Blow up holes....

[jmwils81]

My regular golf partner refers to me as Mr. Blowup......... Which needless to say is not a flattering nickname when playing with better golfers or new people.

 

Let me set the mood,

My normal round is coasting along maybe 11-13 holes flirting with anywhere from 1-4 over depending on how I am putting that day. Until either he mentions the inevitable blow up or I start to think "hey, maybe it won't happen this round." Then it happens, normally a blocked drive OB or a hook into the water followed up by a poor approach into maybe a greenside bunker or two and a great three putt. The dreaded snowman my nemesis.

 

I know that golf is 90% mental or something like that but I just can't seem to get past the disastrous blow up hole. I've read Harvey Penicks books and also Zen Golf, I just can't get past looking ahead and getting distracted from the hole in front of me.

 

So if you made it this far in my rambling my questions are these my fellow MGS comrades.

 

Does this affect you in anyway as well?

What kind of mental games or checklists do you do to stay focused?

Should I get an 8 tattoo to solidify my relationship with the snowman?

 

 

 

[wbealsd]

Does this affect you in anyway as well?  Yes, particularly when I'm playing well.

What kind of mental games or checklists do you do to stay focused? On courses I'm familiar with, I remember my low score for those holes, since I know I CAN par or birdie them.

Should I get an 8 tattoo to solidify my relationship with the snowman?  No, because then you'll always think about it and that can cause "snow-babies."

[Jmikecpa]

I have about two a round and they just kill me.  My goal for 2015 is to get these out of my game and get my index down to where I know it should be.

[Kenny B]

I don't typically have a blowup hole, but they do happen.  Usually due to bad choices.  I would say that a very common round for me is a bunch of pars, a bunch of bogies and throw a DB in there.  Birdies come in streaks for me.  I may play 36 holes and not get one, and then play nine holes and get 3.  

 

A blowup hole happens most on the longer holes when I try to hit a shot that is low percentage.  Depending on the course, it can be damaging.

 

Quick story:  I was playing with friends at the Wildfire golf club in Phoenix (Palmer course).  My buddy was keeping score so I wasn't paying any attention to my score, just having fun and probably a few beers, I don't remember.  On the 17th hole, a short par 4, I pull out my driver and proceed to pull it into the trees next to a wall by some houses.  My buddy said: "Well there goes your great round."  I had had a some birdies, but really didn't know what my score was.  My ball was on hardpan but I had a shot through the trees to the green with a bunker in line with the flag.  I hit a low iron shot that ran through the bunker, across the green, and in the rough behind.  Then I chipped it in for birdie.  Lucky? Yes.  I parred 18 for my first sub-par round of 69.  Haven't done it since except for my practice course.

 

I attribute this round to not knowing my score and therefore not having any thoughts or expectations about playing each hole.  Sure, everyone says that you play it "one shot at a time", but if you know your score, it easy to say all I have to do is hold it together for a few more holes.  Look at the pros who have lost tournaments when they "play safe".  Harder than it sounds.

[Mr_Theoo]

I have plenty of blow up holes a round. But I have a mentally that let's me forget the last hole when I have a bad hole.

[DanUsh]

Blow up holes are what kill me.  Maybe on a round that just destroys a good round or starts a complete unravel.  The worst part is the blow up can come any time for me.  It can start with the tee shot or happen ten feet from the green with a chunk and a three putt and boom a 7.  Sometimes it happens when I try to make the smart decision and it backfires.  I am hoping with the new year that i will have more time to focus on golf.  My hope is the more regularly i play and work to produce a more regular swing with give me the confidence to not think and play and hopefully get rid of the blow up holes.  

[Dhuck Whooker]

I have no answer for this as I experience the pretty much the same thing, a bad hole that pops up after playing consistently for 11-12 holes, almost always started with a bad tee shot and always ends with a horseshoe/360-lip-out-3-putt, with all of the various follies in between. (lost ball, ball OB, dreaded sh---k, chunky wedge-ball in pond, skulled bunker shot, fat bunker shot followed by skulled bunker shot, same for chip shots, etc.)

 

Usually my mind is not racing ahead to an image of me holding a very large check, nor I am engaged in any kind of ego-based thinking when the bad hole starts, it just comes, like the sun sets, whatever what I say or do, the sun is going set.

