How'd you play?

[Jim Shaw]

1 hour ago, cnosil said:

I think your athletic background plays a huge part in your putting prowess.  Sounds right on the anxiety or the changing stroke aspect.  IMO, pulled or pushed putts from those distances fall back on fundamentals:  bad aim, you rolled your hands/forearms, held them open, tried to watch the putt and opened up, etc.   Face angle tolerances are pretty wide from that distance.

 

I don't think I am changing my thought process.  As part of the post put critique I am simply asking myself: did I do what I wanted to do and like you, it isn't something that requires action after a single hole; it has to be a pattern over a few holes.  The biggest non fundamental critique is about read and am I reading the speed correctly.   so bascially the post putt critique could be as simple as "did what I wanted to do" which to me aligns with a no putt post shot critique.    I completely get that you are play serious competitive golf which is why I direct my questions to you.   I don't play at that level but always want to play my best in my Sunday or company league play rounds.  

ahh, another reason I don't do post putt critique may seque into what you are saying, I have mishit putts, missed my line and speed and oh, guess what, they go in... so I will stay with my process for now, at least until Thursday as I have a session with my putting coach lol..

[Jim Shaw]

2 hours ago, chisag said:

 

... Thanks and always interesting stuff amigo. I am lucky and may sound like a cocky azz sometimes talking about putting but I just have excellent natural spacial awareness. It is the reason I was a good QB and 3 point jump shooter. It came natural for me. Yes it took lots of work and practice to fine tune natural spacial ability but I had a natural head start. Since it is a natural gift, I don't second guess myself and just trust my intuition.

... I would add this is for putting only. I am like everyone else and struggle with the full swing and have gone through changes over the years. I played 4 rounds under par last week with my swing feeling effortless and then the next 2 rounds were a struggle and everything about my swing felt a little off. The entire round was a struggle and I spent most of it getting up and down. But for me putting is so simple just rolling a ball a specific distance on a specific line and I have never changed anything about my putting stroke in 40 years of playing. Since I have never changed anything, I find it easy to be repeatable with stance and stroke, although like everyone I have days where everything goes in and others where I seem to burn the edges and putts just don't fall.  But my speed is always consistent and I next to never 3 putt because I have a tap in from most every distance. Again, I think I am just lucky to have a natural feel for speed. 

... One of my pards is a streaky putter and often strokes a putt and immediately says "Pulled it" and starts walking after his pulled putt before it even gets to the hole. I don't know what goes on in his head to do that other than anxiety or working on his stroke, which he changes from time to time. But I just think that should never happen. It is a short stroke from under 6 feet and you may miss it but with thousands of stroked putts on your carpet at home over and over again and I don't see how a pulled or pushed putt can happen from such a short distance. 

i do that when I am not happy with my putting, it is anxiety and lack of confidence with me, I see that a bit when playing social games, interesting I rarely see it in competition. Although I do see it on TV once in a while, Speith comes to mind.

[chisag]

1 minute ago, Jim Shaw said:

i do that when I am not happy with my putting, it is anxiety and lack of confidence with me, I see that a bit when playing social games, interesting I rarely see it in competition. Although I do see it on TV once in a while, Speith comes to mind.

 

... Amen. You obviously have a competition mode as most serious competitors do. I think putting requires complete trust of both your technique and your read. I never have a problem with the prior as I trust my stroke 100% but sometimes a very tricky read, especially when seemingly breaking different ways from either side of the hole, some doubt creeps into my mind. I do my best to ignore the conflicting information and just go with my gut, but sometimes it is a difficult endeavor when the opposite sides of the reads are on your shoulders like little devils saying "It goes right!" and the other "Don't listen to him, it goes left!"  

[Jim Shaw]

7 minutes ago, chisag said:

 

... Amen. You obviously have a competition mode as most serious competitors do. I think putting requires complete trust of both your technique and your read. I never have a problem with the prior as I trust my stroke 100% but sometimes a very tricky read, especially when seemingly breaking different ways from either side of the hole, some doubt creeps into my mind. I do my best to ignore the conflicting information and just go with my gut, but sometimes it is a difficult endeavor when the opposite sides of the reads are on your shoulders like little devils saying "It goes right!" and the other "Don't listen to him, it goes left!"  

My mental coach calls that a "gremlin" and we can chat about that one day as well...lol...

