How's your game!

galwaylad14

spacecoyote wrote: »

A mixed bag at the moment.

I've gone back to having a driver in the bag, and seeing, on the whole, pretty positive results. Distance is well up with comparison to the Mini Driver with minimal impact on accuracy.

3wood & hybrids have been slightly pull draw of late. Not wild, but enough to find some trouble. Its tough being an old OTT guy convincing yourself to aim down the right!

Making good contact generally with my irons, but inconsistent ball flight (again a consequence of being almost between swings. Still not quite sure if I'm going to hit a draw or a fade with the mid irons for some reason)

Hitting plenty of greens with the scoring irons, but probably not hitting them close enough which is not yielding enough realistic birdie opportunities.

Short game is still showing the effects of not enough practice. Getting consistent contact, but just not getting pace good enough in general to make enough up & downs.

Putter is streaky. Overall quite confident over the short ones, but I've been very racy with my distance & lag putting in the last couple of weeks which is leaving me with 4 footers rather than 2 footers.

Perfect example of my game at the moment was the 14th in Castlewarden at the weekend. Hit a nice long slightly pushed draw off tee. Was left a couple of yards off the right edge of the fairway with about 115 yards in. Hit a wedge to about 15 feet pin high right. Proceeded to blast my birdie putt 5 feet past. Missed the 5 footer back, and hit it 3 feet long, which I then proceeded to lip out to make a 4 putt (haven't done that in a long time!!!) and walk off from an easy GIR with a double bogey. Then followed up on 15, 16 & 17 with 1 putts. And on par 5 18th, hit Drive, 22 Hybrid & wedge to about 10 feet, and 3 putted for bogey.

Inconsistent would be an understatement

It sounds like you're not too far away at all!

zuutroy

Good news: I had 40 pts today.

Bad news: Pts stands for putts in this case

Ciaranra

Game is getting better starting to feel a run of form is on the way,
Last few rounds scoring in low to mid 30s with bad course management,

zuutroy

zuutroy wrote: »

Good news: I had 40 pts today.

Bad news: Pts stands for putts in this case

By Jaysus what a difference a few days can make.

Broke 80 today for my best round ever. Just the 45 points off 17!

Delighted tbh, wasn't sure I'd ever break it....may not again

http://www.gamegolf.com/player/zuutroy/round/360374

Rikand

Hitting the ball brilliantly off the tee and my irons are excellent too. My putting is starting to come good too.

My chipping is in the toilet though and it's costing me 5-6 shots a round everytime I have to take a chip shot from around the green. Far too many shots to be giving up

slingerz

Had 34 points in Castlemartyr today off the back sticks and it was blowing a gale. Played well enough to be honest but hard to judge with the strength of the wind. Putting could be better thought the greens were pretty slow there

JoeCole26

Game has been very very inconsistent, played this morning in Luttrelstown Castle. Played a good front 9 - 18points, but fell apart on the back 9. Really demoralised by the game at the minute.

Long irons were the best part of my game few months ago, but now I've lost all confidence with them - second guessing myself, worried my position when lining up for shot is all wrong, just loads of random things going through my head. Overthinking things.

Driving is very hit and miss, when good, it's very good, when bad, it's very bad, but feel if I can get consistency with tee off it will give me a chance to get decent scores and improve confidence.

Funny thing is I feel im not far off getting it right,but at the same time feel a million miles away. So desperately want to get it right which is the most frustrating thing. Also, seem to start okay, but fall apart on the back 9, today I tried to focus on just being nice and steady for the 10th and 11th which I need but went down hill after that.

Suppose that's the game of golf. Any tips or recommendations? Also, going to start getting lessons in South Dublin, have tried Brendan McDaid once last year, was good but prob too expensive for me.

Thanks for reading

spacecoyote

JoeCole26 wrote: »

Game has been very very inconsistent, played this morning in Luttrelstown Castle. Played a good front 9 - 18points, but fell apart on the back 9. Really demoralised by the game at the minute.

Long irons were the best part of my game few months ago, but now I've lost all confidence with them - second guessing myself, worried my position when lining up for shot is all wrong, just loads of random things going through my head. Overthinking things.

Driving is very hit and miss, when good, it's very good, when bad, it's very bad, but feel if I can get consistency with tee off it will give me a chance to get decent scores and improve confidence.

Funny thing is I feel im not far off getting it right,but at the same time feel a million miles away. So desperately want to get it right which is the most frustrating thing. Also, seem to start okay, but fall apart on the back 9, today I tried to focus on just being nice and steady for the 10th and 11th which I need but went down hill after that.

