it boosts your confidence.  Done the right way, I bet you find that true statistical analysis and learning is more effective to keep you motivated and interested.

There are some that say that regret is the worst of all emotions - worse than fear, frustration, anger and sadness.  It's not productive.  Being proactive and doing something about improving your game, rather than rationalizing it, is far more conducive to the actual goal - which is change.

[phillyk]

I don't keep a secondary score, but I do go over in my head shots that I messed up and bad breaks.  Sure, my score is my score, but I do this to figure out how to improve and not make the same mistakes twice.  Maybe it was being overly aggressive off the tee or rushing my pre-shot routine for stupid reasons or hit a putt from off the green when I should have chipped, etc. Its only like a 5 or 6 stroke difference, at most.  I don't do this for every round, it's usually after a tourney of some kind.

[rehmwa]

What's fun for one person is just the opposite for another.  With that said, who am I to tell someone else how to play their (non-handicap, non-competition) rounds?

If doing this doesn't affect pace of play or result in cigarette butts or seeds on the course, then go for it.

[GolfLug]

Reminds me of a line I read somewhere - Reality is not sexy and sometimes you just want sexy. 

[Kloeshuman]

This reminds me what what my golf buddy and I call would've golf....we say....if that would've went straight I might've been on the green. Or.....if i would've hit it solid the first time....we always keep the real score no matter how bad it is. But we would've scored better had we not lost so many balls. 

Its would've golf....lol