[funkyjudge]

29 minutes ago, chisag said:

 

... Interesting Doug. A physiological pull from 6 feet or less.  I get the psychological and see players "wishing" it in the hole with all kinds of issues like looking up before contact, moving/twisting their body or just kinda yipping it because they want to make it more than they want to trust their technique. But assuming every putt is a straight putt where you take the putter back on the same line, move forward on the same path and make contact with the same face angle and the only variable is how long a stroke to make, I am a little surprised a life long athlete wouldn't be able to do it the same way every time. 

... I get once you are over say 20 feet or so the stroke can be much longer, especially on slow greens, so all of the above can be off just a little but at that distance you are looking to putt the ball into a 1-2 foot circle and if it goes in all the better. But just taking the putter back and stroking straight through the ball from 6 feet must take some manipulation if you have a consistent stroke. 

... Unless of course you change your mechanics or your grip or your approach. I did a free putter fitting last summer from the guy that runs Putter World and he had me take 10 putts from 8 feet and I made all of them while he used SAM to measure everything. He told me I was lucky because I have a faulty stroke and poor address position.

My eyes were 2" inside the ball and he said I need them directly over the ball.

I also had too long a follow through as he insisted everyone on tour has a short follow through and more of a hitting motion than a swinging motion.

I didn't hit my putts with enough speed and IF I had missed they would have only gone a few inches past the hole.

And finally I opened my face to much on the backstroke making it difficult to square up at impact. 

... I couldn't help but smile and asked him if I have som much wrong with my stroke, how did I make 10 in a row and he shrugged and said "You were lucky but I can fix your putting if you sign up for lessons".   All I wanted from the free lesson was: is my loft and lie ideal for my stroke and he didn't give me an answer to either. 

Well, clearly I am as inconsistent in my putting as I am in the rest of my game. I have had 22-25 putts in 18 hole rounds of competitive golf, and I have had 40 putts, as well.  I don’t remember how many putts I took in my best-ever round of 68 on a par-70 course that we played as if it were a par-69, but it certainly wasn’t more than 30-32. That was 31 years ago and I was a mid single digit handicap golfer at that time, BTW.  In more recent competitive rounds where I scored well below my handicap, I know that several of those rounds included less than 30 putts, some significantly less than that.  I also know that my round featuring just 22 putts included five zero-putt holes with two chip-ins, a hole-out from about 70 yards, and two holes where I putted from off the green and holed them.

Last year, in North Carolina just north of Myrtle Beach, I shot 80 with 43 putts; think about that for a few seconds! 37 strokes tee-to-green, then lots of 3-putts and one 4-putt. Probably the least satisfying round of golf I’ve ever played.

[funkyjudge]

14 minutes ago, funkyjudge said:

Well, clearly I am as inconsistent in my putting as I am in the rest of my game. I have had 22-25 putts in 18 hole rounds of competitive golf, and I have had 40 putts, as well.  I don’t remember how many putts I took in my best-ever round of 68 on a par-70 course that we played as if it were a par-69, but it certainly wasn’t more than 30-32. That was 31 years ago and I was a mid single digit handicap golfer at that time, BTW.  In more recent competitive rounds where I scored well below my handicap, I know that several of those rounds included less than 30 putts, some significantly less than that.  I also know that my round featuring just 22 putts included five zero-putt holes with two chip-ins, a hole-out from about 70 yards, and two holes where I putted from off the green and holed them.

Last year, in North Carolina just north of Myrtle Beach, I shot 80 with 43 putts; think about that for a few seconds! 37 strokes tee-to-green, then lots of 3-putts and one 4-putt. Probably the least satisfying round of golf I’ve ever played.

Least satisfying, except for all of the money I collected that night from the other 23 guys on the golf trip.

[Josh Parker]

Played 9 holes this morning with a couple of the marshals from the course.  Started off pretty solid and then got to the third, a par 3 short hole from where we were playing and completely flubbed the hole.  Ended up with a triple.  I birdied the next hole with a drive down the middle, 50* wedge to 8ft and great left to right putt.  

Ended up shooting a 3 over for the 9 holes.  Driver has left me the last two days and back to my low drive.  I know what I am doing and just need to make the corrections.

[Jim Shaw]

2 minutes ago, Josh Parker said:

Played 9 holes this morning with a couple of the marshals from the course.  Started off pretty solid and then got to the third, a par 3 short hole from where we were playing and completely flubbed the hole.  Ended up with a triple.  I birdied the next hole with a drive down the middle, 50* wedge to 8ft and great left to right putt.  

