My hat's off to you.

[JEFF4i]

I'm going to get some video of my swing this week, post it up.

Really my favorite time for my swing is when I just practice a lot, get out to the course, and it's no-nonsense. I just swing easy and smooth, and the ball goes. Makes for easy rounds.

 

[Stanters]

I also think that some players allow one bad shot to cost them 4 or 5.

A missed 3 footer that's still on your mind on the next tee for example. Or a shot into trees that results in an attempted miracle rather than a dose of medicine. Having the ability to erase what has already happened and concentrating on what lies ahead is a big factor in shooting good scores.

I see so many players fall apart after one bad hole - head down, temper frayed they have no chance of turning things around.

If I'm not playing well I just try and get on with it - find my tempo and keep smiling. My club throwing days are over and so are most of my 90+ rounds.

 

[king hacker]

It occurred to me yesterday, after my round, how much respect I have for you guys who can play this game at a high level. Breaking 90 regularly means you're playing the game quite well. Breaking 80 regularly, which I know some of you do, is something to be quite proud of. And you few who can break par? I can only imagine.

It occurred to me yesterday that, overall, I was getting off the tee well, striking my irons well, chipping well (for me), getting out of the occasional bunker well, and putting well - and I still shot a 94. Granted, there was a 10 in there, so it could have (should have) been a 90. And I missed a few 6-footers. And I chunked a couple of wedges. And it was a 6700 yard, 131 slope course, so a 90 wouldn't have been a terrible score (again, the 10 skewed everything). But the fact remains that there a lot of you who routinely shoot in the low 80s, or even the 70s, on a course like that.

And that is remarkable to me.

Despite whatever meager talent I have, despite the lessons, despite all the good advice from fellow Shottalkers, I realize that when I'm "on my game", that could mean that I've shot 82, or it could mean 90. The difference is really just a few bad shots. To experience a round where the difference between a 73 and an 78 is a few missed GIR's? I don't see myself ever getting there. Maybe I'm being self-defeatist. Maybe I felt so good about my ballstriking yesterday that I have to accept that a 94 (or a 90) on a difficult course is just a good round for me.

Whatever it is, I take my hat off to the good players on this board. I hope you all realize how good you are.

I've tried to break down my game like this as well.Then I realized that I couldn't because I had as many lucky bounces as I had mistakes.Just try and avoid the ten and your score will be acceptable.I just look at my scorecard to judge my game and the would'a could'a should'a all goes out the window.

 

[JEFF4i]

What I do whenever I go out is use one scorecard for myself(even when playing with friends).

Put on the card: Score, Fairways, Greens, Putts

 

[Bama Duffer]

I agree with Eracer. The scores some of you guys shoot amaze me.

I've been playing for 30+ years (although consistently only the past year or two), but my best round is 84 and my best 9 is 39. Never can put two good nines together.

I've started keeping track of my rounds this summer by putting a dot in the upper left corner of each score block for a hit fairway and a dot in the upper right corner of the same block for each GIR. I leave the blank below open for number of putts.

The game is weird, though. The day I shot my low score, I couldn't hit my driver. Probably 5 shots were in the trees. But my punch shots were on the green and I had 3 birdies (almost a hole in one.)

 

[Hybrid-Heaven]

What I do whenever I go out is use one scorecard for myself(even when playing with friends).

Put on the card: Score, Fairways, Greens, Putts

I use a circle for green, a minus in front of the number for fairway, and the number of putts in the lower right-hand corner. No need for a second score card.

 

[JEFF4i]

I use a circle for green, a minus in front of the number for fairway, and the number of putts in the lower right-hand corner. No need for a second score card.

Something like that works too. It's been about 5 years(and I've only been playing for 6), since I've played with a friend and kept score for them.

 

[jc@bg]

Eracer,

You mention down farther in the thread that you should practice more and play more. The greatest thing about golf is that I'm still learning something nearly every round--at least reinforcing something that I'd learned before but had let slide--and I'd hate to tell you how many rounds and practice sessions I've had in 40 years of golfing. Quite a few years in there (including the past several) in which I've played 100-150 days, and that's in a northern state! I probably would have learned these things a long time ago had I been smart enough to opt for formal training, but alas, when I *really* started learning was when I became good enough to see the minute differences between doing it "this" way and "that" way. I'll never be on a tour or, very possibly, win any kind of tournament, but I play well enough (5 birdies in a 71 my last round) to be gratified that I've achieved something for my hard work. Besides, golf is great fun whenever we hit a single "good" shot, and there's always more to look forward to.