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revkev

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In another thread I touched on this but I'm going to start it here and see if it sparks an interest. There are lots of ways to build a golf game. This thread assumes that the top .01 of all golfers have control of all aspects of the game and that their strengths and weaknesses are relative to that group.

 

For example Zach Johnson is called short. I'm taking him in a long drive contest against that guy at your club whom you think is a beast and I'm winning that bet so often that I'm enjoying a drink on the beach in Key West on you. Yes there may be an exception but of late we are seeing the so called average distance that we hit the ball at MGS creep ahead of PGA tour averages. I'm not calling BS on any single person here so don't enter this up thread defending your yardages, just be honest with yourself or you will hurt your own scores.

 

In this thread I'd like us to focus on our own games vs. the average guy on tour. The two danger areas for us in this assessment are driving, we lie about how far we hit the ball by an average of 40 to 10 yards depending upon handicap and putting, we think we are way better than we are because of gimmes among other things.

 

According to both Hank Haney and. Dave Pelz the largest differences between us and the folks who do it for a living are in the area of distance, approach shots to the green, 3 putt avoidance and up and downs.

 

In my game I would say that distance through the bag and approach shots over 150 (6 iron and longer) are my biggest holes, the things preventing me from knocking those last few strokes off the handicap. I think they go hand in hand. It I were longer and could make 7 iron my 160 club I would instantly up the percentages in that 150-175 range.

 

So for me this winter I will be working that distance range hard. Counting lay ups and Par 3s I will typically need to hit 15 shots from 150-200 in a round at the course that I play competitive golf at. My success rate on those shots is very low. My leaves from that distance are often not good because I'm trying to squeeze too much out of the shot and I also take the majority of my penalty strokes from that distance again I believe because I'm trying to hit a shot that's not worth the risk or trying to make it too good when I attempt it.

 

I also intend to work on my long putting and sand shots, the later is more difficult because finding good sand in an available practice bunker is tough at times.

 

Where are the holes in your game? How will you work on them to improve your scores?

Taylor Made Stealth 2 10.5 Diamana S plus 60  Aldila  R flex   - 42.25 inches 

SMT 4 wood bassara R flex, four wood head, 3 wood shaft

Ping G410 7, 9 wood  Alta 65 R flex

Srixon ZX5 MK II  5-GW - UST recoil Dart 65 R flex

India 52,56 (60 pending)  UST recoil 75's R flex  

Evon roll ER 5 32 inches

It's our offseason so auditioning candidates - looking for that right mix of low spin long, more spin around the greens - TBD   

 

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Great topic. I used to think I could drive the ball 280. Mostly because according to the yardage marked on the tee signs at my home course, I WAS hitting it around 280. I'm mid way through my 50's and I figured it had to be wrong. It was. I've since found out that all the yardages are incorrect on the tee signs. The owner is correcting it next season.

 

I average about 250 with the driver. Some days I get quite a few around 260. The problem isn't distance for me, it's accuracy. I'm too often out of the fairway. My other major hole is putting. I don't know why because I have very good hand/eye coordination. I can see the line I want but, I seem to miss it way too often. These two things keep me from scoring in the 70's 95% of the time.

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I don't think my game has any "holes" in it....it does seem to be a loose mesh that lets things continually slip through.  Meaning....no area is weaker than another.....but no area is stronger either.  I drive like a 12, I hit irons like a 12, and I putt and chip like a 12.  I do think the area I could most quickly save strokes is pitching/chipping inside 30 yards. I rarely 3 putt, but rarely 1 putt either.  If I can slip a pitch inside 5' my odds of making par increase dramatically.

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Great topic. I used to think I could drive the ball 280. Mostly because according to the yardage marked on the tee signs at my home course, I WAS hitting it around 280. I'm mid way through my 50's and I figured it had to be wrong. It was. I've since found out that all the yardages are incorrect on the tee signs. The owner is correcting it next season.

 

I average about 250 with the driver. Some days I get quite a few around 260. The problem isn't distance for me, it's accuracy. I'm too often out of the fairway. My other major hole is putting. I don't know why because I have very good hand/eye coordination. I can see the line I want but, I seem to miss it way too often. These two things keep me from scoring in the 70's 95% of the time.

