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Started By
Message
Meltdown holes hurting my score
Posted on 5/24/21 at 8:08 pm
Posted on 5/24/21 at 8:08 pm
Greetings GB friends. I've been playing more than I ever have in my life lately, and in turn and am shooting better than I ever have. However, it seems in every round I have 1 or 2 holes that I end up triple bogeying or even quadruple bogeying and it's killing my score. I am beginning to think it's psychological and once I get in a bad place I try to overdo it to save the hole/round which in turn leads me to a huge frick up. Anyone experience this type of thing? Any tips for overcoming it?
8
Posted on 5/24/21 at 8:21 pm to vuvuzela
What is your handicap? If single digit or low double digits it changes this discussion on a few different fronts IMO.
Having said that, generally, I try to hit the “reset” button when I pull my driver/iron whatever for the next tee box after my meltdown hole. I’m not perfect by any means and I drop a few relatively silent f bombs occasionally and degrading comments towards my golf game but I know my game and swinging out of my shoes on the next tee box in anger is only going to cause more anger with poor play.
Also, just try and remember there’s a reason we aren’t on the tour and enjoy the free time you have to play with friends/family.
Having said that, generally, I try to hit the “reset” button when I pull my driver/iron whatever for the next tee box after my meltdown hole. I’m not perfect by any means and I drop a few relatively silent f bombs occasionally and degrading comments towards my golf game but I know my game and swinging out of my shoes on the next tee box in anger is only going to cause more anger with poor play.
Also, just try and remember there’s a reason we aren’t on the tour and enjoy the free time you have to play with friends/family.
Posted on 5/24/21 at 8:28 pm to Michael Scotch
My handicap after my round today is 10.2. It's super frustrating, today I had a 76 going into 18, quadrupled 18 to end up with an 84. For me it always starts with a bad drive, today I was in the trees, took a risky punch shot which bounced off another tree, and I was pretty much in melt mode at that point. Horrible 3rd, bad chip, and a three putt. I had a similar hole on the front nine, and if I could have just bogeyed those two I would've had the best round of my life.
Posted on 5/24/21 at 8:35 pm to vuvuzela
You just answered your own question. You took a risky punch shot when you're better play would've been just to play out into the fairway and take your bogey. It's such a hard thing to do to make the smart play instead of trying to doing the superman approach trying to save par.
Everyone is guilty of it, Phil Mickelson is by far the worst. If you pull it off great you may save yourself a stroke but if you don't you end up with a 10. Phil has done it on the world stage and it cost him a U.S. Open. So exactly how are us mere mortals supposed to not try the same thing sometimes. He is probably successful six out of every eight times where we are successful two out of every eight.
Everyone is guilty of it, Phil Mickelson is by far the worst. If you pull it off great you may save yourself a stroke but if you don't you end up with a 10. Phil has done it on the world stage and it cost him a U.S. Open. So exactly how are us mere mortals supposed to not try the same thing sometimes. He is probably successful six out of every eight times where we are successful two out of every eight.
This post was edited on 5/24/21 at 8:46 pm
Posted on 5/24/21 at 8:45 pm to LSU5508
That's true, I should've played it safe. But the shots after I made a mistake, they were just bad. My mind was still racing about how I fricked up a great round instead of focusing on the shot. And I find myself doing that even early in rounds. I did it on #4 today, and it only made it worse. If I'm already thinking about the round on #4, I know I've got to take another look at how I'm approaching my game. Thanks for being a sounding board, just typing it out has helped. 
Posted on 5/24/21 at 8:55 pm to vuvuzela
A 10 handicap and you’ve got 76 going into 18?
Yeah, IMO this sounds maybe a mix between course management and frustration control. It sounds like you are good enough where you need to try and eliminate double bogey, triple at worst (quad shouldn’t hardly ever be in play).
Easier said than done but today you should have chipped out into the fairway and taken your bogey or worst case double. You don’t need to press to make a miracle happen when you are on hole 18 about to shoot near your career lows.