Ended up shooting a 3 over for the 9 holes.  Driver has left me the last two days and back to my low drive.  I know what I am doing and just need to make the corrections.

good to get out, even for 9...

[Josh Parker]

14 minutes ago, Jim Shaw said:

good to get out, even for 9...

Yeah, it was colder than expected and windy. I was glad to get out for a bit before needing to get some things done at home. 

[Tom the Golf Nut]

After yesterdays round which went well, I decided to play again this morning. I did my usual routine and got to the course at 7:30 a good 30 minutes before carts are let out. 
I’m at the course and there is one other car. I get ready and start heading to the first tee. A guy sees me coming and runs over to the first tee. Ok he was there first. After his third shot from the tee I was concerned that this was going to ruin my day. So I moved up the hill a bit so I could see the green. 10 minutes go by and he is still on the green. Then I thought he was done. Nope, now he decided to pull the pin and putt again. He saw me standing on the tee box but just didn’t care. I abandoned ship and headed over to the fifth hole. 

If you know you are going to practice or hit multiple balls then don’t run over to be first because you saw someone else coming. 

I played 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 before he teed off on 4. And I waited for him to finish the first hole before walking away. Holley slow play Batman. I went to the back 9 and played those holes. Finished up there. Then went back to the front to play the first four I skipped. 

Played decent today. Two bogeys and two birdies to go even par for the round. Interesting to see my distances increasing with my irons. I was struggling with the King Tour 8, 7, and 6 irons with a loss of distance. So I did two things. I reshafted my Sub 70 699 Pros to graphite. I made a split set. King Tours are the Gap, PW, and 9 then 8, 7, 6 are the 699 Pro’s. This is working well. Higher ball flight and hitting more greens in regulation in the mid range distances. 

 

 

 

[Josh Parker]

11 minutes ago, Tom the Golf Nut said:

After yesterdays round which went well, I decided to play again this morning. I did my usual routine and got to the course at 7:30 a good 30 minutes before carts are let out. 
I’m at the course and there is one other car. I get ready and start heading to the first tee. A guy sees me coming and runs over to the first tee. Ok he was there first. After his third shot from the tee I was concerned that this was going to ruin my day. So I moved up the hill a bit so I could see the green. 10 minutes go by and he is still on the green. Then I thought he was done. Nope, now he decided to pull the pin and putt again. He saw me standing on the tee box but just didn’t care. I abandoned ship and headed over to the fifth hole. 

If you know you are going to practice or hit multiple balls then don’t run over to be first because you saw someone else coming. 

I played 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 before he teed off on 4. And I waited for him to finish the first hole before walking away. Holley slow play Batman. I went to the back 9 and played those holes. Finished up there. Then went back to the front to play the first four I skipped. 

Played decent today. Two bogeys and two birdies to go even par for the round. Interesting to see my distances increasing with my irons. I was struggling with the King Tour 8, 7, and 6 irons with a loss of distance. So I did two things. I reshafted my Sub 70 699 Pros to graphite. I made a split set. King Tours are the Gap, PW, and 9 then 8, 7, 6 are the 699 Pro’s. This is working well. Higher ball flight and hitting more greens in regulation in the mid range distances. 

 

 

 

Those kind of people bother me.  I am normally one of the first ones on the course and there are a few that I run in to regularly.  We all respect each other and let each other play through if needed. 

Our MGA group is terrible at letting people play thru and it drives me crazy. I had a similar thing happen earlier this week. MGA normally starts at 8:30 and I was running a few minutes behind so I started on the back. When I got to 17 about an hour later somehow the MGA was just teeing off and I sat for another 30 min to finish 17 and 18.  After catching them at 17 and then again at 18 and 1 and them not letting me go thru, it was time to head to the truck for the day. 

 

[EnderinAZ]

I don't pay much attention to football so I headed out this afternoon for some sunshine and practice in the long rough around the greens. Started on 17 and moved along at a fine pace until 10. Here, because the golf shop closed at 1 pm I ran into a sixsome. Yep 3 couples. No one behind me so I did lots of chipping and putting practice on and around the greens. Took a full 2 hours to play 7 holes. I actually rather enjoyed taking the extra time to chip and putt. Dead hands actually works very well with putts also. 

Tomorrow is the regular game where the temps could touch 70 with lots of sun. After the cold dreary last few days I am really looking forward to that.