Could it be that you are miss hitting your putts? I found that I had lots of trouble hitting my putter solidly and so didn't make my share of longer putts and had too many three putts. I started looking at the hole when I was putting and that solved the problem for me.

 

I think miss hit putts are a very under rated part of missed putts. Sounds silly but you rarely here about it.

Taylor Made Stealth 2 10.5 Diamana S plus 60  Aldila  R flex   - 42.25 inches 

SMT 4 wood bassara R flex, four wood head, 3 wood shaft

Ping G410 7, 9 wood  Alta 65 R flex

Srixon ZX5 MK II  5-GW - UST recoil Dart 65 R flex

India 52,56 (60 pending)  UST recoil 75's R flex  

Evon roll ER 5 32 inches

It's our offseason so auditioning candidates - looking for that right mix of low spin long, more spin around the greens - TBD   

 

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I agree with those who say that the average golfer thinks he hits it farther than he does and this misperception is usually attributable to mis-marked tee box signs, combined with a tendency of the golfer to only measure his good shots, while ignoring the bad ones.  They think, "Well, I hit that one 285, so I must average 285".  

 

I wish we had some Game Golfers in this blog who could tell us how their perception changed once they started to mark every shot.   I bought a Bushnell Hybrid rangefinder that has both GPS and laser in one unit.   It has a "shot" button that you press on the tee and it will give you a GPS to any drive, regardless of how far off line you hit the ball.   This is very convenient and no math or reference to an inflated scorecard is required.  

 

The first eye-opening realization this produced was the shocker that my home club's scorecard and tee markers are flat-out fictions, always over-estimating yardages, sometimes as much as 30 yards.   How they get away with this I don't know, because they are supposedly checked by the state golf association.  But I've checked my laser against the gps and they were both close, while the scorecard said 30+ to my readings.

 

The second thing I noticed was how much more the wind affects my shots than I thought it did.   My home course has a canyon wind that reverses direction every day.   It adds or subtracts a full 20 yards to drives.   I didn't realize it affected shots that much and I thought those big downwind boomers were mostly me!   When I tracked all the shots, I saw that my short up wind shots brought the averages right back to the norm.

 

Thirdly, seasonal changes in turf are more important than I thought.   All my big drives come in the spring and that's because out here in Utah, the ground is firm and fast until about August when watering and aeration allow the turf to soak and get soft and the grass gets quite lush.   So August thru October are our "short" seasons and drives go probably ten yards less on average.  

 

Another contributor to the misperception is that most golfers count roll-out, not carry.  I confess I'm guilty of this with certain clubs too.   I don't really know how far my 3-wood or 3 iron carries, because I don't ever use them in "must carry" situations.   The 3 iron is a driving iron off a tee that pipe low and fast in the fairway for maximum roll out.   I know where it ends up, not where it first bounces. 

 

Conversely, I know exactly how far each Scor wedge will carry and have tested that carry hundreds of times both from rough and fairway using laser and GPS.   So either those two technologies are voodoo science, or I know how far they carry.   

 

I find that when I make an error with an approach iron, it's usually because I got lazy judging the true position of the flag and relied only on GPS.   Example, the other day I saw a white flag and my GPS said 185 to center green.   Perfect, I pulled my 6 iron that goes 185 and hit it perfectly.   Looked like I stiffed it to 5 feet.   I get to the green and see that the "white" flag was actually a sunbleached blue flag at the back of the green and I'm 15 yards short!   If I had lasered it, I would have pulled one club more.  

 

Add to this confusion the fact that the knucklehead kids who plant flags at my local courses often don't know what should be a blue or red flag position and if they are lazy and run out of the right color, they'll stick any color flags in any position.   If you don't account for that, you're in for a rough day.

