How do you score when a facet of the game isn't working?

[JBones]

I played a couple rounds last week, while I was travelling for work and saying "I didn't have my best stuff" is an understatement.   I played two extremely difficult courses, but each day one part of my game was WAY off, leading to scores of 87 and 88.  The first day I played a 7600yd 78.5 rated course.  I sprayed my driver everywhere and my long to mid irons were just as bad.  My short game was solid though, which is the only reason I broke barely broke 90; take away the penalty strokes that my long game gave me and I play to my handicap there.  The second day, the course was a little shorter, but every green should have had a clowns mouth.  My long game was solid, both driver and irons, but my putting was ATROCIOUS; I shot 87 with 43 putts.  On one hole, I went from 6' birdie attempt, to 6' par attempt, to a made 2'er for bogey.  The greens were crazy undulated and rolling at about a 15; I swear the ball started going towards the hole during the backstroke.  

 

So, what do you do when a part of your game is off?

 

In hind sight, the first day, I should have just bunted my way around, but thats hard to do whey you are playing 470-480yd par 4s.  The second day......what the heck am I supposed to do when the putter is the worst club in the bag?

[BK in TEXAS]

 The greens were crazy undulated and rolling at about a 15; I swear the ball started going towards the hole during the backstroke.  

.....what the heck am I supposed to do when the putter is the worst club in the bag?

Ha!  That's funny :-))  It's also a good question.  I've had those days and I either roll with it or do something drastic.  Last time it happened I thought of Rick and switched mid-round to instinct putting.  I've also left the putter in the bag and used a 5 iron to putt.  The instinct method worked far better BTW.

[Kenny B]

My long game was solid, both driver and irons, but my putting was ATROCIOUS; I shot 87 with 43 putts.  On one hole, I went from 6' birdie attempt, to 6' par attempt, to a made 2'er for bogey.  The greens were crazy undulated and rolling at about a 15; I swear the ball started going towards the hole during the backstroke.  

 

So, what do you do when a part of your game is off?

 

In hind sight, the first day, I should have just bunted my way around, but thats hard to do whey you are playing 470-480yd par 4s.  The second day......what the heck am I supposed to do when the putter is the worst club in the bag?

 

I prefer fast greens to slow greens; but fast and undulating is very tricky.  It's the reason I always spend about 45 minutes on the putting green at an unfamiliar course, mostly focusing on speed.  What can be bad though is when the greens on the course are nothing like the practice green.  I hate that.

 

I really don't focus that much on the line of a putt.  I find that if I spend too much time on the line, then I usually get the speed wrong, and that will kill me.  When the greens are that quick, I always play more break than I read because the tendency is to baby the putt which usually means it breaks sharply before the hole.

[revkev]

Bones all that you described sounds to me as if it were the early season blues - you weren't having a consistent issue. 

 

Regardless I know that its "Every Shot Counts" Heresy to write this but I've found that if my putting and chipping are in order I can hold the score card together regardless of what else is going on.  That could be because I don't have a long game issue that causes penalty strokes, just missed greens and some loss of distance with miss hit drives (I really don't get so wild that I'm hitting OB after OB).  So long as I'm holing putts either because I'm holing them from a distance or chipping it close - I can shoot a respectable number.  It's why I practice the short game during lunch breaks or on my way into work at least twice a week from April through December.

[jbil8802]

I find that I struggle on courses that I don't play as often or am totally unfamiliar with. Being 100% sure of my intended line off the tee and staying focused on the target rather than swing thoughts is a huge factor for me. Same goes with knowledge of greens.

[westy]

I chuck in those odd rounds in the mid 80's - can't grind it into a high 70's. Mind you 5 years ago they'd have been mid 90's!

 

If the drivers cold, you can try the 3 wood - tough on long courses, but in play is something. But when you have 40+ putts I don't know what your supposed to do then.

 

I wouldn't fret though, it's not April yet and better to chuck in some bad rounds now than in June.

[BIG STU]

Usually for me it all goes to hell in a hat basket at one time. I can get wild some off the tee. usually my best part of my game is the wedges and putter but sometimes it goes too. I have to put a check on myself because after a bad hole or two I tend to get too aggressive and if I am not striking it good or putting good it can lead to more trouble. I just have to settle myself down take a deep breath and try to grind the day out

[RookieBlue7]

Usually if one thing is off, my temper dictates the rest gets off as well.

[BIG STU]

Usually if one thing is off, my temper dictates the rest gets off as well.

Back when I was younger my temper well dictated the rest of the round also. You will get over the temper as you age and mellow out trust me you will

[RookieBlue7]

Back when I was younger my temper well dictated the rest of the round also. You will get over the temper as you age and mellow out trust me you will

Pretty sure it's genetic. My uncle I play with in my normal foursome is in his 50's and still gets pissed lol

[markb]

How do you score when one facet of your game isn't working?   My answer is -- if it's putting, you don't. 

 

I shot a 3 over on sunday, 3 bogies and 15 pars.   Drives were great thanks to the Paderson, irons were all decent, chipping fair to middlin.   I had 9 makeable birdies, missed all of them.   30 total putts, but I holed nothing over 4 feet, all were chip up an downs.   As putting goes, so goes the round.

[Jmikecpa]

I try to keep it in play and hit full shots as much as I can since the full swing rarely goes on me.  My struggles are normally from 100 yards and in with the wedges and off the tee; rarely putt poorly so at least I have that going for me.

[markb]

Yeah, I guess I didn't putt BAD, just sunk nothing.   Odd thing about my course is it's March and the sucker is baking.   Looks like high August.  Will be 80 tomorrow.   Rock hard greens tending to brown.  I hit some good approaches that all skidded long and that means above the hole and on my course, that's death.

 

Paderson set another personal best, that's 3 total and I've only played it about 5 times.   Weird thing is that it does really well INTO the wind, downwind it's fine but not surprising.

[RoverRick]

I am embarrassed to reply to this thread because I was with you and I did not fair any better than you did. Of course, we were playing a course that was way long and conditions were not good.

 

But normally, I go to partial swings. This is the hallmark of my game. I actually play complete rounds where I do not make more than a 3/4 swing. I practice this with all my clubs and know how far to hit them. I can hitting a 4 iron 140 yards and stop it on the green, or a 3 wood 160. I do this when the wind gets to high but also when my back is not feeling good, or I don't have good timing.

 

This does very little good when I am playing a course that is too long for me like last week. On those days, I simply try to make up for it with the putter. If the putter is also misbehaving, I decide to keep it below 100 and have fun.

 

Like a couple of weeks ago when the wedges, more specifically the wedge shafts, were causing me problems, I simply resigned myself to shoot a high score and have a good time.

[sp0rtsfan86]

Played today and a month ago would have been 180 degrees different. My driver and putting were off, but irons and wedges were really awesome. 

 

If my putter is off, forget about low 80's. Forget about my doing real well it's about surviving that day. 

 

On the other hand I can get by if irons are poor with a decent driving day or viva versa. Basically, it comes down to my short game- that goes, and it's a long day. 

 

Think it's just about finding out what part of your game is most important, hoping you have a good day and working around the other things when they go bad.

[Sluggo42]

You grin and bear it. Sometimes, those days just happen. And the funny part is that quite often, the next day everything works and you throw down a 74. Flog away.

[Donnierparker]

When my game isn't it's best, I grip down on every club. It helped me get through many of rounds playing knockdowns all day.