Frustration tip, when I’m super frustrated I’ll take an 8 iron to bump and run chip around the greens versus a 56 or 60. I find it harder to let my mind wander and duff a chip out of frustration. That’s one way I try and not let my frustration pile on during a hole. My games a work in progress in everything I’m saying I certainly don’t have mastered either haha
Yeah, IMO this sounds maybe a mix between course management and frustration control. It sounds like you are good enough where you need to try and eliminate double bogey, triple at worst (quad shouldn’t hardly ever be in play).
Easier said than done but today you should have chipped out into the fairway and taken your bogey or worst case double. You don’t need to press to make a miracle happen when you are on hole 18 about to shoot near your career lows.
Frustration tip, when I’m super frustrated I’ll take an 8 iron to bump and run chip around the greens versus a 56 or 60. I find it harder to let my mind wander and duff a chip out of frustration. That’s one way I try and not let my frustration pile on during a hole. My games a work in progress in everything I’m saying I certainly don’t have mastered either haha
Posted on 5/24/21 at 9:12 pm to vuvuzela
quote:
My handicap after my round today is 10.2. It's super frustrating, today I had a 76 going into 18, quadrupled 18 to end up with an 84.
Bro
that is so cruel How old are your clubs? I just purchased new irons and wedges so I'm hoping to cut down on doubles. I had several 3 putt bogies Saturday so putting is really my only weakness.
This post was edited on 5/25/21 at 8:38 am
Posted on 5/24/21 at 9:21 pm to vuvuzela
quote:
Anyone experience this type of thing? Any tips for overcoming it?
Most golfers do.
Not getting caught up in your score is the key. It's not a tournament setting where you know you need to hit a certain score or its pointless. You have to take every shot one at a time. You can't "make up shots". You can only hit shots that you think can yield you the best outcome on average.
That doesn't mean you cant take risk, just need to be calculated. I can hit punch shots with the best of them, but I can't shape an iron shot to save my life. I can take a risky punch shot through the trees to try to run it up on the green, but I'm not gonna try to bend my 7 iron around trees, I'm gonna just try and give myself a good distance for an approach shot.
Posted on 5/24/21 at 11:42 pm to vuvuzela
quote:
Any tips for overcoming it?
1. Short memory
2. How you got where you are doesn’t matter. Figure out what you would consider “par” from where you are and where you need to be to make that score.
That doesn’t mean always chipping back into the fairway. If you’re in the trees on a par 4, 300 yards from the hole because you duck hooked a drive, and you’re great at the low runner, your par could be 4 from there and if you hit it good you can make a 3 and par the hole, but at worst you shoot your modified par and make bogey. Being realistic about your game and knowing what you really can and can’t do is a huge first step. I see it all the time. Guys have a decent wedge game, but they’re 250 out on a par 5 and out comes the 3 wood. They hit it like shite and instead of having a comfortable wedge in, they now have a shot from the trees or 175 for their third and make bogey or worse.
Posted on 5/25/21 at 5:15 am to wutangfinancial
quote:
4 putt bogies
A four putt bogey means you hit a par 5 in 2 shots, or a par 4 in 1 shot.
I’m impressed.
Posted on 5/25/21 at 7:17 am to makersmark1
After a bad shot, focus on having a par putt.
Of course, I snapped back to back balls left OB Sunday so I am probably not the guy to ask.
Of course, I snapped back to back balls left OB Sunday so I am probably not the guy to ask.
Posted on 5/25/21 at 7:37 am to barry
quote:
It's not a tournament setting where you know you need to hit a certain score or its pointless.
I play every round that way. 1) The biggest key for me to get over those big number is to take less off the tee when I know there is trouble on a miss. So if left is dead, dont hit a driver if Ive been really hooking it.
2) Learn a consistent save shot. I hit a 5i. I can hit a big sweeping cut or just a dead handed low runner that goes straight and barely gets off the ground. It a long recovery shot that gives me a chance for a pitch and putt par save. WORST score I will take is bogey in that scenario if I do it right.
Sometimes par is more than ok.