 

Wow, that's a long tangent I just went on.  Back to the question, what are my holes?   Right now it's putting.   My lag putts are good, and my overall putts are good, I guess.   But my wedges are putting me in scoring positions so frequently now that I think I should be getting my birdies than I am.   I'm just not chipping as close as I need to, nor sinking enough of those 5 to 15 footers.

bag - SunMountain Synch with Ogio Synergy X4 cart
driver - :callaway-small: Optiforce 440, Paderson Kevlar Green stiff 46.5"
fwoods - :taylormade-small: Jetspeed, 3HL regular
irons - :taylormade-small:  Speedblades 3-8, 85g stiff steel, 2 up
wedges - :edilon-small: Scor 40, 45, 50, 54, 58
putter - :ping-small: Ketsch 35" slight arc, SuperStroke 2.0 mid-slim
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The middle part of Mrak's post is why I always use my trustee bushnell. I like the range of the GPS but my eye site is not great and it's hard for me to discern where the pin is in the third of the green marked by the flag color. I know within a yard with my Range finder and can always phone a friend if I want to the back or front numbers. (The guy I most frequently play with has a gps.)

 

The GPS feature that I miss is the measure feature but I will have him do that occasionally just to check in and make sure I'm hitting them the distance that I think I am.

 

My distance rant was not meant to out anyone here. You know how far you actually hit the ball or you better know if you want to shoot the lowest score possible. So long as you know and plan your game accordingly you're fine regardless of what you might write in a forum. If you don't know or lie to yourself or are always playing your maximum yardage that's one of your holes.

Taylor Made Stealth 2 10.5 Diamana S plus 60  Aldila  R flex   - 42.25 inches 

SMT 4 wood bassara R flex, four wood head, 3 wood shaft

Ping G410 7, 9 wood  Alta 65 R flex

Srixon ZX5 MK II  5-GW - UST recoil Dart 65 R flex

India 52,56 (60 pending)  UST recoil 75's R flex  

Evon roll ER 5 32 inches

It's our offseason so auditioning candidates - looking for that right mix of low spin long, more spin around the greens - TBD   

 

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After looking at my stats, I need to hit par 3's and fairways a ton more.

"I'd play a ladies set of clubs if it allowed me to break par."

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I don't think my game has any "holes" in it....it does seem to be a loose mesh that lets things continually slip through.  Meaning....no area is weaker than another.....but no area is stronger either.  I drive like a 12, I hit irons like a 12, and I putt and chip like a 12.  I do think the area I could most quickly save strokes is pitching/chipping inside 30 yards. I rarely 3 putt, but rarely 1 putt either.  If I can slip a pitch inside 5' my odds of making par increase dramatically.

 

 

Reflecting on this comment I suspect I chose the wrong topic title.  If your game is consistent across the board with someone at your level what would you work on improving first to move up a level.  So if you're a 10 across the board what area would you work hard on to bring it up to the 5?  If you're a 5 to scratch? 

 

We all have holes or we would all be scratch.  My bad in introducing the topic.

Taylor Made Stealth 2 10.5 Diamana S plus 60  Aldila  R flex   - 42.25 inches 

SMT 4 wood bassara R flex, four wood head, 3 wood shaft

Ping G410 7, 9 wood  Alta 65 R flex

Srixon ZX5 MK II  5-GW - UST recoil Dart 65 R flex

India 52,56 (60 pending)  UST recoil 75's R flex  

Evon roll ER 5 32 inches

It's our offseason so auditioning candidates - looking for that right mix of low spin long, more spin around the greens - TBD   

 

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No apologies needed for introducing the topic, we should all take an honest look at our games at times if we expect to improve.  For me, the biggest "hole" is consistent ball striking with my mid- to long-irons.  I drive it pretty straight (10 of 14 fairways most days), long enough (230 to 240 carry).  My putting and short game are acceptable, and I'm a good wedge and short iron player.  My longer irons are less consistent, and I know it has to do with some deep-seated feeling that i have to HIT these clubs, as opposed to swinging them like the rest.  Having recognized that, I've spent most of my practice time this season working on consistent tempo through all the clubs.  Often i switch back and forth between woods, long- and short- irons, trying to swing each one with the same tempo.  It must be working to some degree, I've played the best golf of my life over this season.  

I've only had one golf lesson (from a real pro, at least) in my life, and I always return to a couple of non-technical things he said.  First, he told me that my good shots were pretty dang good, so the thing I need to do was to improve the level of my worst shots.  The second thing, after hitting a couple of sweet long irons, he asked me if I wanted to hit the next one better.  Of course I said YES!!, to which he replied "Wrong answer."  He said if I hit every shot for the rest of my life just like the last couple, I'd be an outstanding player.  The root of it all, to me, is consistency.  Consistent approach, consistent tempo, consistent effort, will (hopefully) produce consistent results.  

