This game is half luck

[SiberianDVM]

Don't you think there is a large luck percentage in golf? Today on #8, a 381 yard uphill, then down hill par 4, I hit a terrible tee shot. Missed the center of the club face, and the ball only went about 180 yards. My approach shot was blind, and after checking to make sure the green was clear, I swung a 19* hybrid with only the hope of getting the ball close to the green.

Whe we get to the green, my ball is sitting pin high, 4 feet from the pin. Best shot I hit all day, and I didn't see 90% of it.

Just luck, I tell you.

[golfman2760]

I agree there is a lot of luck involved in the game

but with time and practise, that luck turns into skill and consistancy

[Slingblade61]

I had a 12 foot curling putt that went in for a birdie today....lucky.

I had a wickedly hooked drive that landed in a patch of medium height, clumpy elephant grass, that wasn't lucky.

The second shot was an uphill lie, blind, about 230 out, I pured a 5 wood over a 60 foot oak tree and landed on the green, that was lucky.

I'd rather be lucky than good.

[SiberianDVM]

with time and practise, that luck turns into skill and consistancy

Yeah, I agree. I was just trying to justify my crappy golfing this weekend.

Here's another excuse: They were having a tournement at my course this weekend, and they moved the white tees from 6100 yards to 6700 yards, blues from 6800 to 7200, and golds stayed at 7400.

This was a major shock to my system, especially on the par 5s, where the tee was a good 40 yards farther back than I was used to. I was having to hit driver, 3wood from fairway, and full wedge to get to the par 5s.

[Pa Jayhawk]

For me it is about 90% luck. Whether it be good luck or bad luck. Those tap in putts are where my skill lies. Although I am reading through Hogans 5 fundamentals again for about the third time. So when I get done, it will probably only be about 80% luck, that is until I forget all the fundamentals again and go back to my old ways.

[golfman2760]

Originally Posted by SiberianDVM

Yeah, I agree. I was just trying to justify my crappy golfing this weekend.

Here's another excuse: They were having a tournement at my course this weekend, and they moved the white tees from 6100 yards to 6700 yards, blues from 6800 to 7200, and golds stayed at 7400.

This was a major shock to my system, especially on the par 5s, where the tee was a good 40 yards farther back than I was used to. I was having to hit driver, 3wood from fairway, and full wedge to get to the par 5s.

that excuse is valid imo

you may add that to my thread of 101 excuses why I played bad.

[halifax_golfer]

unless you play on absolutly perfect greens, then My opinion is that a lot of putting is also luck... Ever hit what felt like a wickid put, going right at the hole only to hit a peice of sand, or ball mark that makes it jump off line?...

I'd say that green imperfections will cause you to miss at least 5 out of 10 perfectly stroked putts.. Just my opinion and my sometimes what I tell myself and my GF when we miss puts that really should have dropped.

Chris.

[warbirdlover]

No, as Yogi Berra once said: "Ninety percent of this game is half mental"

[Scotty01292]

I agree... There is quite a bit of luck involved... I played this course in a school match, that I rarely ever play. We'd been 3 down after 4, but came back to 2 up after 15. Halfed 16. Lost 17. 1 up going down the last. I tee my ball up, and my partner's telling me to just hit one down the middle and not do anything stupid... Anyway... I swung, and hit a brilliant shot... Best shot of the round... But it was on the wrong line. I had aimed too far right! I heard the ball hit a tree, and something that could have been a car, and think... Oh shit! Better take a provisional...So my partner tees a ball up and hits it down the fairway. We're coming up the fairway, playing this ball, when one of the other players (they're all crowding round the green... we were last out) shouts over "Who's playing a Srixon 3 AD-333?", while standing on the green looking at a ball. So I think... That's my ball! I walk up, and it sure is! My original ball that hit a tree and maybe a car, and it ended up 2ft from the flag for a tap in... Needless to say, we won with an eagle.

[SiberianDVM]

I played 9 holes yesterday evening.

I hit every fairway with driver or 3 wood; on the par 3s I was 1 for 2. I just picked a line and the ball went there. Magic.

I hit 7 out of 9 greens.

I had 2 3-putts. Switched to lead hand low on putter; I like it but need some more work.

Shot a 40, my best ever.

Now to see if I can repeat this weekend.

[smitty]

There certainly does seem to be a fair amount of chance that influences the outcome of certain golf shots. Plus, I often wonder to what extent biorythms or other physiological influences affect how we play from one day to the next. One day the game seems easy; the next day, you just can't seem do anything right, and swinging the club just doesn't feel right.

I have also had the experience on many occasions where I am hitting the ball quite well, but I just don't get the breaks, e.g., a bad bounce here or there can add a lot of strokes. Alternatively, you flat out skull a shot, and it skips through the bunker, hits the pin and stops a foot from the hole. Go figure.

Then again, I have often found that the more I practice, the luckier I seem to get.

[mont86]

Originally Posted by warbirdlover

No, as Yogi Berra once said: "Ninety percent of this game is half mental"

Yogi has some great quotes, another one is, Asked how many pieces he wanted his pizza cut into 6 or 8, He said six because I can't eat eight.