Posted on 5/25/21 at 7:50 am to vuvuzela
There was an old article by Fred Couples titled Stop The Bleeding
Tried googling and can’t find it:/
Was perfect for this.
Tried googling and can’t find it:/
Was perfect for this.
Posted on 5/25/21 at 8:28 am to Michael Scotch
quote:
A 10 handicap and you’ve got 76 going into 18?
The way I understood it he had 76 strokes going into 18. That's why a quad gave him an 84. I read it the other way at first too. I might be wrong though.
As for OP. I'm no pro, but I used to play a ton more than I do now and played with very good players. You need to learn to play the percentages. When you get in trouble in the woods, if there's not a clear line to the green, take the punch out. You might still save par, but you definitely take the big score out of play.
Similarly, there are shots on the course where just playing it smart will shave strokes off your game. I've played chip shots around the green away from the hole because there would be no way to put it close if going at the hole.
Or just learning where to lay up on par 4's and 5's can help. I am very strong with my sand wedge from 100 out, but not nearly as good from 80-40, so I generally lay up to the hundred instead of trying to get closer than that. I'd rather a full swing than trying to play feel from a shorter distance.
There's a certain satisfaction I get when I play something smart rather than just going for it all the time. I'm not breaking 70, but just keeping my bad holes to a bogey might have me breaking 80.
Posted on 5/25/21 at 8:39 am to makersmark1
3 not 4 got my buzz on last night
Posted on 5/25/21 at 8:47 am to vuvuzela
I play in a money round every Sunday. I've hit 80 about 6 times in my life now and haven't broken 80. I had the round of my life one day and was on 18 going for a 76 if I par'd. Quadrupled the hole. WTF. . . I was good off the drive, good second shot to the creek, good shot over the creek just short of the green. I normally PW bump and run that shot and just lost focus on what I was doing and pulled a 56 degree trying to chip onto the green instead. Bladed to the bunker on the other side of the green, two out of the bunker and 2 putted. In that case, gotta take the safe shot, eat your stroke and do damage control.
Just a terrible decision on the 4th stroke would have given me a par putt or bogey at worst and turned it to a quad. Just a knuckleheaded decision.
Shot an 84 this last Sunday with a double on 18 at the same course. Had two other doubles also and a handful of bogeys. My putter has been on fire lately and I completely missed 9 realistic birdie attempts. Never had that many birdie looks in a round and just whiffed on all of them. Just a tragic round again there.
Just a terrible decision on the 4th stroke would have given me a par putt or bogey at worst and turned it to a quad. Just a knuckleheaded decision.
Shot an 84 this last Sunday with a double on 18 at the same course. Had two other doubles also and a handful of bogeys. My putter has been on fire lately and I completely missed 9 realistic birdie attempts. Never had that many birdie looks in a round and just whiffed on all of them. Just a tragic round again there.
Posted on 5/25/21 at 1:09 pm to vuvuzela
quote:
it's psychological
It is. Sometimes the course eats you and you have to play safe and take a + or ++. Hardest and best lesson I've ever had to learn with golf. It changes your perspective. No more 100-to-1 shots to try to save par.
Posted on 5/25/21 at 1:42 pm to vuvuzela
Read "Golf is Not a Game of Perfect."
Posted on 5/25/21 at 4:43 pm to vuvuzela
quote:
My handicap after my round today is 10.2. It's super frustrating, today I had a 76 going into 18, quadrupled 18 to end up with an 84
To the outside it might look like you are sandbagging to keep a higher handicap. If it helps, you should be limiting your max score to double bogey.
As for the dreaded double+ holes, punching out seems like the obvious answer, but that’s like telling a drunk to stop drinking, easier said than done. This is why the mental part of the game is where people have to improve to go from double digit to mid single digit handicap.
This post was edited on 5/26/21 at 8:11 am
Posted on 5/25/21 at 6:23 pm to doc baklava
quote:
Read "Golf is Not a Game of Perfect."
Thanks for the rec, and for all of the other comments. At least I know I'm not alone.
Looking forward to reading this book, at this point I'll try anything. 
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