As far as what BK in Texas said, his issue may not be a specific problem shot as much as in consistency in each of the aspects of the game.  In my mind, lack of consistency is a "hole".

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Reston, Virginia

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As far as what BK in Texas said, his issue may not be a specific problem shot as much as in consistency in each of the aspects of the game.  In my mind, lack of consistency is a "hole".

That's a pretty fair analysis really.  Mostly decent shots mixed in with some crappy ones and some fantastic ones.  My personal goal for this summer (Winter to you Northern folks :P )  is getting up and down 50% of the time inside 40 yards.  That alone would bring me down to around a 10. I guess that's where I am going to focus improvement on...at least at first.

MENTOR, L4 COACH & TRAINER  FIRST TEE GREATER HOUSTON
HDCP: 8.3  (GHIN: 3143312)
In my bag, April 2023
:titelist-small: TS3 Driver & 4 Wood Hzrdous Smoke Shaft (Stiff Flex)
:titelist-small: TS2 Hybrids  Mitsubishi Tensei Shaft (Stiff Flex)
:mizuno-small:  MP-59 5-PW; KBS Tour (Regular Flex)
:titelist-small: SM8 Wedges

EVNROLL ER2  Putter
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:Clicgear: 4.0 Push Cart (I'm walking 9 outta 10 rounds!!)

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For me it's not one thing or another is a shot here or there, but a couple things that I need to work on during the winter golf time is chipping and putting, and the other is the "miss", by this I mean, making sure that if I have a miss, it is in the proper place, ie. short side bunkers, bunkers on par threes, play a shot that keeps you out of trouble if it's missed, overall just learn to eliminate parts of the course that brings in trouble, I think if we compare our game to the tour pro, a huge difference is that they will eliminate an entire side of the course, and they always plan for where they want to miss.

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My hole is in my head.

 

Bottom line, is if I go through my routine, I play well.  I have the shots, I just get lazy.

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For the person who asked about game golf... I've used it a half dozen or so times. Thought I drove the ball 245 found out it's mostly in the 225 range. The big difference was the bombs I thought I hit. I've so far hit only a few drives that have gone over 275, where I thought I hit them 300 ish. My irons also go a lot longer than I thought. Never thought I hit a 5 or 6 iron as far as I have.

 

On a different note: the weakest part of my game fluctuations. Distance would be awesome... but mostly from irons and hybrids. I wish I could hit iron from 200 plus, but I'm usually reaching for a wood/hybrid. Other times my short game is brutal or putting. It just depends on the day and how I'm playing that day for which part I'd like to change. Honestly, more distance would be awesome.

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Wedges: :vokey-small: 52° 56° and 60°.
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This is an interesting topic for discussion.  It is sometimes funny how our egos get the best of us and inflate our swing speeds and yardages.  I have been guilty of this a lot in the past and then I got on a Trackman and realized that I don't swing a driver 120 Mph plus.  I play a lot of golf with guys where I live and just about every week someone tells me that with my distance I would do well on the Tour.......which is a load of BS.  First, there is a heck of a lot of difference between a scratch amateur and a Tour pro; any tour pro.  Second, I am a lot longer than most of the guys that I play with but in reality I am just about as long as David Toms when I am having a good day.  Most people only remember the 5 iron they hit from 185 down wind to five feet rather than the normal 5 iron that they hit 165.  I generally tell people that I am playing with to not try and gauge a yardage off of the club that I hit since I am choosing a club to hit a specific shot and from 165 I could be hitting anything from 8 iron to 5 iron.  

 

My game these days is just a mix of good and bad holes that generally leads me to a few under to a few over at the end of the day.  Within that there are days that my 72 could have easily been 66 and my 68 could have just as easily been 76.....just a function of not practicing a lot and playing once or maybe twice a week.  Distance is always good, iron play is normally solid and I lose most of my shots from 75 yards and in mostly due to lack of practice.

