What'd You Shoot Today? (Golf BBV Thread)

A vital skill that often goes overlooked in the quest for longer and straighter.

102(53/49) Driver failed me today. Kept pushing it right. Way right. Lost 3 balls. Couldn't do anything great to make up for it.

Ugh, this game. 106 (54/52) I did nothing right for 15 holes. Couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong. Finally figured out my backswing was rushed as was my transition. As soon as I slowed things down I was fine. It just took almost the whole round to figure it out. I just got away from what has been working. Lack of discipline i guess.

On the positive side I putted great.

Mr. Hyde started the round by barely being able to put the club on the ball. Everything was bad. Lost a ball on 4 of the first 5 holes. 55 on the front nine. Fortunately the potion wore off and Dr. Jekyll arrived for the back nine. Driver was horrendous all day but everything else made up for it. Just a few barely missed makeable putts kept me from a 9-hole best. Shot a 46 for a 101 total.

I just cannot figure out my driver. I went to the range Sunday and thought I had it under control, but couldn't hit it straight today. I'm pushing it right almost every time and can't figure out why. Oh well, there's always work to do, right?

LOL, I probably shouldn't watch youtube videos. 10 different videos on how to fix driver slice with 10 different methods to do so.

104(54/50) Struggled with driver...again. But I think I identified the problem and was able to straighten it up as the round went on. Didn't do anything particularly well. Lost 4 balls. Botched every par 3.

Played with a guy that was spraying everything much like me. He crushed a drive on a par 4, then holed his next shot from about 80 yards for an eagle. First one I've seen and the first one he'd ever had. Cool to watch.

Back on track kinda. I butchered the first two holes. It was cold (well, Florida cold) and I'm old so it took a couple holes to warm up.

Driver better but still needs work. Lost 2 balls. But parred all 4 par 3s. Ended up with 91(47/44) New personal best!

hey bb
do you have a chance to warm up and stretch beforehand or are you coming into things at address from the car park outside cold and stiff

We wait by the starter because we walk on and aren't sure when we'll get called. I do stretch and warm up and take quite a few practice swings but they don't seem to translate onto the course until i botch a couple holes.

Geez, am I the only one playing?

107(53/54) What used to be my weakness is becoming my strength. I'm hitting my long irons and 5 wood really well. I know a lot of people don't hit it, but 4 iron is my favorite club. Just for shits and giggles I put my 3 wood back in my bag. Swung it 5 times just as long and pure as could be.

My short irons were an absolute disaster today. I mishit almost every shot inside of 70 yards. Not usually my downfall. Didn't putt well either.

Driver is so erratic. Lost 4 balls off the tee. I'm taking a lesson tomorrow to see why i keep pushing it right.

Had my league's scramble. No gimmicks, team gets 30/25/20/15% of handicap, must use 2 tee shots for each player per 9.

We lost by 0.1 strokes haha. If they had used the USGA recommended percents and rounded instead of decimals we tie for the win instead.

I played well, chipped in for birdie, hit a 6 iron to 9 feet to win my flight's closest to the pin, hit another 6 iron to 8 feet and made the putt for a birdie, and hit a lot of good drives.

Did get pretty frustrated with a teammate who is super nice, but didn't understand the strat at all on the "2 tee shots per person per nine" and just wanted to insist on the best tee shot right now. Fun format though, and I was HOT walking the course in polo and shorts in mid-December which is wild.

Took a lesson yesterday and tried to focus on two things. First, get my driver straightened out. He was able to at least show me why and it helped today. I'm still not consistent but I'm not pushing it way right as badly. The second thing I wanted him to help me with was club speed. I don't think he was particularly interested in focusing on that since I'm still pretty erratic but I pushed him on it. I definitely got about 20 yards more distance on the ones I was able to hit but at the price of consistency. So, we'll see where that goes.

