How's your game!

charlieIRL

charlieIRL wrote: »

Played in my new clubs open days on Friday and Monday.

Had to go in after 9 holes on Friday due to rain / thunder & lightening just as i was settling into my round. Was ok up to that.

Went out Monday with high hopes, had been playing well enough if a bit streaky, boy did I come back down to earth with a bang. I honestly couldn't hit the ball out of my way, every bit of my game deserted me. I know it was 20 degrees at 10am but that was no excuse, I was shocking bad. I went on a 4 hole run on the back 9 and even after getting the ball off the tee, I got the dreaded "S" words on all next shots on these holes. I lost more balls than i had in the last year it was that bad. I wanted to walk in and apologised several times to my playing partners but fair play to them, the helped me out with what i was doing wrong and finished the last 3 holes ok.

I have been practising a lot on my short game, chips from <60 yards and close to green and a lot of putting and have seen huge improvements but for my dependable driver to desert me is disheartening. Even went back to a 5 iron off the tee to get the ball in play, that didn't work.

Am going to keep going with the short game practice and see about a few lessons for the rest, last time it happened it took the pro to look at 2 swings to see what i was doing wrong and was instantly able to correct it.

2 x 0.1's to start my year, not what i was after especially after the late start.

Played again yesterday evening, and same old storey only this time the "S" came on the 5th hole. Started off grand, 4 tap in bogies that should have been pars and then a peach of a drive on the 5th, laid up as its a very very tricky and well protected green (par 5) and bang, the first of them. Had another on the 6th, 8th, 10th, 11th, 13th and 14th & 15th - 7th, 9th, & 12th are par 3's and were fine. Lots of deep breaths and a bit of advice to stand back from the ball a bit more and finished out the round respectively. Felt like i was hunched over the ball but it worked to get the round finished. 3 x 0.1's now as well.

Am trying to organise lessons here now to try get it back on track, to finish out last year and the start of this year on such a high to this makes me want to throw away the golf clubs for the summer. :(:(

benny79

charlieIRL wrote: »

Played again yesterday evening, and same old storey only this time the "S" came on the 5th hole. Started off grand, 4 tap in bogies that should have been pars and then a peach of a drive on the 5th, laid up as its a very very tricky and well protected green (par 5) and bang, the first of them. Had another on the 6th, 8th, 10th, 11th, 13th and 14th & 15th - 7th, 9th, & 12th are par 3's and were fine. Lots of deep breaths and a bit of advice to stand back from the ball a bit more and finished out the round respectively. Felt like i was hunched over the ball but it worked to get the round finished. 3 x 0.1's now as well.

Am trying to organise lessons here now to try get it back on track, to finish out last year and the start of this year on such a high to this makes me want to throw away the golf clubs for the summer. :(:(

I have being here so many times! Charlie and my only advice is get a lesson asap dont even try and fix it yourself.. Pro will fix it in 5 mins confidence will be back etc Just wait till after this Saturday

charlieIRL

If I don't get something sorted I won't be going anywhere!!

Only clubs i hit well was my 3 wood & putter, may use them everywhere!

charlieIRL

benny79 wrote: »

I have being here so many times! Charlie and my only advice is get a lesson asap dont even try and fix it yourself.. Pro will fix it in 5 mins confidence will be back etc Just wait till after this Saturday

Took a bit more than 5 minutes but thankfully am back on the right track.

Had a lesson last night, I had slipped back into my old swing from when i started playing golf years ago. My whole setup was off and causing the mis-hits - they were't sh@&ks!! Just absolutely terrible shots.

Have a few things to work on but was hitting the ball extremely well after I got the bugs ironed out and now have a new pre-shot routine to make sure i don't slip back into my old habits. Doesn't take any longer than normal so no delays hopefully.

Need to keep on top of it so few more lessons and hopefully the 0.1's will turn into cuts.

benny79

Had a lesson myself last night as my woods especially driver has been shocking just when I sort my chipping and have been smashing the driver the last few months!

And same slipped into an old habit of jerking on the downswing when I should be keeping the upper body more still!

This game is hard man..

slingerz

won matchplay last night 7&6 when giving my opponent 7 shots. +4 for 12 holes including a triple bogey. very boring fairway, green and 2 putt golf!

charlieIRL

My mis-hits are still there but thankfully less and less last saturday. Hopefully light at the end of the tunnel.