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I was prophetic yesterday, fortunately my round was rained out after 10 but I shot 41 on the front. I hit 5 greens and 5 fairways which sounds like a good ball striking round and you'd think the putter let me down because I took 18 putts.

 

But it was my middle to long iron game that let me down. Missed green on 2 from 140, 50 feet on 4 from 155, 65 feet on 5 from 185, missed green, short sided, from 175, missed green short sided from 185.

 

Two of my three putts were from those terrible approach shots and I failed to get up and down on those three other misses.

 

I need to work on that 150-200 yard game.

Taylor Made Stealth 2 10.5 Diamana S plus 60  Aldila  R flex   - 42.25 inches 

SMT 4 wood bassara R flex, four wood head, 3 wood shaft

Ping G410 7, 9 wood  Alta 65 R flex

Srixon ZX5 MK II  5-GW - UST recoil Dart 65 R flex

India 52,56 (60 pending)  UST recoil 75's R flex  

Evon roll ER 5 32 inches

It's our offseason so auditioning candidates - looking for that right mix of low spin long, more spin around the greens - TBD   

 

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This is an interesting topic for discussion.  It is sometimes funny how our egos get the best of us and inflate our swing speeds and yardages.  I have been guilty of this a lot in the past and then I got on a Trackman and realized that I don't swing a driver 120 Mph plus.  I play a lot of golf with guys where I live and just about every week someone tells me that with my distance I would do well on the Tour.......which is a load of BS.  First, there is a heck of a lot of difference between a scratch amateur and a Tour pro; any tour pro.  Second, I am a lot longer than most of the guys that I play with but in reality I am just about as long as David Toms when I am having a good day.  Most people only remember the 5 iron they hit from 185 down wind to five feet rather than the normal 5 iron that they hit 165.  I generally tell people that I am playing with to not try and gauge a yardage off of the club that I hit since I am choosing a club to hit a specific shot and from 165 I could be hitting anything from 8 iron to 5 iron.  

 

My game these days is just a mix of good and bad holes that generally leads me to a few under to a few over at the end of the day.  Within that there are days that my 72 could have easily been 66 and my 68 could have just as easily been 76.....just a function of not practicing a lot and playing once or maybe twice a week.  Distance is always good, iron play is normally solid and I lose most of my shots from 75 yards and in mostly due to lack of practice.

 

 

This is spot on.  It seems to me that every good player at some time or another gets the, "Have you ever thought of being a pro?" question.  Certainly that's not happening to me at my age but when I was younger and could move it out there - relatively speaking - I did - that's interesting too because in many ways I'm a better player now but that's a topic for elsewhere.

 

The truth is that for the most part people don't set out to lie about how far they hit it.  They go off of their longest shot rather than a reasonable expectation or their determination of distance is made by a faulty assumption, ie. the card says 400, I had 130 in, I must have hit it 270.  But of course the tees were up or the pin was up or the hole was mismeasured or a dogleg was cut and the 270 was actually 240.  That happens all the time.  Likewise with irons, it's hard to see it hit and bounce forward, you've hit 7, it's carried 141 but rolls out on a firm green or off of a firm fringe to 149 and so you're hitting it 153 because that's what you had to the pin and it was relatively close. 

 

Rick's comment made me smile - I miss having you around more frequently buddy.  I hope the new job is going well.

Taylor Made Stealth 2 10.5 Diamana S plus 60  Aldila  R flex   - 42.25 inches 

SMT 4 wood bassara R flex, four wood head, 3 wood shaft

Ping G410 7, 9 wood  Alta 65 R flex

Srixon ZX5 MK II  5-GW - UST recoil Dart 65 R flex

India 52,56 (60 pending)  UST recoil 75's R flex  

Evon roll ER 5 32 inches

It's our offseason so auditioning candidates - looking for that right mix of low spin long, more spin around the greens - TBD   

 

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The trouble with "holes" is that they move around on me!

 

I'm just coming off a streak where I put together a number of rounds in the 60's.   On Sunday I shot a 78, which came on the heels of a couple of 75's, so something went south.   What was it?   My fairway woods develop a new "hole".   I botched all 4 attempts with a 3 wood on Sunday which turned easy birdies (with eagle attempts) into regulation pars.   Everything else was pretty normal.  

