How consistent are your scores?

I usually feel disappointed after a round of golf.  My club handicap is 18.2 but my typical score, and also my average score (I've just calculated it), is net five over par.  I accept that this is considered normal for a bogey golfer, however it means the following:

1.  I am usually outside my buffer zone;
2.  I never win anything;
3.  My scores can vary within a range of say ten shots.

So, what is the key to playing more consistently?  Obviously becoming a better player has to be at the top of the list.  However I perceive that there are better and worse golfers out there at all handicap levels who do not suffer from points 1-3 above and I'm interested in how they do it. 

My scores are always all over the place - between 98 and 108 at the moment.  I'm just looking for the Centre of Gravity of the spread to start moving down (if only)

I'm just as likely to shoot 86 as I am 106. Consistency is probably now my biggest problem and the reason my handicap is so stuck. I had a chance of shooting sub 40 for the front 9 at Styrrup yesterday and completely ballzed up 8 & 9, same again for the back 9 and finished bogey,tripple

I put myself under huge pressure (as do my playing partners) knowing I should be playing off something quite a bit lower (Stuart G will probably agree after playing with me at the Belfry) and tend to fall to pieces when I know it's going well. 3 birdies yesterday and I walked off with a dissapointing 86 - thats inconsistent! Anyone got any tips?

Consistancy is what this game is all about.

I have been playing with the same partner for about 6 months now and he seems to have 'gotten' the consistancy right.

Subsequently his HC has dropped 10-11 shots in the last 2 months!!

This is true although there are still many other things to consider like:

weather

ground

&

luck

Aren't the Tiger shots good fun though   trying to bend it round trees,  sky shots 150yards up over a tree when you so go sideways,   mickleson flop shots instead of chip and run 

guess this is where I go wrong

For me, course management is the key.  If at all possible I plan my tee shot in advance and know the strategy off the tee - at least until the tee shot is made.  Then I jsut try to play within myself.

Case in point Sunday.  Mr Swingzone was videoing on the 10th.  Plan was to hit a 5iron and make the green in an easy 2.  Cos he was there I thought I ought to hit a wood whhich I topped horribly gaining me 30 yards at best

My current handicap is 13, my golf course is a par 72, SSS 69 from the yellow tees.

So I should score (69 + 13) 82.

Normally I would score between 85 and 93, depending on the day.

I never play well on my home course as it's a tough one for me, so scoring between 86 and 93 would be OK for me.

There will always be the days when I shoot over 96 but I accept them and hope that it was just a bad round, and it usually is!

So to answer your question, ten shots would be a good buffer zone for most players.

The way to look at it is like this......

Out of ten rounds of golf,

One will be below the SSS and therefore your handicap will go down

Two or three will be level too, or just above the SSS, within your buffer zone, so your handicap won't change.

So that means that six or seven rounds will be above the SSS and your buffer zone, so your handicap will go up by 0.1

That is the way I work it out, one great round, two or three good rounds and the rest my handicap goes up 0.1

I played Belhus Park GC yesterday (Tuesday) and the wind was blowing, it was the worst wind I've played in!  A new course that I had never played before and my lower back was aching.  So you can imagine I didn't play too well.  My front nine was nearly all sevens!  Ended up with a 55 for 9 holes.  I did manage to pull it together again for the back nine and ended up needing to par the last hole (par 5) to score 99!  Luckily for me the wind was behind my back and I was through the green in two shots!, managed the par, never been so happy to shoot 99!!! 

Russ

Your handicap is based on the SSS, Russell so you need to go round in 82 to play to13 at the Priors.

Hi John,

You are correct, I used the par and not the SSS for my example above.

I've changed it now so I don't look like an idiot (again).... 

How are you now John, feeling better?

Russ

I'm fine, Russell, thanks. The golf is not so good at the moment though. Would have been nice if you could have made my Monday game at Sherfield and met some of the guys.

I'm glad to hear that you are feeling well, and I have noticed you are putting some scores in so you must be getting out and about.

I would have loved to come over on Monday but it isn't to be, I'm back with the ranks of the unemployed.  I'm getting the odd days work with an agency, but the problem is they phone me at 7:30am to work that day, so it really stops me planning anything.

Hopefully I'll get over sometime this year, and definitely before the weather starts getting bad.