 

I guess if I had to assess my own situation, it would be putting the tee ball in play, as rarely do I have a blow-up if I can hit a normal approach shot, (no shots from forests, swamps, parking lots, etc.).  Not to say a blow-up is guaranteed to be averted when tee ball is in play, but the chances are greatly reduced.  An example of this is the long approach shot with a fairway wood, this can also begat disaster.

 

Post blow-up I usually feel as sense of calm, as this is expected, and my expectations have been met.   Sick isn't it?

 

I read a book called The Inner Game Of Golf  by Tim Gallwey, this subject is addressed, the expectation of a bad hole, as if we sub-consciously sabotage our round to feel comfortable.  I didn't agree with this premise, who wants to screw up a round, but then again, it seems like it fits me to a tee. 

[hckymeyer]

First a quick side note, if you are keeping a handicap don't forget about ESC (Equitable Stroke Control) when posting your round.  If you are a course 9 or less handicap you can't record anything greater than double bogey on a hole for handicap purposes.  So that snowman might not really count as a snowman.

 

http://www.usga.org/handicapping/articles_resources/USGA-Position-Paper-on-the-Equitable-Stroke-Control-Procedure/

 

Back to your questions...

 

Does this affect you in anyway as well?  I don't think there is a golfer on the planet who hasn't experienced the blow up hole.  Some more frequent than others, but even the pro's have them.  You need to understand that it happens to everybody and what sets good golfers apart from poor ones is how you recover from a bad shot or a bad hole.

 

What kind of mental games or checklists do you do to stay focused?  I have a short memory for bad shots.  When I hit one I tend to look at it as an opportunity to hit a great shot on my next one rather than letting it bother me too much and get down on myself.  There nothing quite as satisfying as the look on your opponents face after a great recovery shot.  In their mind they already won the hole and are counting your money.  So try not to focus on what just happened, instead think about the next shot and hit whatever will give you the best opportunity to keep the big numbers off your card.

 

Should I get an 8 tattoo to solidify my relationship with the snowman?  Only if you're a masochist.  Maybe trying marking your ball with an 8 as a test and see how it works out

[jmwils81]

I will check that book out Dhuck thanks!

 

Hckymeyer my course has a computer that we input our rounds into at the clubhouse. I would assume the software would account for that. I will have to check with the pro. They post a USGA Index list so again I would assume it would but, as always you know what happens when you "assume" you make an a$$ out of U and Me.....
 

[hckymeyer]

I will check that book out Dhuck thanks!

 

Hckymeyer my course has a computer that we input our rounds into at the clubhouse. I would assume the software would account for that. I will have to check with the pro. They post a USGA Index list so again I would assume it would but, as always you know what happens when you "assume" you make an a$$ out of U and Me.....

 

That's the same as my course, but only works if you input hole-by-hole.  If you just input a total score you have to do it manually.

[DaveP043]

>

 

I think that looking ahead stuff is a problem for every golfer, including me.  I have no idea how to consciously avoid looking too far ahead, but I know that my good rounds come when I focus on the shot I'm getting ready to hit, and nothing else.  I can't "make up" for a bad drive by trying to hit some miraculous recovery, that's just like pouring gas on a fire.  I strive to make the best choice from "right here", without thinking about what has just happened, or what might happen after.  If I DO have a bad hole, I'm not thinking about birdie on the next, I'm thinking about hitting the fairway.  Then I'm thinking about hitting my target on the green.  Sometimes that means hitting away from the hole, whatever the smart shot is.  The only thing worse than a snowman is a whole family of snowmen.  

As for the tattoo idea, I'm not sure its a bad idea.  Look at the "8", take a deep breath, and say to yourself "That's NOT going to happen today" before every shot.  Don't dread it, challenge it.  Then pick the right club, pick a SPECIFIC target, and execute.

[revkev]

I don't have big blow up hole issues - of course like any golfer I've had blow up holes - it happens.

 

See above for great advice - all you can do is figure out how to make the lowest score from where you're at.  I've found that the way my league scores - modified stableford - really helps - when you know that you can still pick off a point for a bogey you figure out ways to get out of jail and in position to make 5 rather than 6.

 

This same thing holds true after a bad hole - all you can do is shoot the lowest score possible from that point forward.

 

BTW I would never assume that the program adjusts your score - that's going to be your responsibility.

 

I meant to ask if your blow up hole is the same one - If that's the case just change it up on the hole - I had an issue with a particular hole earlier this year - not blow up, blow up but way too many doubles for a guy with my handicap - so I actually started laying up on the hole (a par 3) and then one time took out three wood and blew it over the green - that got it out of my system and I've been fine playing that hole straight up ever since.