Suppose that's the game of golf. Any tips or recommendations? Also, going to start getting lessons in South Dublin, have tried Brendan McDaid once last year, was good but prob too expensive for me.

Thanks for reading

Couple of tips:

Stop counting your score after 9 holes, suddenly you start thinking about your score rather than just playing. The best golf I've played in my life, I know I'm playing well but have no clue exactly what my score is till I walk off the course.

Make sure your drinking enough water.

Make sure you're eating regularly throughout the round.

cjfitz

My game is solid at the moment. Second last sunday in a stroke comp with a nett 69 (82 strokes) and won our society outing yesterday with 38 points (81 strokes). I lost a ball in that round yesterday and lost 2 in the strokes comp, so I feel a really big score is around the corner and should break 80 for the first time soon.

My game has improved since I read 'Golf Tough' by Dan Abrahams and am still working my way through James Sieckmann's 'Your Short Game Solution'. My scrambling has increased from an average of 27% to an average of 40% for my last 5 rounds since I started reading Siekmann's book.

benny79

MY GAME.

I don't know what to say I feel like I have gone 20 steps back! was coming into the qualifying season on a high after coming second in our open week, shooting my personal best, full of confidence to now after having 2 of my worse games in a row this week & last. I am playing with a bit of a injury, but I have it since Feb but think its moved to my shoulder. feels like my shoulder and arm goes dead and I have no feeling after hitting a few balls. My mate reckons I should lay off for 2 months but we are in our summer and its a long winter so not a chance!.

I'm definitely not loving the game at the moment, and losing confidence again! Have had 2 lessons in the last couple of weeks been told in first one im bringing club back to flat so fixed that then second one im not compressing ball & hinging my wrists. So have to do a few drills which I find hard. One is the pump drill if anyone heard of it? second one is to put a ball a foot behind another one. Set up to first ball, then move club behind second ball then swing and hit first ball. Theory is you hinge your wrists enough to miss the ball thats a foot behind your ball. I find this drill impossible & get very frustrated doing it, I also find the pump drill hard.

was is this game so hard! I would mind if I was 15 or 16 hc but im playing off 22 ffs.. :mad:

P.s Pro also told me to get the swing gyde training aid if anyone ever had of it? He reckons its one of the best on the market & will really help my game.

dcrosskid

Played a Champagne scramble last Saturday, first round in over 2 months so it suited me to have a safety net in case of a bad drive. Turned out my tee shot was the best part of my game. We ended up using my ball on 1,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12 & 17. Could have used another 1 or 2 only for the rule of everyone must have 2 tee shots so was delighted with that.

Irons were okay, but chipping was fairly poor, the last time I played it was still winter competitions so could place the ball & resulted in running a lot of chips well past the hole. Putting was solid, no short misses or 3 putts so overall fairly happy with the game.

It looks like the summer won't be as taken up by other stuff as I first thought so Golf could be getting more time now!!

Looking forward to it

slingerz

best round ever yesterday in club matchplay.

would have been 45 points off 15, +6 gross. won 3&2

alxmorgan

alxmorgan wrote: »

Still waiting for that momentum. Got my first cut of the year first time out coming 4th in Nenagh with 36 points on a very tough day so decent start.

Since then it's only been casual games which have been hit and miss. Was hoping competition would sharpen the senses and the game but not to be. Played Ballykisteen Scratch Cup today in perfect conditions and was worst I've played in a long time.

Driving was good but that was about it. Everything else was way too inconsistent and it cost me. Managed a couple of birdies and a smattering of pars but too many big numbers. A far cry from the highs of Nov/Dec. Still early so plenty of time to get my mojo back. At least I know I have it in me.

Part of issue today was I was really looking forward to it. Perhaps a bit too much if you get me. Expectations are golfers kryptonite

Hard to know what to say really. I am playing well in patches but can't put a full round together.

Had two stroke rounds in two weeks where I imploded coming down the stretch. Last Sunday gone I was going well until 3 putting 3 holes in a row from nowhere. Greens were crazy fast alright but I was handling them well until then.

I am typical inconsistent golfer. Always seems to be something different that is causing issues every week. Really feel like I would benefit from getting out more whether it be for practice or play but with family pressures that is not going to happen.

Still enjoying it when I do get out despite not playing as well as I know I can. Hoping my game is in decent shape by the time the ACC comes around...not far away now

FixdePitchmark

Slipping a bit.

Not as much time, due to work and not much time on the horizon to do much about it. About a month ago – putting just went again. It was a pity, as most of my game was in great shape and it looked like my handicap was going to fall. Then was tied up big time with work. And suddenly, everything started to slip a bit.

Things not looking great for getting much golf in this summer (work – kids – house stuff) – well, it still is probably more than most on here , so should be cognisant of relativity.

