Random Golf Thoughts

Haha ya I’d say significant enough tbh

I think last known index was 8.8 but default for men in the classic is 18

Probably wouldn’t have the heart to do it in the moment anyway

Ya probably

Do people think rules should be explained a small bit better for things like Champagne Scrambles/Classics etc?

I’d say moreso than any other competition rules may be incorrectly/accidentally broken - things like best ball player placing their ball (even I’m not 100% sure on it), somebody putting out for their par to let another person ‘have a go’ for birdie when it’s only one score to count etc

Love learning things like that. Wasn’t aware at all

I kind of did one. If you have access to a driving range, I'd advise doing it in winter because you need to be able to hit hundreds of balls to ingrain the new movements, and you don't want to waste a summer hacking it around. It's als hard to fully commit to a new swing if you're worried about hitting it OB or missing a green. You'll need a few lessons, monthly at the beginning perhaps, to make sure you're on track and to keep building on things.

I do have very similar thoughts. I'm fighting the dreaded S's since the turn of the year. Like yourself I would be a high single digit handicapper, but my round is completely gone if they come on. I walked off a golf course 2 months ago for the first time in my life, I'd lost 6 balls through complete shanks through 9 holes and when I saw the club house on the 9th green, I had enough, I was mentally broken. I was actually playing some of the best golf I played since the COVID break up to that point.

I'm a decent ball striker for 90% of the time, but I have some ingrained flaws that raise their heads ever now and then, and bring on a shank. Before I would have laughed it off, but now it's become such an issue that if I shank one, I mentally break and there's a strong possibility I could shank my next 4 or 5 shots, one after the other!

The only conclusion I can come to, is a complete swing rebuild. But finding the time to put in the work required to make the change is the killer. It may have to be done, as I will probably give up the game entirely if I continue with my current state of play.

🤣🤣 2 or 3 of my mates sent me the link to it as soon as it was released. It was interesting to be fair, listening to the Pro's talk about them and how scared they're to mention the dreaded word!!! One thing that struck me was, both Scottie and Tiger spoke about how they laughed when they hit their shanks, however to them, it was crucial not to hit 2 in a row as that could cause real physiological damage.

I found that funny, like how good and pure these guys hit the ball, shanks are a 1 in a million shot for them, yet they still stress about the possibility of hitting 2 in a row if they hit 1!

I understand your pain.Been there.Was a very good 12/13 h/c with a great short game.Suddently out of nowhere I started shanking short chips.Was a laugh in the begining for my long time playing partners ,but not for me.Gave up golf about a year later.Still miss the golf but not the embarassment of shanking.

McGuirks in Kinsealy is hitting out into a range.

Same for Foregolf.

You're hitting off a mat in both though

best golf podcasts on spotify ??

yea i do watch the rick shiels podcast on youtube. Love listening to it to be fair. Ill give the others a listen, cheers

Just looking back at my scores over the last few years..

Double bogeys… The last time i went double free was October 2021… Even when i managed to break 80 a few times the doubles were there.

Mad How easily i could score better by just improving this stat…😆

Will have to start tracking my rounds again.

I need to identify which proportion of shots is the main culprit.

I suspect off the tee , but i seem to be messing up more with approach from the fairway/1st cut a lot lately.

Yes, avoiding penalties is absolutely critical.

Was more making the point that amateurs think that low guys are making piles of birdies, when they're not actually, they just avoid the bit numbers much better

Whats strange about this is a lot of the reasons some golfers remain stuck on a handicap is what I see as a misguided approach to the game and how they can lower scores. As others have said, birdies aren't the route to lower scores, its avoiding doubles and worse. Yet every weekend you'll see players of all levels get frustrated or annoyed that they didn't birdie a hole from 100 yards out. There is another element to this as well though which is that a lot of golfers are just turning up to play a round and aren't that interested or dedicated to getting better so its not that surprising that they are both surprised at how 'good' a single digit player is while at the same time making decisions and mistakes that single digit players don't make but can't make the connection between the two.

I know, I have played with so many guys and if they haven’t had a sniff at a birdie putt within the first 6 maybe 7 holes they’re immediately frustrated and mentally beginning to give up on the round. And these lads would be 14, maybe 15 handicappers, good weekend golfers obviously but the mentality that you should be seeing birdie chances every few holes is madness. The whole, I messed up on that last whole so I going to take out my frustration and murder this next drive mentality comes in.

I think a lot of it comes from watching too much PGA tour at the weekend and watching too much golf YouTubers who seemed to have a birdie putt on every hole. None of that is reality to us weekend amateurs