[Kor.A.Door]

Tee shots and putting are what cause me to have bad rounds. If I have a blow up hole it usually ends with a three or four putt, lately I have been putting much better, but sometimes in trying to make the first putt, I run it by 4-5 feet and then miss the comebacker. The fix? Get out of my own way. It's simple, yet very difficult to do

[hckymeyer]

Tee shots and putting are what cause me to have bad rounds. If I have a blow up hole it usually ends with a three or four putt, lately I have been putting much better, but sometimes in trying to make the first putt, I run it by 4-5 feet and then miss the comebacker. The fix? Get out of my own way. It's simple, yet very difficult to do

Never be scared of the 5 footer coming back.  You just saw it go past the hole so you know exactly what it does coming back.

 

That said, I'm with you.  I am scared of the 5 footer coming back

[revkev]

Chart your putts for a while, most people have issues because they leave the ball short too often, not visa versa.  I think if you chart them you'll find that you leave far more 40 footers 3 feet short (a missable distance under pressure and when putting everything out) than 5 feet past..

 

The occasional one that's knocked by won't kill you, it's the litany of putts left short that are the issue - reduce those and scores go down.

[PlaidJacket]

I enter my own scores in the GHNN system after I get home from the course. My club will do it but I discovered about 1.5 years ago that that didn't input many of my scores. Therefore, I do it. And I just punch in my total score. I don't adjust for ESC. If I shot a round with a triple and a quad then so be it. It's what I shot. Wasn't the first time I've shot a round like that either. I've blown many a good round with a double or two or a triple or a quad. It happens. I think if I were to start adjusting my score down for all my mistakes then I'd certainly lower my handicap from an 8 to a 7 or 6.5. Instead of posting an 84 I'd post say...78. Or instead of a 78 I'd post a 74. By the stroke of a pencil. Not the stroke of a club. I've just pencil whipped myself.

[Kenny B]

Since I travel so much, I enter my scores through the mobile app.  If I do it right after the round, I find I don't forget to do it later when I get home.  If I do get a triple or worse, I adjust the score when I enter.

[DaveP043]

>

 

I can't tell you why the ESC was instituted, but its been a part of the USGA Handicap system since about 1973.  If your goal is to compete fairly with other people, I believe its essential that ALL of you follow the same rules.  If they're using ESC, and you're not, you're giving yourself an unfair advantage.   If you're interested in keep an unofficial handicap based on raw un-adjusted scores, I think that's just fine, but I strongly believe you should use the ESC adjustment for your USGA handicap posting.

 

I do NOT believe that PlaidJacket, or any other MGS member, would deliberately try to get an unfair advantage. However, that could be the result of an honest attempt to get a handle on the true state of your game by ignoring the ESC requirements.  I'd be interested to see what the difference would be between the two numbers. 

[hckymeyer]

I enter my own scores in the GHNN system after I get home from the course. My club will do it but I discovered about 1.5 years ago that that didn't input many of my scores. Therefore, I do it. And I just punch in my total score. I don't adjust for ESC. If I shot a round with a triple and a quad then so be it. It's what I shot. Wasn't the first time I've shot a round like that either. I've blown many a good round with a double or two or a triple or a quad. It happens. I think if I were to start adjusting my score down for all my mistakes then I'd certainly lower my handicap from an 8 to a 7 or 6.5. Instead of posting an 84 I'd post say...78. Or instead of a 78 I'd post a 74. By the stroke of a pencil. Not the stroke of a club. I've just pencil whipped myself.

 

 

>

 

I can't tell you why the ESC was instituted, but its been a part of the USGA Handicap system since about 1973.  If your goal is to compete fairly with other people, I believe its essential that ALL of you follow the same rules.  If they're using ESC, and you're not, you're giving yourself an unfair advantage.   If you're interested in keep an unofficial handicap based on raw un-adjusted scores, I think that's just fine, but I strongly believe you should use the ESC adjustment for your USGA handicap posting.

 

Completely agree.  Not adjusting for ESC and then playing any type of handicapped event is just sandbagging.  If you never play for money or in club events that utilize a handicap then by all means keep track however you would like.

 

 

[PlaidJacket]

Completely agree.  Not adjusting for ESC and then playing any type of handicapped event is just sandbagging.  If you never play for money or in club events that utilize a handicap then by all means keep track however you would like.

