Yep. Old saying holds true for sure. That said, I am so guilty of NOT practicing around the green and my game shows it. I am pretty solid tee to green but my short game from say 100 in and around the green gobbles up strokes. I think a lot of my issues are between the ears, but I definitely would score better if I were chipping closer to the hole and tapping in for par rather than scrambling to make an 8 - 12 footer for par. My chipping and pitching sucks and rarely affords me easy putts. Frustrating really, but what should I expect. I never practice around the green and it shows.
Yeah it’s rough
Although I started hitting the driver well this week and started scoring better immediately. I don’t think I count as a high orb medium capper though. For me the driver is key to happiness and scoring. When I’m driving it well I attack courses. When I’m not I struggle.
I have a low round in me. Hopefully it comes up soon. Was 1 under on the front yesterday and 1 under on the back today. Unfortunately was 4 on the back yesterday and 2 over on the front today.
It is still important for my game and mental state to get off the tee box. It just sets up the rest of the hole/round. When I am searching for my ball or struggling off the tee I just am frustrated the entire round.
But, I know I will see so much more b e n e fit by spending my hour at the practice green vs pounding balls on the range.
Just last week, visiting home, playing with long time friends and dad, new courses, I was striping the ball off the tee. Faired well enough for me. Mid 80’s over 3 1/2 rounds (38 on my 9 hole round) (130+ slopes). Was fun. Made simple adjustment on driver setup by moving a touch closer to ball and was very steady off the tee. Made the rounds enjoyable. A few long one putts and a couple chip ins off the green for birdies combined with my usual blow-up holes.
And of course I am injured now. Go figure >:(
Cool - that makes sense regarding the overspin that a draw puts on the ball. A fade seems to be the dominant ball flight on Tour, but I could be wrong. Zach Johnson I think plays a draw most of the time.
Sak, I agree regarding the importance of working on the short game as opposed to developing a different ball flight. Having just a little more confidence on and around the greens would probably shave off a good five strokes. It’s always more exciting to work on the full swing, but ya given the state of my game, it probably shouldn’t be the top priority.
happy - that sucks about your injury, especially after just getting back into the game. Sounds like you were playing some solid golf as well.
Cloch - if you get the chance to break away from city / work give Pine Meadows (mundelein/libertyville) and way out in sticks in Harvard a club called Oak Grove a go.
PM is an old school /growth course that just seems to be carved into the hills and forest. No gimmiks
Oak Grove is one of a handful of 4.5* rated by golf digest in IL. Pretty sweet really. A bit more deliberate or maybe unnatural but all in all another damn good course cut into the prairie / wetlands. Its an Audobon registered course
Both were very well maintained and fun tracks to play for first time.
I did it again. Went out 1 under 35 then three putted 10, parred 11-12but hit it hazard left on 13 for Bogey and hit it hazard right on 14 for a double. Then parred in.
I’m happy to be back to threatening par every round but throwing it away in 2 swings is kinda annoying.
Starting the season after taking 18 more the off I said I would be happy to break 80 before the end of the year. I did that on my sixth round which was a nice surprise but have had it and lost it three times since. No matter what, you’re never happy in golf. In 2007-2008 I had it for like two years but then I was mad that I couldn’t break 70. Then I shot 69 at Glen Abbey, but for months I was mad that I couldn’t go deeper I to the 60s. Then I shot 68 at Heron Point in 2010 but lamented the couple of short putts I didn’t make a difference was thinking ‘that should have been 66’
I think you’re officially never happy. Ever.
Nope. Golf is maddening. You never really win…I guess breaking par can be considered that, but since I’ve only broke 80 a handful of times I have yet to win ;D
Reason I quit playing for a bit was I simply wasn’t having fun anymore. Spending $ and wasting 4 hours at a clip began to be a drag.
Returned with lower expectations and am enjoying the game again. Crazy how its like riding a bike. First round back for me this season was 86 (for me is respectable). Followed by a couple low 90’s but it didn’t frustrate me. Remaining rounds were in mid 80’s for season. And I know my expectations will begin to creep again. Need to just enjoy it for what it is, recreation and good hearted competition with friends.
Noted. Thnx for the recommendations. I don’t think I’ve heard of either of these courses. I tend to play the same group of courses every time I get out, so it’s good to throw new ones into the mix every now and then.
I think I would die of a heart attack if I ever shot 68. So I guess still not happy lol.
So I’m quite sure that several on here are members to private clubs - don’t want to call you out if you’d prefer that not be disclosed.
But I’d just like to talk about the value of those clubs. I was fortunate enough to grow up with a family membership to Idlewild CC in the south suburbs of Chicago (it’s near Olympia Fields, host of the 2003 US Open). Idlewild was part of those early 20th century Chicago courses that had really tight fairways and VERY small greens. Hard to find courses like that outside this area. In any event, that’s where I learned the fundamentals of the swing and, perhaps most importantly, the etiquette of the game.
I think private clubs play a major part in shaping each generation of players. Most Tour players seem to have been brought up in private clubs, and it’s a tradition that I don’t think gets its due recognition.