 

So it's back to the range to work on the fwoods.

bag - SunMountain Synch with Ogio Synergy X4 cart
driver - :callaway-small: Optiforce 440, Paderson Kevlar Green stiff 46.5"
fwoods - :taylormade-small: Jetspeed, 3HL regular
irons - :taylormade-small:  Speedblades 3-8, 85g stiff steel, 2 up
wedges - :edilon-small: Scor 40, 45, 50, 54, 58
putter - :ping-small: Ketsch 35" slight arc, SuperStroke 2.0 mid-slim
ball - :titelist-small: ProV1x

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Its interesting that only Lefty has mentioned decision-making as something to improve.  He put it as a discussion of "misses", deciding where the bad places are, and selecting a shot to try to avoid them.  I think I usually make good decisions, but every once in a while I'll realize that I've just been a complete bone-head.  It might be taking an aggressive line from a bad lie, or trying to squeeze a few extra yards out of a short club instead of using the right one, but I still make mental mistakes even after 40 years of playing the game.  Occasionally the modern devices will add to the problem.  How often have I lasered a front pin and tried to hit it that exact distance, when I should have played an extra 5 yards to be sure to avoid the bunker just in front?  Unfortunately, decision-making isn't something you can work through by extra practice, or drills, or anything else I know of.  I guess I'll just keep working on tempo and solid contact.  

:titleist-small: Irons Titleist T200, AMT Red stiff

:callaway-small:Rogue SubZero, GD YS-Six X

:mizuno-small: T22 54 and 58 wedges

:mizuno-small: 7-wood

:Sub70: 5-wood

 B60 G5i putter

Right handed

Reston, Virginia

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Its interesting that only Lefty has mentioned decision-making as something to improve.  He put it as a discussion of "misses", deciding where the bad places are, and selecting a shot to try to avoid them.  I think I usually make good decisions, but every once in a while I'll realize that I've just been a complete bone-head.  It might be taking an aggressive line from a bad lie, or trying to squeeze a few extra yards out of a short club instead of using the right one, but I still make mental mistakes even after 40 years of playing the game.  Occasionally the modern devices will add to the problem.  How often have I lasered a front pin and tried to hit it that exact distance, when I should have played an extra 5 yards to be sure to avoid the bunker just in front?  Unfortunately, decision-making isn't something you can work through by extra practice, or drills, or anything else I know of.  I guess I'll just keep working on tempo and solid contact.  

Decision making is a huge part of the game, but as you said it is not something that beating balls on the range that you can solve.  The simple rule of thumb that I have is simple....if the decision will take par out of the equation then it is not worth the risk.  The other part to consider is that you need to play to your strengths and hitting greens is a must for my game at least.  Most players will make a heck of a lot more 50 footers than they will hole a wedge from 80 yards.  The main point is that you need to limit the damage as much as possible, even if you make a bad choice.

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Here's a good example of the decision making I was talking about, last week hole number 17.

 

It's a slight dogleg left, fairly long, it's the number 2 hcp hole on the course, for good reason.

I hit my tee shot pulled down the right towards the woods, I actually hit it pretty hard, but pulled it, I got a break it hit a tree on the edge of the woods and came back in play, I had a downhill lie, in the Bermuda rough, I was about 170 from the green, here's the "hole", smart play is knowing that it's a hanging lie, so it will shoot to the left on me, take a 7 iron aim a little right and play the shot 10-15 yards short, and try to make par that way. That was the smart play, now, here's my play, pull 6 iron, aim center of the green, swing hard, ball goes left and finds the very difficult green side, short sided deep bunker, I get there and have no shot, it took 3 swings to exit the bunker, and 2 more to get in the hole, needless 7 that should have been no more than 5. Must play smarter.

Lefties are always in their Right Mind

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Holes? You mean those things in the ground the ball is supposed to go in? Yeah, that's my problem. Too many strikes of the ball before it falls in one.