Kiith

Sprained my ankle two weeks ago, and haven't been able to play. 3 rounds this week though, with 2 in the Curragh and a 4 ball scramble in Malahide on Friday. Looking forward to that, as it was fun last year.

Want to try get out to the range tomorrow or Wednesday though, as i really need to work on the driver.

rickis tache

in bits. 9 holes this morning and 6 lost balls.
ah well I least I didn't enter a comp and waste 6 euro.....gonna leave that till the weekend. Come on Tunisia...

slingerz

have a putting lesson on Friday, need to sort out my setup and grip as it is too random from putt to putt.

CalamariFritti

Game is in bad shape all year. A 37, a couple of 35, 34s. A lot of mid high 20s.

There a reason for it too. Trying for a big swing change. Even having improved for the last couple of years I basically still hit at the ball all the time. So I decided I need to do this. Lessons, drills, the lot.

At the moment the game is in tatters because of it. It goes from short spells that feel great to all over the place most of the time. Short game is fecked because of it too.

billy3sheets

I am flying at the moment. Confidence is high.
I've been cut 3.6 shots in 10 days and gone from 19 to 15 playing handicap. Feel like I'm playing to about 11 or 12.
Irons have massively improved and short game is good.
I need to improve my consistency off the tee with woods though. Lost or sprayed balls off the tee is costing me 2-3 shots per round.

dan_ep82

Feeling decent at the minute with the changes mostly bedded in from the lesson.

Irons are at target with less shape and the same with the driver.

Chipping and bunker play is getting there but not quite there, finding it a little more difficult to change and losing some shots not getting out of the bunkers only to follow it up with a good shot.

Uneven/bad lie's are still catching me out so it is something I want to work on. It's a bit of pot luck if I pull it,push it or at target. Below my feet is the biggest culprit which makes sense from the over draw I had/have.

So I've to keep drilling the changes, practice putting ,odd lies and course management. Sometimes I'm being a little too safe.

Two matchplays in two weeks to be played and then playing a bucket list course the second week of July so hoping I can keep improving.

slingerz

Lost club 4ball matchplay last night 271. 41pts off 11 on my own ball after 17 is nothing to be sniffed at but when one of your opponents is a 2 handicapper who is -5 after 17 it puts perspective on it! Dont mind losing to such exceptional play

charlieIRL

Thankfully more signs of improvement in my game last Friday. Played Corballis with Alanm in the last of our matchplay games and apart from dodgy tee shots on the first and second holes, I played fairly OK for the round. Had to stop myself early on and concentrate on what was going wrong and then it clicked again! I actually hit some very decent shots and with the course baked brown, the ball was going miles, had a good few drives go well over the 250m with the best at 268m. Anyone who knows Corballis will know this - Alanm hit his drive on the 16th nearly all the way down to the path that crosses the course!! Monster of a drive!

For the first time in a few weeks, I walked off the course happy with my game. I had a good few pars and tap in bogies, driver was going well, my short game got me out of trouble a few times and my putting was solid. Only place I struggled was bunkers and trying to get the ball up quick enough over the steep faces, was the reason for 2 scratches unfortunately. Even opening the face of my 60 degree wedge didn't work so that's something for my next lesson and then added to my practice schedule for the next few weeks.

Getting there thankfully.

Now, to replicate this in a counting competition!!!!

pakman

Finally seeing some good golf. 20 points on 9 holes last night with a final 8 over playing off 21. considering I had a needless triple bogey on a par 5 it was great by my standards.

If I can string another decent 9 onto that I can achieve my first sub 90.

Hitting the ball much better and the weather isn't hurting for distance. Had my first long drive too with it going 273 yards when I was lucky to hit 200 with old swing.

pakman

pakman wrote: »

Finally seeing some good golf. 20 points on 9 holes last night with a final 8 over playing off 21. considering I had a needless triple bogey on a par 5 it was great by my standards.

If I can string another decent 9 onto that I can achieve my first sub 90.

Hitting the ball much better and the weather isn't hurting for distance. Had my first long drive too with it going 273 yards when I was lucky to hit 200 with old swing.

90 today. so close but played really well. 4 pars and 1 birdie in a row on back nine with a pitch in from 80 yards in there. Driver was less reliable today but hit a few screamers. Finished with 40 points off the 22 handicap that I just drifted into today.