[JCgolfer]

We got out to play this Saturday, after booking a foursome little by little the golf bros dropped out.  So I ended getting my actual brothers to fill in haha.  Lets just say the course was very soggy after all this rain we have had in SoCal.  The course was cart path only, sand traps were cement and you can tell due to the soggy turf no mowing took place.  I feel courses should disclose this type of stuff when they finally opened it back up after the rain and lower the price to play these type of conditions.  We only got to the 14th due to pace of play was also slow, tee time was at 1:16PM and we abandoned the course at 5:35 PM as it was way to dark by then.  All in all it was still fun getting the practice in and still improving, I didn't slice a drive all day so I am happy for that.  We did get in some good views of the snow capped mountains and the city lights.

[GolfSpy SAM]

1 hour ago, JCgolfer said:

We got out to play this Saturday, after booking a foursome little by little the golf bros dropped out.  So I ended getting my actual brothers to fill in haha.  Lets just say the course was very soggy after all this rain we have had in SoCal.  The course was cart path only, sand traps were cement and you can tell due to the soggy turf no mowing took place.  I feel courses should disclose this type of stuff when they finally opened it back up after the rain and lower the price to play these type of conditions.  We only got to the 14th due to pace of play was also slow, tee time was at 1:16PM and we abandoned the course at 5:35 PM as it was way to dark by then.  All in all it was still fun getting the practice in and still improving, I didn't slice a drive all day so I am happy for that.  We did get in some good views of the snow capped mountains and the city lights.

Awesome! Where'd you play? I'm out in Santa Clarita and play most Fridays, if you're ever around this area (or the Valley or Palmdale - I get around ;), let's try and play a round together!

[JCgolfer]

2 hours ago, GolfSpy SAM said:

Awesome! Where'd you play? I'm out in Santa Clarita and play most Fridays, if you're ever around this area (or the Valley or Palmdale - I get around ;), let's try and play a round together!

Thanks we played in La Habra, Westridge Golf Course.  I play in the OC/Anaheim and San Dimas/Riverside areas mostly.  Same invite extended to you if your in the area hit me up.

[BallsLeon]

Had the day off and walked a new to me course with my buddy at  Falcon Lakes GC from the White tees (Par 72, 6102yds, 70.9/125) and shot 106 (53 out, 53in) with 36 putts. Temps started out in the 20°s this morning but got up to 50° by the time we finished.

The course, clubhouse, and practice facilities were all excellent and in great condition (especially for this time of year). However, the course was definitely designed with a golf cart in mind. Lots of navigating through the neighborhood that lined most holes which made for a long walk and a long round. Would definitely just use the golf cart next time around, no walking fee offered which maybe should’ve been my tip.

Trouble began when I brought driver back out today, and the lost ball count went way up. Put it away for the day after hole 10 when I hit the same house twice, yikes. Spent a lot of time in the rough/thatch areas today and it was tough to get the ball back in play. Feeling like another lesson is way overdue at this point.

Bright spot in my game today would be a round with normal putting again. Once on the green I felt like I did a solid job of two putting, but I also know there were lots of other putts from the fringe today. Differences today would be using the cobra blade and did some warming up with the “Putting Thing”. Guess I’ll keep that up!

Edited February 12 by BallsLeon

[Jim Shaw]

Hey spy's how is everyone doing on this fine Monday??

Just got finished 18 holes and am still feeling quite giddy regarding Nick Taylor's epic putting display to win the Waste Management tournament this past weekend...

Shot 73 today, birdied 16-17 to finish 1 over par, I am striking the ball so well, it feels like a really good round is just around the corner.

Hit 12 fairways, 14 greens, 30 putts.

Went to the practice area after the round to work on my scoring irons getting them more on line, I am pulling my approach shots, they are pin high but pulled so that is something I will work on.

Anyway have a great evening...

[Rob Person]

32 minutes ago, Jim Shaw said:

 

Shot 73 today, birdied 16-17 to finish 1 over par, I am striking the ball so well, it feels like a really good round is just around the corner.

That's great! I'm very curious what constitutes a " really good round" 

[THE GOLF GUY]

1 hour ago, Jim Shaw said:

Hey spy's how is everyone doing on this fine Monday??

Just got finished 18 holes and am still feeling quite giddy regarding Nick Taylor's epic putting display to win the Waste Management tournament this past weekend...

Shot 73 today, birdied 16-17 to finish 1 over par, I am striking the ball so well, it feels like a really good round is just around the corner.

Hit 12 fairways, 14 greens, 30 putts.