 

Seriously though, I've played twice in 3 months. I've bought 2 sets of irons and haven't put them together yet. Matter if fact I have another set to out together and finish for someone here. They just need assembling. But with the work schedule lately, I barely have time to sleep. Much less practice or play. Last Saturday was the first time out in 5 weeks and it wasn't great. I didn't score well because I didn't get in a rhythm. Putted well, 1 or 2 putted every hole except 1 (4 putted it lol). I'd love to see what I could do if I had the time to practice or play, which seems to be less and less annually. Got off last night at 11:00 pm and tonight at 7:45. I've got a lot of OT with no end in sight either, unless I get the management job I interviewed for.

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Driver: TaylorMade M2 (2017) w/ Project X T1100 HZRDUS Handcrafted 65x 
Strong 3 wood: Taylormade M1 15* w/ ProjectX T1100 HZRDUS handcrafted 75x
3 Hybrid: Adams PRO 18* w/ KBS Tour Hybrid S flex tipped 1/2"
4 Hybrid: Adams PRO 20* (bent to 21*) w/ KBS Tour Hybrid S flex tipped 1/2"
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SW: 56* Scratch Tour Dept(CC grooves) w/ Dynamic Gold Spinner
LW: 60* Scratch Tour Department (CC grooves) w/ Dynamic Gold Spinner
XW: 64* Cally XForged Vintage w/ DG X100 8 iron tiger stepped
Putter: Nike Method Prototype 006 at 34"

Have a ton of back-ups in all categories, but there are always 14 clubs in the bag that differ depending on the course and set-up. Bomb and gouge. Yes, I'm a club gigolo.

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After further thought I have a major problem with my game.  For two months, we have played skins.  Skins like any match play game, it does not matter what your score is, you just have to be less than anyone else.

 

With 8 or 12 guys playing, generally a birdie or better is required to win the hole.  I have won two or three holes every time we have played this and 4 or 5 birdies around is not that big a deal.  However, over this time my handicap has skyrocketed, because 5 or 6 double bogies are the norm also with a smattering of bogies thrown in.

 

Last Friday we played skins.  I played horribly for the first 12 holes but then won a few holes coming in and ended up alright even though I shot an 45 on the front 9.

 

Saturday, in preparation for an upcoming tournament, we played quota.  All players are assigned a quota based on their handicaps and we use a modified Stableford System to get points.  So the object for me at least is to make a par, and make a bogey at worst.  I ended up with a 73.  This is my best round in several months.

 

The only thing that really changed was my attitude.  I did not have near as many birdies, but then I was not trying to hole a 70 foot birdie putt either.  Well, I did once and ended up with a four putt double bogey.  Fairways and greens and get the next shot close.  When I hit a bad shot, the focus changed to salvaging a point, and oddly enough I often ended up still making a par.  Well, twice I made par after hitting my third shot with the goal of just getting bogey.

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Holes?

I have all kinds of holes!  Depends on the day and playing partners.  

  1. I could certainly benefit from more distance off the tee and will work on that this winter, but at my age, I don't expect a large increase.
  2. Short game is pretty good now that I have added the SCOR wedges, but I still lose strokes because I still leave the ball too far from the hole.
  3. Putting is OK, except when I have to transition to Bermuda greens as I did this last 2 weeks in AZ.
  4. Focus, probably my biggest hole; I can hit several good shots in a row, but then when a bad shot happens, I can't recover on the next hole.  It's worse if I am playing with people that irritate me (happened several times in AZ).

Since my wife will be laid up this winter with a new knee, I will spend much practice time on exercises, both physical and mental!!

We don’t stop playing the game because we get old; we get old because we stop playing the game.”

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Its interesting that only Lefty has mentioned decision-making as something to improve.  He put it as a discussion of "misses", deciding where the bad places are, and selecting a shot to try to avoid them.  I think I usually make good decisions, but every once in a while I'll realize that I've just been a complete bone-head.  It might be taking an aggressive line from a bad lie, or trying to squeeze a few extra yards out of a short club instead of using the right one, but I still make mental mistakes even after 40 years of playing the game.  Occasionally the modern devices will add to the problem.  How often have I lasered a front pin and tried to hit it that exact distance, when I should have played an extra 5 yards to be sure to avoid the bunker just in front?  Unfortunately, decision-making isn't something you can work through by extra practice, or drills, or anything else I know of.  I guess I'll just keep working on tempo and solid contact.