Russ

Martin,

Russell has got it about right. Your handicap is based on your better scores not your average so it is not surprising that you and most other golfers struggle to play inside the five shot buffer consistently.  Most of your scores will be grouped around your average score with a few at the good end and a few lousy ones.  I would say any golfer who keeps 90% of their scores in a ten shot range either side of their average is playing fairly consistently.

Something else that seems to be creeping into a number of threads which I don't think is quite right is equating a percentage shot with a short or safe option.  If you are playing percentage golf you should on occassions weigh up the options and go for the big shot.  When the odds are in your favour ie when a resulting bad shot from a situation shouldn't do too much damage.  For example if you are 200 yards out from a green that has no hazards around it you should pull out your fairway wood or long iron.  However if you are 160 yards out and need to play over a pond in front of the green which also has bunkers round it you should probably lay up.

I have no idea what courses you play, Jon, but I have yet to encounter a green that has no trouble around it.

I'm currently playing to about 25! Consistency is something I have no idea about at the moment.. I just can't seem to eradicate the double & triple (or sometimes worse!) bogies from my card.. If I could, I'd be playing to a couple of shots of 14 which would please me no end... Still, what makes us keep going back for more??!

Lee, that is exactly how I feel at the moment, playing a lot of good holes spoilt by doubles and triples.

I played last Friday and I score in the following manner:

Birdies x 1, Pars x 4, Bogies x 7, DBogies x 0, TBogies x 5, QBogie x 1 = 25 over

I know it doesn't work like this, but if I was playing bogie golf, straight away I can see my shots went to waste on TBogies.  IF I'd just bogied them holes, I would've been 15 over, even with a QBogie on my card!

What made that round even more frustrating was, I was playing matchplay against my partner and it was A/S going up the 16th.. I triple bogied the 16th & 17th and lost 2&1!

I know where my game is going wrong, I'm just not sure how to rid it of the TBogies!

If I shoot 30+ points on Monday I'll be happy.. I can't remember the last time I scored 30 points!

<p>Lee, you probably just need to look at how you are scoring the triples.&nbsp; If you are hitting it OB off the tee then not taking driver could be the play, but if it is around the green then that needs the work.</p>  <p>&nbsp;For me doubles and triples are caused off the tee, but then I often follow up with poor shot selection trying to recover.&nbsp; Learning to take your medicine is a hard but valuable lesson in golf. </p>  <p>I am currently trying to eliminate one side of the course off the tee so I will at least know where my misses will be.&nbsp; </p>

John

I wasn't suggesting that the go for it situation would occur very often and certainly my home course has bunkers round all of the greens.  However I played Breadsall Priory Moorland course recently and a number of the greens there didn't have any hazards.

It also depends what an individual golfer is good at.  If you would back yourself to get closer to the pin from a greenside bunker than you would from a 20 - 40 yard pitch from in front of the green then you might as well go for the green. 

Then it would most likely mean that you were a pro. I have never seen an amateur better from bunkers than with a 20-40 yard pitch.

Frederick, you are indeed a rare player who is better from a bunker than a short pitch.  With that ability I am sure you must aim for them all the time. Myself, I prefer to keep away from them, always have done, even hen I could play this game.

What you conveniently forget is that the pros play their bunker shots from a flawless bunker that has been raked, whereas we have to play out of sandpits that look like the beach at an English seaside resort.

I would love to see you in action, perhaps you would care fo a game sometime.

John,

you are right that my example was a poor one but I was just trying to illustrate my point that percentage golf does not always mean playing within your comfort zone.

Every shot you should way up the risks and rewards and then select the appropriate shot.  95% of the time this will probably be a shot in your comfort zone but in some circumstances where the risks are lower you should select the go for it shot.  If you always play in your comfort zone you are not playing percentage golf.

I will have to disagree, Jon, as I feel you are missing my point about how I like to play the game now. I say now, because I have been forced to change my approach for reasons that I think everyone knows.

We all have shots that we know will produce the goods all of the time and I see no reason to change an approach to a hole just because I might have a chance of hitting a green in regulation figures if I produce the miracle shot. I tend now to use the shots that I am allocated by my handicap, even to the extent that I am quite often known to play a few of our longer par threes with plenty of water trouble as two shotters. I guarantee the four with the possibility of a par.