Went to the practice area after the round to work on my scoring irons getting them more on line, I am pulling my approach shots, they are pin high but pulled so that is something I will work on.

Anyway have a great evening...

Week Last Friday 

Edited February 13 by THE GOLF GUY

[THE GOLF GUY]

1 minute ago, THE GOLF GUY said:

Week Last Friday 

Congratulations 

[THE GOLF GUY]

Just now, THE GOLF GUY said:

Congratulations 

Now if I can whittle away at those bogies !

[Jim Shaw]

48 minutes ago, Rob Person said:

That's great! I'm very curious what constitutes a " really good round" 

usually when I finish the round with the same ball I started with....

[Jim Shaw]

19 minutes ago, THE GOLF GUY said:

Week Last Friday 

wow... spectacular....

[NubianRugby]

Played the front 9 at Langston again on Saturday and shot 49, a seven stroke improvement over the day before. Started the day off with a birdie on the first hole thanks to great chip and 1-putt. Speaking of which, I had THREE 1-putts on the day vs 1 3-putt. Unfortunately I wasn't hitting GiR so my better than average putting didn't help my score that much.

Felt good to get in a couple of early season 9 hole rounds to knock off the rust of Winter. Seeing as how it snowed here today, I probably won't be playing again for a few more weeks.

[Michael.Sandoval33]

Had an inexplicably bad day at the range today so I Caught 18 holes at Heartwell GC right after, just finished, wanted to recap while it is fresh on my mind. The first two tee shots were errant. First to the left but not too bad. Second, off to the right. But ended up par on both thanks to some good recovery wedge shots to the greens and solid putts. From there on, the tee shots were constantly finding the fairways. I found my hands in front of the ball into my swing and it helped completely. Only thing is, this did not bode well with my wedges from there. I had some really nice bounce and rolls but besides, topped shots were shooting my ball over the greens. Putting was fairly consistent, I'm thinking the practicing is helping but still some 3 putts. Only 2 double bogeys here today but 10 bogeys otherwise. Overall I shot a 68 on a par 54. My previous best here was a 73. So that, I will take as a George W. 

[Rob Person]

Played 2, 9 hole rounds today. Shot a 44 on the first course! Was pretty happy as I had ZERO 3 PUTTS! but I did lose 2 new balls. Nearly had my first ace too!

It launched and drew back towards the pin, landed soft on the green, and rolled down the slope towards the cup. Nearly 2 feet past it for tap in.

Second 9 hole course, some friends joined me. We played A scramble match on the par 3 course, FROM THE TIPS! I  actually had to use my driver and 3 wood a few times. This made me happy though,  as I smoked a 3w, 185 yards, and I landed 5' in front of the pin,with almost no rollout.

[EnderinAZ]

On 2/12/2024 at 6:47 PM, Jim Shaw said:

usually when I finish the round with the same ball I started with....

Exactly!

Did that yesterday, and that same ball was not introduced to any trees, cart paths, or boundary walls as well, so it was a good day. Only one double, but my horrible short game showed up to help me get better again. Out of the 12 times I had to chip or pitch onto the green I had 3 go long (greater than 10 feet from the pin) and  4 roll up short. I would like to blame the rough that borders all of the greens. It has been consistently in the 3 to 4 inch depth and I really struggle to get out of that deep grass. But, that would be like blaming the water that occasionally eats my ball instead of my poor shot that put me there in the first place. 

According to Adam Grant and his book Hidden Potential pushing yourself out of your comfort zone is the only real way you will improve your skill set in a permanent manor. I guess I am testing the out of comfort zone improvement methodology first hand....

[Sluggo42]

I think my mlm2 pro is helpful to my game. Shot a +3 74 today, and even on the back.

I also went and put my hogans back in the bag. I forgot how nice those Icon blades are to hit

[William P]

Rough day with the irons today... Started out respectable enough scrambling to a 41 but turned the corner and totally lost all feel for the swing. Staggered in with a bloodstained 49 for a less than stellar 90... (9 of 16 fairways, 5 greens, 31 putts). This all comes with 2 birdies completely wasted with 6 penalty strokes. Kinda like whipped cream on dog !!!

Oh well, the weather was beautiful, and all the trash talk was great. Its only one round in the scheme of things so I'll continue to work on it and enjoy the time spent outdoors with colleagues.

[Rob Person]

I did manage to squeeze 9 holes in with a friend after cart duty this morning.

Shot a 45/46 . The ninetee balls will get shelved. Absolutely horrible cover construction.  More on that shortly...