 

We all think we hit it longer than we do and that we are smarter than we are.

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SMT 4 wood bassara R flex, four wood head, 3 wood shaft

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Srixon ZX5 MK II  5-GW - UST recoil Dart 65 R flex

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It's our offseason so auditioning candidates - looking for that right mix of low spin long, more spin around the greens - TBD   

 

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We all think we hit it longer than we do and that we are smarter than we are.

Well I guess that makes me half-assed because when I hit it in the rough, I always start looking for it well short of where it is. But I certainly do think I am smarter than I am, which probably makes me a dumbass. :)

We don’t stop playing the game because we get old; we get old because we stop playing the game.”

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Well I guess that makes me half-assed because when I hit it in the rough, I always start looking for it well short of where it is. But I certainly do think I am smarter than I am, which probably makes me a dumbass. :)

+1

 

It is interesting to me that very few people whom I know or play with think that they make tactical errors on the golf course. I do, not enough that I would normally consider it a hole but there are those times where I choose the wrong shot in a chip/pitch/putt situation, try to hit a shot that isn't the highest percentage play or have a lag in concentration while going through my preshot routine and don't create a mental image of what I'm wanting to do.

 

I'm not in other people's heads but I see tons of errors in the chip/pitch/putt category and generally speaking the higher the handicap the more frequent the errors. I'm not talking about skulls and chunks I'm talking about choosing the option that is doomed to mediocrity or has the highest percentage of failure before the shot is even struck.

Taylor Made Stealth 2 10.5 Diamana S plus 60  Aldila  R flex   - 42.25 inches 

SMT 4 wood bassara R flex, four wood head, 3 wood shaft

Ping G410 7, 9 wood  Alta 65 R flex

Srixon ZX5 MK II  5-GW - UST recoil Dart 65 R flex

India 52,56 (60 pending)  UST recoil 75's R flex  

Evon roll ER 5 32 inches

It's our offseason so auditioning candidates - looking for that right mix of low spin long, more spin around the greens - TBD   

 

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For the higher caps, I don't think it's a lack of judgment when choosing a particular shot over another. I believe they honestly just don't know which shot is better in each case. As the caps go down, there's less of that and then we make the wrong decision because we have more shots to choose from and the lack of concentration enters the picture. I know I do that.

We don’t stop playing the game because we get old; we get old because we stop playing the game.”

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Well, speaking of holes in your game, my was definitely confirmed to be putting yesterday as I had 41 putts for about an 87.   3 putted 7 times in the first 11 holes, three times from about 10 feet.   Horrid, horrid day when my drives were fair, fairway woods were perfect, long irons very good, and my Scor short irons were rock solid.  Just could not putt.   Greens were not very fast and not very difficult.  No one to blame but myself.

bag - SunMountain Synch with Ogio Synergy X4 cart
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irons - :taylormade-small:  Speedblades 3-8, 85g stiff steel, 2 up
wedges - :edilon-small: Scor 40, 45, 50, 54, 58
putter - :ping-small: Ketsch 35" slight arc, SuperStroke 2.0 mid-slim
ball - :titelist-small: ProV1x

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Well, speaking of holes in your game, my was definitely confirmed to be putting yesterday as I had 41 putts for about an 87.   3 putted 7 times in the first 11 holes, three times from about 10 feet.   Horrid, horrid day when my drives were fair, fairway woods were perfect, long irons very good, and my Scor short irons were rock solid.  Just could not putt.   Greens were not very fast and not very difficult.  No one to blame but myself.

Couldn't you just throw your putter in the lake after a round like that! I had one of those going last Tuesday when the rain came and stopped the fight.

Taylor Made Stealth 2 10.5 Diamana S plus 60  Aldila  R flex   - 42.25 inches 

SMT 4 wood bassara R flex, four wood head, 3 wood shaft

Ping G410 7, 9 wood  Alta 65 R flex

Srixon ZX5 MK II  5-GW - UST recoil Dart 65 R flex

India 52,56 (60 pending)  UST recoil 75's R flex  

Evon roll ER 5 32 inches

It's our offseason so auditioning candidates - looking for that right mix of low spin long, more spin around the greens - TBD   

 

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