Something a little unusual also happened , not sure if it was the putting problems that got me down. But, I found my motivation slip a bit. I guess I hadn’t time for practice, putting was poor, scores started to slip. Very unusual for me. It was almost a perfect storm.

The funny thing is, I know my game is not as far away from good golf as it seems – still scoring in the 32 to 36 range. But, went through a stage , I could hardly score a birdie at all. I was having level par 9s, but not able to do it for 18. After great starts - was still ending up with 36.

Was in the club – and bumped into a elderly gent who I play a bit with (late 80s) – class bloke. He asked me how is my game – told him it was slipping since I had my best ever score. He asked me what was the score – I told him I had gone under par. He laughed and said – do you really want me to feel sorry for you – we both laughed out loud . The preposterousness of it (lol). If someone had told me a year ago, you’ll have an under par round, then struggle with motivation. I’d have laughed at them.

So – I need a bit of a kick in the arse, every single aspect of my practice has fallen off. My game seems very response to effort. It seems more so than most.

The funny thing is , I’m still enjoying the games of golf I get. Handicap is slipping up – but still feel I’m hitting the ball very well.

If I was to read that post – I’d tell the guy to take a break , don’t want to take a break in mid summer. It seems I'm on a forced break in a way - maybe the summer is not the time for my golf, I seem to get big cuts in April - May - then Sept.

You never know – could be a big score around the corner , if I just practiced a little bit.

From a break – to not able to play much – to practice a bit. Mad stuff.

Confused. :)

mafc

Put my old R9 back in the bag, shorter off the tee but only missed 3 fairways, gonna leave it in there for the next month and see how it goes.

benny79

After been doing so well coming up to the qualifying season my game has gone backwards and I dont really know how or why! maybe lack of practice or trying to hard when Im on the course! I really have a mental block when it comes to my handicap, Im off 15 in my society & can nearly play to it, 22 in my club (gui) got my first cut of a shot in medal when I didnt think I played well (off the blues & strokes) to go to 21.4 only to get .1 back and back to 22 the following week when it was stableford & off whites so technically easier. :mad:

So last lesson my Pro told me to get a swing gyde which I did, so have to put a bit of practice in with it but seems a good idea and gadget so hears hoping! He also gave me a good tip for my short game which does seems to work. I Am hitting balls from 60 yards and in to a foot of pin or there abouts which I never have done before, but again need to put practice in to get consistently.

This game can really destroy you at times.

charlieIRL

I'm getting a bit of that consistency that I've been chasing a while now in my game lately, my last few rounds have all been in the mid to high 30's.

Unfortunately, the odd brain fart moment still creeps in every now and then but not as much any more. My driving has been the best its been in a long time, I'm hitting a lot of fairways and fringe - very little going miles off line anymore. My long irons are going well, had very few over the last few rounds though One thing I'm constantly working on and is still very hit and miss is my <10m chips. It cost me a lot of points yesterday and in my last few rounds. When I'm only a few meters off the green my head scrambles. I either leave it miles short or blade it. I gave up on using a 60 degree wedge yesterday after a few brutal chips and started using a PW bump n run and it got better as the round went on. Hard play that type of shot when you are playing over a bank beside a green though. (Any tips on how to hit off a downhill lie say 5 m from an elevated green club / ball placement etc) Thankfully my putts are coming good as well, had a few tricky long ones yesterday and pace caught me out but overall its getting there.

Overall, am happier but I know there is an awful lot more points there to be taken and get the handicap to where it realistically should be. Onwards and downwards.

Keano

Drop that 60 instantly. They are just too hard to get right repeatedly. I just use a PW or SW around the greens now.

My own game is coming along nicely. Like Charlie I've started to put some good scores in and the handicap is going the right way for once. My driving has been the best it's ever been...until Friday when my slice came back to haunt me but thankfully the rest of the game was in good shape. Still visit the putting green most days on my lunch and that is helping a lot. Short game has come on no end as I now know that type of shot I want to hit in or around the greens.

charlieIRL

Keano wrote: »

Drop that 60 instantly. They are just too hard to get right repeatedly. I just use a PW or SW around the greens now

Might leave it out next round and see, I use it out of the bunker though.

Keano

Your 54 will do just as good a job! I'll give you a bunker lesson in the Curragh :P

charlieIRL

Keano wrote: »

Your 54 will do just as good a job! I'll give you a bunker lesson in the Curragh :P

Dude, if you hit a bunker in the Curragh there is something seriously wrong with your game!!!!:P:P:P:P

Seriously, would appreciate that though.