Ruling out the stupid holes like the triple on the first I had would do a lot of good.

billy3sheets

billy3sheets wrote: »

I am flying at the moment. Confidence is high.
I've been cut 3.6 shots in 10 days and gone from 19 to 15 playing handicap. Feel like I'm playing to about 11 or 12.
Irons have massively improved and short game is good.
I need to improve my consistency off the tee with woods though. Lost or sprayed balls off the tee is costing me 2-3 shots per round.

I can't believe it's less than 2 weeks since I wrote this! I've had 3 horrible rounds since and my scores have plummetted.
Despite a lesson and loads of practice, I can't get my timing right and now struggle with all aspects except putting. I'm going to take a break from it for a bit, as this has worked for me before.
This can be such a heartbreaking sport at times

Keano

billy3sheets wrote: »

I can't believe it's less than 2 weeks since I wrote this! I've had 3 horrible rounds since and my scores have plummetted.
Despite a lesson and loads of practice, I can't get my timing right and now struggle with all aspects except putting. I'm going to take a break from it for a bit, as this has worked for me before.
This can be such a heartbreaking sport at times

It was a big cut and will take you time to adjust. You went from having a shot on every hole to now not having any on 3 holes, that takes getting used to when you have a put for a bogey and it's a one pointer!

charlieIRL

Played again yesterday afternoon. Much better even though the final score didn’t reflect this. Was driving the Ball extremely well, approaches we’re good and putter was going well too. Few bad bounces from the rock hard ground cost me, also the ball going absolute miles in the warm air made judging distances fun. I went over the back of a few greens even after clubbing down. Didn’t use my driver much because of this as it’s easy to drive into trouble if you can’t shape the ball in Tullamore. 3 wood was used a lot as it’s so reliable. Any wayward shots - I took my medicine and got the ball back on the fairway and had a shot to the green.

From the multiple scratches the last 3 rounds, I only had 2 yesterday and they were from going over the back of the green as mentioned above. Too many one pointers killed the card but a lot of positives and I was hitting the ball very well. One thing that annoyed and distracted me was the amount of horse flies, few times just as you were about to swing you’d feel the bite. Little buggers. Threw me off a few times.

Can’t wait till the next round!

Break80

I can,t explain it but I had a great few weeks on the golf course. Single Matchplay in my club I was up against a very good 6 handicapper. I know I had 9 shots on him but I used only 3. Matched him or beat him on holes He should have won. Nice steady golf with no blow ups. Beat him 4/3.
Last week Played doubles matchplay. Lost on the 20th against 2 6 handicappers after a real enjoyable ding dong battle with birdies winning holes and pars for half.
Following day I had a freebie in The Old Head Of Kinsale. Lads WHAT A GOLF COURSE. and what a day. No wind and constant sunshine.
I played well for a first visit and in between taking pics and knocking back bottles of bulmers.
Sunday rocked up to my course for Monthly Medal. The wind was so high I had to put on a top to warm up. Double bogey on1. Double bogey on 2. Here we go back to earth I thought. Kinda settled into it then as I knew the winner would come from Saturday as there was no wind then.
Turned with 43 blows which was respectable for the conditions, lost track on the back 9 but finished birdie/par/par/par after a stupid double bogey. My playing partner gave me my card with 39 blows back 82-15=67. Won it by 1 shot and a big cut of 1.5.
I am walking on air the last few days.
If my good form keeps up I might have to change my username soon.

benny79

Fair play break80 great stuff!

martinkop

My game is awful, haven't broke 30 pts yet this year!!!! If it wasn't for the great weather, I'd probably consider packing it in altogether.
I've had lessons the past couple of years, improved my swing a lot, but when I'm on the course it just doesn't work. Maybe it's bad course management, poor shot selection I don't know. Think off the tee is my main issue, but struggle to improve there, as my other woods as as random as my driver.
Slowly losing the appetite for the game

Keano

martinkop wrote: »

My game is awful, haven't broke 30 pts yet this year!!!! If it wasn't for the great weather, I'd probably consider packing it in altogether.
I've had lessons the past couple of years, improved my swing a lot, but when I'm on the course it just doesn't work. Maybe it's bad course management, poor shot selection I don't know. Think off the tee is my main issue, but struggle to improve there, as my other woods as as random as my driver.
Slowly losing the appetite for the game

Every golfer has been there. Stop counting your score and just go play golf. When your round is done don't count it back, just pack the clubs away and look forward to the next game. You will enjoy the rounds a lot more and in a while might feel like counting again.