 

 

I don't sandbag. If I did my handicap would be a 12 or more. I could easily do that when putting in scores to GHIN. I just don't agree with blowing off bad holes. I had an 8. Ok then the worse I can input to GHIN is a 6 on a par 4. Just erase 2 shots.  I kind of see what you're saying by saying I'm sandbagging because I should have adjusted (ignored) my bad holes by not recording what I actually shot. The problem is when playing in the real world in a tournament and even in my normal Saturday game.... we count all strokes. I don't get to use ESC on the course. Seems to me my handicap is more representative of my game than handicaps that have been "adjusted" for ESC. Let's be careful about tossing around the sandbagger word. I've never seen a player sandbag down his handicap. Why would you? But that's pretty much what ESC prescribes. Tell me where I'm wrong and perhaps I'll change. ESC just seems wrong to me. You make a 10 during your round you pay the price. Most players I know want to always be improving their game. Lower scores = lower handicap.

[Kenny B]

So, I adjust my scores when I input to GHIN for ESC and I play in a tournament that you are playing in.  That is fair to me How?

[hckymeyer]

I don't sandbag. If I did my handicap would be a 12 or more. I could easily do that when putting in scores to GHIN. I just don't agree with blowing off bad holes. I had an 8. Ok then the worse I can input to GHIN is a 6 on a par 4. Just erase 2 shots.  I kind of see what you're saying by saying I'm sandbagging because I should have adjusted (ignored) my bad holes by not recording what I actually shot. The problem is when playing in the real world in a tournament and even in my normal Saturday game.... we count all strokes. I don't get to use ESC on the course. Seems to me my handicap is more representative of my game than handicaps that have been "adjusted" for ESC. Let's be careful about tossing around the sandbagger word. I've never seen a player sandbag down his handicap. Why would you? But that's pretty much what ESC prescribes. Tell me where I'm wrong and perhaps I'll change. ESC just seems wrong to me. You make a 10 during your round you pay the price. Most players I know want to always be improving their game. Lower scores = lower handicap.

 

We'll start with this...

 

Definition: "Handicap" refers to a numerical representation of a golfer's playing ability. The lower a golfer's handicap, the better the golfer is. A 2 handicapper is better than a 10 handicapper who is better than a 20 handicapper.

Handicaps are meant to represent a golfer's potential rather than simply be an average of a golfer's scores. For example, someone who averages 20-over-par likely won't have a handicap of 20; his handicap will likely be several strokes lower than 20 because of the way handicaps are calculated.

 

You're thinking is a little mixed up.  You don't sandbag down a handicap by using ESC.  What you are doing if actually getting an official handicap.  By NOT using ESC you are sandbagging your official handicap up.

 

Let's say we both shoot the same scores for 20 rounds, but I follow ESC.  I get a handicap of say 6.  You don't use ESC and get a handicap of say 9.  Now we play each other and I have to give you 3 strokes, even though we both shot the exact same scores.  That isn't fair.

 

I'm not calling you a sandbagger, but what you are doing is actually the definition of sandbagging.  It all comes back to how you are using your handicap though.  If you or your club uses official handicaps for any sort of game (club championships, determining flights in events, singles or doubles tourney's etc) then you have an artificially inflated handicap and you are gaining an advantage.

 

The bottom line is this.  Golf is a game of rules, some choose to follow them and some don't.  I have no issues either way, play the way that makes you happy.  Just know that since ESC is a rule for a USGA handicap, if you choose not to follow it then you don't have an official handicap.

[DaveP043]

>

 

I won't try to defend the ESC system.  I had thought that it was established in order to make handicaps more suited to match play.  Those high scores will almost always lose the hole, whether adjusted with ESC or not.  However, I can't find anything on the internet to back up my impression.  

However, the ESC is undeniably a part of the USGA handicap system.  If you refuse to use the ESC adjustments, your handicap is higher than it should be if you followed the rules.  In my mind, that gives you an unfair advantage over the players who DO follow the rules when posting their scores.  If you believe that the non-ESC scores are a better indication of your true ability, by all means keep an unofficial handicap on that basis.  But your official USGA handicap should be based on scores that follow the USGA handicap rules.

