Joe,
Now that I am shooting in the 80s I believe I can par any hole, in fact I get mad at myself whenever I bogey. Of course when you shoot in the 80s you must be getting more bogeys than pars, so I am mad at myself most of the time, and as a result my overall enjoyment is less than it should be. Even when I am playing better than normal, I always seem to have 1 or 2 blowup holes to keep me out of the 70s. Since I am getting older I am not sure I will ever get any better, so is there a mental strategy I can use to enjoy the game more?
Everett
Hello Everett,
You are not alone. Everyone thinks they can shoot better scores than they really do. We take pars for granted when we should appreciate that fact that a par is a successful score to feel good about, especially if we are not zero handicappers. Join some competitions where you have a chance to beat an opponent. Even if you have a mediocre score, it still might be better than your opponent’s score. If your score always suffers from one or two blowup holes, try some match play competitions where no matter how bad one hole gets you only lose one hole, not the entire round. If you are playing alone, you can still have your own match play competition like this – if you get a par you win the hole, if you get a bogey you lose the hole. For other people who shoot in the 90s or higher, you can change this to say if you bogey you win the hole, and if you double bogey you lose the hole. Whatever you do, make it fun. The fun is in the challenges, so even when you are not scoring well, create some new challenges for yourself and go after them.
Joe
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Joe,
With all the modern technology, why is it that the average golf scores have not improved over the years?
Raul
Hello Raul,
I have seen people spend a lot of money on swing analysis and launch monitors to get custom fitted clubs with the proper shaft with the proper kick point and matched with the right type of multilayer ball, and they still cannot beat the guy who got his clubs at a garage sale and who uses whatever ball is found in the pond. All the technology in the world is not going to lower scores without a good short game. You can hit a par 5 in two shots and if you three putt, you cannot beat the guy who takes 4 shots to reach the green and only needs one putt. Over the years, golf courses have gotten more difficult, especially those that brag about their stimpmeter readings like it is a prestigious macho thing to have the fastest greens. However, I think that detracts from your enjoyment of the game when you hit a good shot that ends up above the hole, but you have no chance to 2-putt because there is no way to stop a downhill putt near the hole when the stimpmeter has the same reading as the hood of your car. The answer to that is to stay below the hole, but then if you stay too far below the hole you again are risking a 4-putt if your first putt goes past the hole, and if the pin is near the front of the green, you are likely to miss the green altogether, which still might be preferable to have an uphill chip instead of a downhill putt if the slope is severe. Stimpmeter readings should stay in the single digits, otherwise scores are not ever likely to improve.
Joe
With all the modern technology, why is it that the average golf scores have not improved over the years?
Raul
Hello Raul,
I have seen people spend a lot of money on swing analysis and launch monitors to get custom fitted clubs with the proper shaft with the proper kick point and matched with the right type of multilayer ball, and they still cannot beat the guy who got his clubs at a garage sale and who uses whatever ball is found in the pond. All the technology in the world is not going to lower scores without a good short game. You can hit a par 5 in two shots and if you three putt, you cannot beat the guy who takes 4 shots to reach the green and only needs one putt. Over the years, golf courses have gotten more difficult, especially those that brag about their stimpmeter readings like it is a prestigious macho thing to have the fastest greens. However, I think that detracts from your enjoyment of the game when you hit a good shot that ends up above the hole, but you have no chance to 2-putt because there is no way to stop a downhill putt near the hole when the stimpmeter has the same reading as the hood of your car. The answer to that is to stay below the hole, but then if you stay too far below the hole you again are risking a 4-putt if your first putt goes past the hole, and if the pin is near the front of the green, you are likely to miss the green altogether, which still might be preferable to have an uphill chip instead of a downhill putt if the slope is severe. Stimpmeter readings should stay in the single digits, otherwise scores are not ever likely to improve.
Joe
