The Real Game of Golf – You Ready To Play

[Golfool7]

This post was originated by Richard:

 

So Listen, I'm often reluctant to originate a post because I take a very different approach from 90% of the golf word that post here.

 

What's ironic is I grew up in golf and spent many of my years with the same beliefs as the rest the golfing world and golf industry on what it takes to improve your golf game.

 

** Side Note: I'm not talking about becoming a low single digit handicapper which takes a huge commitment and a lot of time. What I'm talking about is taking a difficult game for the average golfer and making it so much easier by attacking the game from a different approach than has been generally status quo forever.

From my experience as a golfer of 40 odd years and readily available golf statistics, the handicaps of average golfer still remain around “15” and haven't improved in all these years even with all the high tech golf equipment being produced and the latest and greatest training aids. Real golf improvement can be accomplished quickly and easily from one fundamental mindset:

 

The moment you change your mindset from trying to hit the ball as far as you can, to doing whatever it takes to score, you are on your way to shooting lower scores instantly.

 

There are a lot of good instructors out there, but most instruction remains on the range and very few golfers are taught how to get the ball in the hole with the fewest amount of strokes.

 

Everyone is looking for the next magic club that can take their game to the next level. If that was the answer why aren't golfers improving?

 

I will make a bold statement that I know will ruffle some feathers: If you can hit the ball 135 yards consistently in play, can chip the ball on a green from 30-40 yards and 2 putt most of the time you have what it takes to shoot in the 80's.

 

It's not currently happening because most golfers are using the same old methods to try and improve with the same old results.

[RoverRick]

There are a lot of golfers who have the direction and distance requirements in golf backwards. They think that the long game, the forcus is on distance, and then on the short game, they focus on direction. I started to become a much better golfer when I realized that off the tee and approach shots the focus should be on direction. Putting and chipping and pitching the focus needs to be on distance. You rarely three putt because you miss read the break by 5 feet. But it is easy to 3 putt if you leave it 5 feet long or short.

[GolfSpy WD]

Allow me to take the total opposite side here.

 

When I play golf, I'm looking to improve, not necessarily hit a low score. What I mean by this is I want to take those harder shots and hit the ball far during my casual games. I work the ball every chance I get even when I could just as well layup. I have played conservative rounds and have definitely scored better, but IMO it's much more fun to have the extra challenge or see your ball fly farther than your friends. In the long run my score should drop because of it, but this is factored by how often I get to play.

 

Now, if I were in a tournament, I would definitely play it much smarter, but since I play for fun, all I care about is maximizing said fun. Scores are overrated IMO.

[JBones]

There are a lot of golfers who have the direction and distance requirements in golf backwards. They think that the long game, the forcus is on distance, and then on the short game, they focus on direction. I started to become a much better golfer when I realized that off the tee and approach shots the focus should be on direction. Putting and chipping and pitching the focus needs to be on distance. You rarely three putt because you miss read the break by 5 feet. But it is easy to 3 putt if you leave it 5 feet long or short.

I completely agree with this statement. I primarily play 3Ws and Hybrids off the tee in tournament rounds, especially on the shorter courses; hell sometimes I hit 5 iron off the tee. For example, there is a 360yd hole that is a slight dogleg right and at about 290 it goes downhill and slopes towards the green. It is very tempting to hit driver to get within 30yds. I found going for it with the driver, I usually hit the green about 60% of the time, because there are a ton of trees on both sides of the fairway and around the green. If I hit a 5I off the tee, I'm in the fairway 99% of the time, leaving a 8I or 9I in, with which I hit the green about 90% of the time. Now, if I can get myself to play like this all time, instead of only in tournament rounds, I could probably get my handi under a 5.

[Matt Saternus]

The point about hitting the ball 135 is one my dad and I talk about occasionally, except that we say hitting it 150 means you can shoot near par.

 

Ultimately, I think wdgolf made the point that I would have: there's not a lot of mystery about how to shoot lower scores. The question is: what do you want to get out of the game? I know people who would happily shoot a higher score if they could out drive everyone on every hole.

 

I actually had a very similar conversation with a golf pro recently. He asked why I play and what I enjoyed about golf. I said I liked the challenge, shooting my best score, etc. He said that I was unusual; most people that he asks just like hitting the ball straight.

[Golfool7]

I'm not surprised at the reponses as some golfers obviously get more pleasure hitting some long shots or a great recovery shot from trouble. The interesting thing is some of these same golfers get mad when they shoot lousey scores but yet say they just care about out drivinh their buddies. I always thought the object of the game is "low score wins" and I would much rather take their money than out drive them. In fact it's even more fun beating them when they out drive you. This long hitting mindset is excatly why most golfers will always be high handicappers.