Boskowski

Was thinking the same and I'm suffering from the same problem too. Chips that just need to pop up and out are a problem with me. Taking it back too far then no acceleration through the ball.

I'm by no means qualified to give advice to anyone but I don't think a 60 is the answer. I actually sold mine last year. Totally pointless club I found. I can hit a high pitch with my 56 SW no problem.
And for chipping I don't know I ended up trying to play everything like a mini explosion flop with that and the good ones were very inconsistent and the bad ones were absolutely destructive.

My cat 1 buddy is teaching me a short abbreviated - hands from right pocket to left pocket - swing almost like a putting stroke. It shows good results on the practice green but it has to stand the test of comp yet.

OffalyMedic

Keano wrote:

Drop that 60 instantly.

charlieIRL wrote:

Might leave it out next round and see, I use it out of the bunker though.

I feel like I missed my chance for sell haha I'll do a good deal on it for ya Charlie I swear it'll work wonders with a bit of practise

DuckSlice

My game is worrying to be honest. At the range I can't hit an iron, shank, top, heavy, everything. Driver hybrid etc all fine at the range and wedges fine. On the course I have only played to handicap once this year, I'm having 2/3 bad holes every round. When on the course I hit my irons fine which is weird and the struggle with the driver. I'm at my wits end, I don't know what to do!
The only thing I can think of is at the range I'm trying to kill the ball, worrying about distance and not technique. Hopefully it all clicks soon!

cjfitz

For the people struggling with short shots near the green, James Sieckmann's "Your Short Game Solution" book has helped me greatly. From 30 yards in the method is pretty simple and effective. My scrambling has improved from 27% to around 40% since reading it and doing a little bit of practice.

Boskowski

I don't really know what my game is like. I'm blowing hot and cold.
I play a few years now and I know there's good days and bad days. But I can go from hitting it as well as I ever did one day to struggling the next day. I've had a couple of my best round ever lately actually threatening to break 80 (shot an 84 & 83, I'm off 17) to shooting a 95 two days later. One if those ok I played well and a few putts were going in but the 83 was mostly just good ball striking to a standard probably half my handicap. Wasnt even playng out of my skin scrambling and putting wise. Is this normal at all?

slingerz

i just cant score. the aspects of the game seem to be going well especially in the practice rounds where i'm frequenting sub 80 however in counting comps i cant get sub 80 at all.

i dont know if it is tensing up in counting comps or what but its pretty frustrating

alxmorgan

alxmorgan wrote: »

Hard to know what to say really. I am playing well in patches but can't put a full round together.

Had two stroke rounds in two weeks where I imploded coming down the stretch. Last Sunday gone I was going well until 3 putting 3 holes in a row from nowhere. Greens were crazy fast alright but I was handling them well until then.

I am typical inconsistent golfer. Always seems to be something different that is causing issues every week. Really feel like I would benefit from getting out more whether it be for practice or play but with family pressures that is not going to happen.

Still enjoying it when I do get out despite not playing as well as I know I can. Hoping my game is in decent shape by the time the ACC comes around...not far away now

So ACC has come and gone
Great few days. Had a mare on day 1 but put two very good rounds together on days 2 and 3 in tough conditions.

Played a stroke comp at home on Sunday just gone and my long game was woeful. Played singles matchplay QF yesterday and wasn't expecting much after Sunday. Made a grip change on 18 on Sunday to strengthen left hand grip which resulted in best iron shot of the day. Stuck with that yesterday with fantastic results. Power and confidence was back. This was the way my grip used to be and I didn't change it consciously but must have done so to combat my tendency to miss greens left.

Anyway we had a great match and I ended up winning 2 & 1. Played as well as I ever have. He shot +3 off 10 and I still beat him !!! Short game was on fire and long game was back with a bang after grip change. Back to the level I was playing mid-winter which I have been struggling to repeat ever since.

So anyway about to take a 3 week break from golf for holidays but it feels great to know I can still do it. Was beginning to doubt myself after all the 0.1s. Not always going to be as good as yesterday but you need days like that to give you the will to keep going when things get bad. Smiling today anyway

slingerz

Played well enough at the weekend putter was scorching for the first few holes. finished with 37 points but should have been a lot better.

Matchplay QF against last years winner so up against it, he qualified off 11 and he's off 9 now i qualified off 14 and am still at that mark. hopefully he has one of those dreadful off days!!

mike12

cjfitz wrote: »

For the people struggling with short shots near the green, James Sieckmann's "Your Short Game Solution" book has helped me greatly. From 30 yards in the method is pretty simple and effective. My scrambling has improved from 27% to around 40% since reading it and doing a little bit of practice.

What's different with his methods. Seems to disagree with peltz.