I’m saying this as someone who is currently not a member at any golf club. I’m just saying how important they are to developing the next generation of top golfers.
I don’t think being or having been a member of a country club is a precursor for swing fundamentals and etiquette…
Been a guest at a handful of private clubs and schlepped bags as a kid. Frankly many of the members were example of how I don’t want to act - rude, disingenuous, entitled, own horn tooters, greedy, etc…you know the American dream and way ;D
No shit. I strongly second that outlook.
Just when you start playing to that true scratch, you start to want to play in some more competition stuff, then realize how sad your game is all over again lol.
I would say it goes a bit more the sense that private clubs have a vested interest in the next generation playing the game vs public clubs in it for a total rounds per year approach.
Having kids/families often keeps their memberships at the club and potentially breeds a next generation of member. Private clubs are also not as heavily rounds driven revenue base as they typically are more dues driven, therefor they care more about number of families at the club, vs number of people booking a tee time. A public facility isn’t making much money off a couple 10yr olds trying to play the course, and really just holds up their key customers. Therefor you don’t typically see junior camps at public courses, and they don’t have/allocate the salary for a secondary teaching instructor who may focus on teaching women and children.
I’d say there’s several factors at play, and certainly not to say that a championship caliber player can’t come from public courses. In certain areas of the country, the public offerings are so good it’s hard to justify being a member at a club (Fl etc) and other areas unfortunately have a poor public offering of courses.
Having a membership is key in that it affords you unlimited playing and practice for a young developing elite player. I think that’s more what he’s getting at rather than saying private club people are better golfers.
Now, private club people are better golfers on average. That’s only because they play more though. Comparing people from public and private clubs who play and practice more, they are pretty much equal.
Me and a few friends had a theory however about elite players. It wasn’t public vs private that shaped their success…it was easy vs hard courses. We noticed that of all the good young players of amateur golf in ontario , the ones who were the best…you could differentiate who played easy vs hard courses. So. E guys could just come to a tournament and absolutely dominate the course, going way under par, while others would shoot around par even though they appear warned to have bullet proof swings and games.
I bet you are all thinking I’m going to say the good players grow up playing the hardest courses right? Wrong. They almost never do. They grow up playing easy courses that they dominate the shit out of. They get comfortable being 5,8,10 under par. That becomes their comfort zone.
The guys who are members at winged foot and oakmont never make the tour because they are great at shooting 71 from the tips and feeling like they submitted everest. Then they shoot a couple of 71s on tour or at the big amateur events and get obliterated.
It’s all about psychologically conditioning yourself to have a comfort zone that is way deep. We bumped into Todd Hamilton at a bar and presented this theory to him and he had a light bulb moment when he rattled off all the texas guys he knew and where they grew up playing. All played short, easy courses and all grew up destroying par on a regular basis. The only exceptions wete tom kite and Ben Cranshaws who were members at Austin country club. That course is long, hard, brutal. Designed by Pete dye. However I remembered that when those two grew up, the Austin country club was pretty easy. They moved to an all new Pete dye design in the seventies…when kite and Crenshaw were already off to university of texas and then the tour, having grown accustomed to destroying the old Austin CC
This is basically what I was trying to say. As a junior golfer, you simply can’t beat the opportunity that a private club provides. Unlimited rounds of golf, generally top-notch practice facilities, solid teaching pros. The list goes on.
That said, I was certainly not implying that only private clubs produce top-rate golfers. Just that they have a long tradition of doing so.
Anyone know if Tiger was affiliated with a private club in his junior years? I’m not sure that he was. Perhaps he was just so good at such a young age that he could play anywhere he wanted.
Not sure if you noticed, but Tiger Woods and his dad are black lol. In the 70s that wasn’t exactly welcome at private clubs. Anywhere. Crazy huh?
But they played predominantly shitty public courses and military base courses. Earl had him play from easy tees or made up easy tees for Tiger. i.e. on a 340 yard par 4, he would have Tiger play it from the middle of the fairway at 205 yards as a par 4 so Tiger could get used to dominating and scoring low. Adds to my theory above! A friend just told me about this Earl Woods trick yesterday, as my friend is doing the same with his daughter (she just finished 6th at the junior worlds for her age group at Torrey).
Anyway, it’s funny that some courses have new super long tees added because of the distance revolution spurred by the Tiger Woods model of a physically poweful athlete dominating a course. Many call them ‘Tiger tees’ either explicitly or colloquially. Ironically the original ‘Tiger tees’, the ones Earl had him play off, were super short and easy, not super long and tough.
I’m loving this theory, saki; and the Tiger story is great! Keep it coming
Agreed. This whole thread is just an awesome treasure trove of information.
Perhaps another irony is that the most physically fit golfer on Tour has been so prone to injuries. Though, according to Hank Haney’s book, the knee injury may have been caused by Tiger’s previous penchant for training with the U.S. military’s special forces.
Yeah tiger is getting pretty beat up but we can’t forget he is nearly 38 and has been basically a ten hour a day golfer for 36 years
Moar Chamblee v. Tiger/Foley…
http://www.sbnation.com/golf/2013/9/6/4701270/brandel-chamblee-tiger-woods-fedex-cup-2013