Another 107 (54/53) Driver wasn't too bad. Lost 2 but just barely. Didn't do much of anything well. Putting not great either. Sigh.

always fun reading your golf adventures bb
wondering how much of your overall swinging time is split between rounds or practice?

was also curious how you choose a target and subsequently aim toward it

I hit a bucket every day I don't play a round. I also periodically hit a few in my back yard when I think of something specific I want to work on. I have been trying to increase distance lately and it's hurt accuracy and consistency it seems. I should be more patient with increasing club head speed I think.

Today I went back to basics and played a little better. 98(49/49) A couple disaster holes, a few lost balls, some mediocre putting. But I got everything out of the bunker well, a few pars, and my driver was better. So I'm not too disappointed.

In answer to your question, I generally pick out a leaf or mark or tuft of grass in line to the hole, maybe 2 or 3 feet past the ball and aim for that. I usually double check by looking over my shoulder once I take my stance. I have no clue if that's the right way to do it but when the ball doesn't go the direction I plan, it's usually just a mishit.

Oh yeah, a little mini rant. The group in front of us on hole 1......topped their tee shot about 50 yards, sliced one about 150 yards into the water, drove one about 200 yards, and pulled one about 200 yards into the woods....................from the black tees.

They played from the tips the whole round. I know this because we waited on them every hole.

97 (48/49)

I've been pulling my irons left and pushing my driver right so yesterday at the range I noticed, after hitting my third iron in a row way left, that the club face was ridiculously closed in my hands. I had the face open too much with my driver. I've really never paid much attention to how I was holding the club but now that I'm aware the cone of uncertainty has shrunk considerably. Hit my drives a lot straighter. Only lost 1 ball today.

My score doesn't reflect it but I really hit the ball a lot better than I have been. Just some bad breaks and a lot of balls in bunkers. I only 3 putted once but I missed probably 10 putts in the 8 to 15 foot range that were very makeable. Not missing by much but close doesn't count, eh?

good to know how you are aligning yourself, but also wondering what are you aiming at?

If I'm a long way away, center of the fairway. Long iron or 5/3 wood distance, center of the green. Short iron, flag.

Almost surely most holes have a side of the fairway you should be favoring, and even more surely you should usually not be aiming at flags. Often same with “center of the green” as well.

Yeah, I understand this. And I don't always do this. But at this stage of my game I'm so inaccurate that I kind of use this general rule of thumb to stay out of trouble as much as possible.

Speaking of trouble...I really didn't swing well today and it showed on the front nine with a 57. I managed to clean things up and shot a respectable ( for me) 44 on the back. Driver is getting a lot better but my irons are eluding me. I really need to work on putting as well.

On the last par 4 hole I hit driver pretty straight but shorter than usual. I had 197 to the pin and hit the best 3 wood i think I've ever hit about 20ft short of the pin. Missed birdie but that 1 shot will get me back again. Golf is stupid.

Exactly! So moving the dispersion cone away from the worst stuff is key. As an example, if water is left of the green, and basic rough right, you’d rather decrease the number of times you actually hit the green if you can minimize/eliminate water, so maybe should aim right edge of green.

Walked 18 for the 3rd straight day, yay warm weather. Stuck my approach on 1 to a foot, so was in red numbers for one of the few times lifetime. Was cooking really good and then caught the slowest dumbest golfers on 14 and went triple double triple to slide back into “very good” territory for me instead of elite. Bah. Did rally with two good up and downs for par on 17/18.

did they pay you rent for occupying so much of your head space, or did you offer them up your poor score for free?

with all due respect, a classic example of willingly allowing outside influence to impact your enjoyment of a round

You’re not wrong at all. I will say they yelped loudly as I chipped and I flinched and bladed it across the green into an impossible spot, so it wasn’t entirely just mental but I completely agree and accept that my mentality and approach wasn’t the best at all.

This is a brag and a bad beat.

I was even heading into 18. This was by far my best round of golf considering the wind was blowing at 20-40 MPH all day. I've scored better before but given the conditions this was the best. I hit my drive down the middle but hit a sprinkler and the ball went directly right behind a bush. I ended up double bogeying the hole.