PokeHerKing

Keano wrote:

Every golfer has been there. Stop counting your score and just go play golf. When your round is done don't count it back, just pack the clubs away and look forward to the next game. You will enjoy the rounds a lot more and in a while might feel like counting again.

To quote a great film;

Judge Smails:
Ty, what did you shoot today?

Ty Webb:
Oh, Judge, I don't keep score.

Judge Smails:
Then how do you measure yourself with other golfers?

Ty Webb:
By height.

joxer1988

Keano wrote: »

Every golfer has been there. Stop counting your score and just go play golf. When your round is done don't count it back, just pack the clubs away and look forward to the next game. You will enjoy the rounds a lot more and in a while might feel like counting again.

I think I might be suffering from this too.

Hitting it really well on the range, but on the course I either hit and beauty or a horror shot that results in a double-bogey. Started the year on 12, wanting to get to 9, but find myself out at 14 and increasing... Am I putting too much pressure on myself to score?

Any other tips on bringing your range game to the course?

Keano

joxer1988 wrote: »

I think I might be suffering from this too.

Hitting it really well on the range, but on the course I either hit and beauty or a horror shot that results in a double-bogey. Started the year on 12, wanting to get to 9, but find myself out at 14 and increasing... Am I putting too much pressure on myself to score?

Any other tips on bringing your range game to the course?

I'm going the same way - was hoping to get to 11/12 this year and got to 12.9 but now back to 13.2

Have set goals at the range and don't just hit balls for the sake of it.

benny79

After an absolute disaster of a round in the last boards outing in Palmerstown I went out Sunday for a few to try sort my woods out.. I just couldn't get off the Tee all day low pull hooks into trouble but the most frustrating thing was I was creaming my drives and woods on the range just before I tee'd off and was actually fancying my chances!
My long irons and chipping was good putting too but when you are playing a championship course and you can't get off the tee your fighting a losing battle..

So played 9 Sunday and same again really getting frustrated now! Especially after been playing so well and it being Captains this weekend!! Panic was setting in... So I booked a lesson for Wednesday. In the meantime I read over all my notes from previous lessons went out last night for 9 and it clicked thank god!

I have a habit of swaying on my swing so have been conscious of this and trying to stay as still as possible resulting in me not turning my hips and being to still plus causing me to turn out of the swing to early and my woods being trapped behind if you get me! What a relief I knew it was something simple but so glad I could resolve it myself even though it took me a while!

I will still go ahead with lesson as am due one.. Another new Pro but comes very highly recommended and is closer to home..

This game certainly picks you up and drops you at the drop of a hat!

GreeBo

benny79 wrote: »

I have a habit of swaying on my swing so have been conscious of this and trying to stay as still as possible resulting in me not turning my hips and being to still plus causing me to turn out of the swing to early and my woods being trapped behind if you get me! What a relief I knew it was something simple but so glad I could resolve it myself even though it took me a while!

Its a divil alright.
You start hitting it miles left and your natural reaction is to not turn as much, when really you need to turn more.
Stuck = Flip = hello left trees. (& right trees when you flip too slowly!)

charlieIRL

Huge improvements again yesterday thankfully. New swing is well bedded in, don't have to think as much about it at address like i used to.
Not using driver as much as you need to fade the ball a lot in Tullamore, so my 3 wood is getting a lot of use lately - and to good effect thankfully.
Course management has improved a lot so not taking on any silly shots and am getting scores on holes.
Short game is where i'm really making up shots, from <50m in I'm getting up and down nearly 50% of the time (keeping stats here!) Hitting my putter well too which is always a great help.
Got a few unfortunate bounces yesterday but, like i said above, my chipping has come on so much with the weekly practice, I have no fear chipping from anywhere, so didn't loose too many points.
My only scratch was from a flyer from the rough and went over the back of the 13th green and absolutely no way to get back on the green with a bank protecting the back and i was under trees. Just missed the putt for a 6.
Had a few sloppy approaches trying to play safe, something to iron out for the next few rounds but they didn't cost me too much.

Overall, was well happy with the round and the first buffer in over 12 months!!

Onwards and downwards for the rest of the season!