[PlaidJacket]

_{Alright then. Starting the next time I input to GHIN I'll adjust any holes that fall into the ESC parameters. As all can see I've never given it much thought concerning ESC. So, under ESC if a guy has a GHIN handicap of say a 4.6 or a 7 then the scores he's input to GHIN have been shaved. Even though he may have carded a 7, 8, 10 on a hole or two he just shaves off some strokes and turns in nothing more than a double bogie. With a scorecard totaling say 80 and you had one triple and a quad you shave off three strokes and record in GHIN a 77. Mind you... you didn't shoot that. I understand it's the Rules. Now anyway. And... so I'm not labeled a Sandbagger by anyone here or elsewhere I'm changing. Do I agree? Not really. For now I accept ESC and will make the necessary adjustments when I input my scores. For some reason it just strikes a nerve with me. These days everyone is looking for excuses and someone to blame. Kind of like test scores from students with a curve factored in because the subject is hard. I'm not blaming or suggesting anyone here that is following the rules by my comment or feelings. I clearly was not following the rules. But I will starting with my next round/score. ESC and all. And besides... it's the easiest way I know to lower my handicap. The stroke of a pencil.}

[Kenny B]

Yeah, I'm not real keen on it either, but that's the way HCP is calculated. I find it very hard to actually shoot my HCP.

 

I am also right on the border for ESC. Two years ago before my knee surgery I was down to 8.7 and all I could take on a hole was a DB. The pain before the surgery and play all last year was the reason my HCP went up to 13. It's slowly coming back down, now at 11, but that means I can take a 7 on any hole. Doesn't make any sense that a 9 HCP can only take a 5 on a par 3, but a 10 HCP can take a 7 on the same hole. But that's the rule.

[DaveP043]

I'd still be interested in seeing what the difference is between the true USGA handicap, and one calculated the same way without using ESC.  I may keep some records that way myself to satisfy my curiosity.  I have a feeling that my "better 10" scores will have had very few of those ESC corrections, so the effect may be minimal, but I'll never know without keeping the numbers.

[DaveP043]

Kenny, do you remember the old ESC?  Before about 1992 (I think), if you were 18 handicap or better, you could take a double bogey on a number of holes equal to your handicap, and no more than bogey on the rest.  For handicaps 19 to 36, change that to triples and doubles.  Essentially, the most you could post was NET 18 over par.  Here's an interesting article written a year or two after the system was changed to the current one:

http://www.popeofslope.com/guidelines/jury.html

[hckymeyer]

One more point to add to all the confusion that is ESC   It's based on your course handicap, not your actual handicap.  So before you figure out what your max score is you need to calculate what your course handicap is.  It's just another aspect of the confusing nature of golf and the rules, but you multiply your handicap index times the slope rating of the course (based of which tees you play) and then divide by 113. 

 

Or just use this handy calculator http://www.usga.org/playing/handicaps/calculator/course_handicap_calculator.asp

 

The GHIN app for mobile phones also has a course handicap calculator. 

 

If you are within a stroke or two of one of the ESC cutoffs it may effect what your max score is.  For instance my home course plays 1 stroke harder than your actual handicap from the tees we normally play.  So if I was a 9 handicap (max double bogey for ESC) I would actually be a course 10 at my course and my max score would be 7.

 

Don't you love handicap calculations??

[Kenny B]

hcky, hadn't thought about that! Hopefully, I will have to consider it when I get back to 9 this year.

 

Dave, I vaguely remember that there was a system in 1992, but that was my first year playing golf and was >35 HCP and didn't give a damn. It was interesting reading the article though. The old system is described somewhat at the bottom of the article. HCP 1-18 could take no greater than a DB; HCP 19-36 could take as many triples as their HCP exceeded 18. I guess no one could take a quad or higher. They said that the old system provided a truer representation of a golfer's HCP, except those at 35 and higher. I don't know any >35 HCP players that use GHIN anyway. The statement that I find funny is that a 1992 survey found that the old system was too complicated and only 25% used ESC correctly. It seems less complicated than the current system!

[Kor.A.Door]

To get a few thing clear on the Ghin system, if you are not inputting the ESC score then you are cheating. Let me explain, your hcp is your potential it is not your actual, one or 2 bad holes in a round does not show your potential, if you don't enter your score with ESC, then if you play any game using your posted Hcp, you are indeed cheating, using the ESC score helps protect the people you are planning against. If you are a higher hcp you can post. rememver that when you play in a game using your hcp, the hcp is adjusted using the slope based on which tee you play from, my hcp is 5.7, but when I play from the back tees on our course it is adjusted to 7 using slope of 139. It would absolutely tick me off if I was playing against someone who is not entering the proper score based on the USGA system,