I will agree that this method is not likely to produce lower scores, but it  does tend to prevent the real disasters and as I only seem to play competitive golf I don't really get the chance to have a go at shots that might bring a reward if they were successful.

I totally agree with your last post there Jon although i think i am well below the 95%

John

I wasn't advocating that all golfers should play to the method I was describing I was just trying to define what I understood as percentage golf.  I entirely agree with you that if you want to produce consistent scores near to your handicap as possible then the method you describe is the right one.  However it is not what I understand as percentage golf.  A better term for it would be safety first golf. 

The method I described as percentage golf is better suited to players trying to lower their handicaps.  However it runs the risk of odd bad scores because we are not computers and in weighing up risks and rewards we are bound to make mistakes some days leading to disaster scores. 

At the complete opposite end there is nothing wrong in taking a complete gung ho approach if a player gets satisfaction from executing individual shots and is less concerned about constructing a round.  This approach may even be the best way of shooting an individual low round score if you get lucky one day but is not the path to consistency or lowering handicaps in the long run.

Martin

The 95% I quoted refers to the level I play at.  Obviously the closer you get to scratch the more often you will assess the odds in your favour of pulling off a long or recvery shot.

For a 20+ Hcp'er to lower there Hcp is not to score more Birdies and Pars but to stop taking 7's, 8,s & 9,s in each round. To do this you need to play Percentage Golf.

If you knock it over the water 10% of the times you try it, go round it. If it takes you 2 shots to get to the same spot you do in 1 10% of the time, in 3 80% of the time, and 5 10% of the time, you can see how you save shots 90% of the time. NOW thats Percentage Golf!

Played today, shot 18 over (3 over handicap), and even that was with a 4 over on a par 5, 3 triples (2 on par 4's and 1 on a par 3!) and a double! Still cannot get these stupid scores out my game! Still managed to shoot 34 points.. I can't be too annoyed with my game as its there, just need to get rid of the higher scores!!

Matt, it is a fallacy that the Pros play tighter, longer and tougher courses. All of those courses have members.

Take the BMW just played at Wentworth, a course that I have played many times. Did you notice any rough that was penal, of course you didn't, there is none. The fairways are very wide, yet the scoring for a course with a par of 72 with four par fives all reachable in two, giving a realistic par of 68 for this class of golfer, yet, apart from the leaderboard proved that even the best conditions can still bring out poor scores.

The rough at my course now is completely unplayable, assuming one finds the ball.

Have you seen any rough at Augusta that is penal, even if one goes in the trees it is easily found and only pine needles to play off.

You, as an amateur never get to play on the superb conditions they are lucky to get to play.

Every new course built claims it is a championship course, what a joke.

Agreed, Stuart, the links courses are natural and the rough can be intimidating, but you have not taken into account that with all the crowds at the Open the rough gets pretty trampled down and there is always someone to hand to find the ball. We do not have this luxury when we play these courses.

You played Sherfield  recently but you would not believe how much more difficult the rough has grown to since then. I am now averaging three off the tee at least a couple of times a round, as are my playing partners.

Agree with John about the state of rough at allot of courses in comparison to what the pros play.  I can't work out why they are like that, it just means 5 hour rounds as people look for their ball, then often end up dropping from where they thought it was to speed up play.  I can't stand that (for myself) as it means the scorecard is invalid.

I thought the guide for the penalty for going in the rough was supposed to be half a shot i.e you have to play the rest of the hole well to make a par, but if you loose the ball it is three shots.

 I played Chart Hills recently and lost one ball hitting it out of bounds (where it should be three off the tee).  Every time I was in the rough I found my ball, it was very penal as it wrapped around the hosel so was just a hack out, or with a hlaf decent liew maybe able to get a 7 iron on it, but it meant with a good third and a good putt you could scramble a par.

I am considering becoming a country member there for that reason as I can't find anywhere like that nearer home.

Excellent course, Andrew. Faldo did a very good job in his design. Plenty of sand eh!

Yep, plenty of sand, I think about 140 bunkers.  I managed to find most of them too!

 It is a really good test though, a proper thinking golf course.  When I play it again there are quite a few holes where my strategy would be quite different.  (Didn't help that I had a bad dose of the sherman tanks for the first 8 holes either!)