How do I play better when traveling?

[PrayingForPar]

Hello Everyone,

I just got back from a week vacation where I played 3 rounds of golf. I left blistering Southern California and headed up to Washington state to visit some friends. Last time I went up there I rented clubs, but this time my clubs came with me and I was hopeful for a great, relaxing, and low scoring couple of rounds.

Well...let's just say keeping score was thrown out the window on those three rounds...I should have kept score by how many balls went OB, maybe then I could have shot my handicap...

Do you have any suggestions for playing better when traveling? Has anyone else had a similar experience when traveling?

[Tom the Golf Nut]

Traveling and playing has its challenges. I do it all the time for work.

First, you need to be there a day earlier. This gets you over jet lag or windshield time. Get a good sleep.

Second, get some time on the range to loosen up.

Third, chip and putt. Spend some time getting used to the green speed and type of grass.

Fourth, lower your expectations. It’s not your home course. It’s new to you. Don’t pressure yourself because that will induce stress and that’s a recipe for disaster.

It’s not going to happen overnight but eventually you will adapt to the process. Sometimes you can’t get there early enough. But specific before round practice can help.

Probably the hardest thing to adapt to is elevation changes. I always put distances on a card and put it in my golf bag for that trip. Ball carry at 300 feet is way different than 5000 feet. Multiply the elevation by .00116 That will give you the percentage difference. In this case 5.8%  A 250 yard drive is roughly 264 yards. Great for a drive but now you could be in trouble off the tee. Scoring clubs are even more important. Say your home course is at 5000 feet and you’re going to sea level. You’re going to be short going into greens. Best have a good sand game if you can’t figure it out quickly. 

 

[Shankopotomous]

Tom knows his stuff when it comes to taking your game on the road.  Two things i will add....know your realistic carry yardages and have a dependable tee shot you can go to if the driver swing didnt come along on the trip!  

A lot of people i see play can do ok on their home course where they know club selection by memory.  But on an unfamiliar course you have to go by yardages for club selection.  If you lack confidence in that choice your swing will suffer.  Not only altitude, but location and turf type will impact distance too so adjustments for those things need to be made.

If my driver swing is off i will hit 3w off the tee to keep the ball in play and wait for a wide open hole to bring it out again 

 

[goaliedad30]

Great advice above. I will chime in that learning to play well on courses you've never seen takes practice. One of the things you can do to simulate it is to "travel locally". Find a few courses near you (or maybe a day trip away) that you've never played before, and play them, with a scoring mindset.

It forces you to think about yardages, where you can / can't miss, and about simplifying your game. It also forces you to read greens more effectively. Let's face it, on our home courses, we don't read putts, we KNOW how the putt breaks.

Edited August 10 by goaliedad30