This is it..........The answer to better scores

Hole Yards Par Stroke Index h/capp score My score My Position
--------------------------------A-------------B----------------C
1.......330.....4........18..............4........ ...........4.......................L
2.......372.....4........4............... 5...................4......................-1
3.......425.....4........2............... 5...................5......................-1
4.......170.....3........8............... 4...................3.......................-2
5.......362.....4........10..............4........ ...........4.......................-2
6.......480.....5........16..............5........ ...........6.......................-1
7.......145.....3........14..............3........ ...........4........................L
8.......404.....4........6...............5........ ............4.......................-1
9.......208.....3........12..............3........ ...........3.......................-1
OUT..2896...34......................38............ .....37.......................-1



This is our front 9 at my Course, you can see the Par column is actual,,, and to shoot level is (34 out) column A is the score you write in before the round with my h/cap added,you will note I get 4 shots as per the stroke index, I do this in Pen and save and re-use it until my h/cap drops etc.

You can see that I need to shoot 38 for a level front 9 not 34…………..column B is my actual score on the day just written in pencil, you can see they add up to 37 (three over actual par)..but now look at my h/cap score in (C) I am actually (1 under) not 3 over…………..this is a great confidence boost to your game, with shots on the back 9 too you may score over par but under your h/cap.
The beauty is you maybe 10 or 18 over actual par but by using this card you may still be in with a shout of beating your h/capp.............................REMEMBER only scratch players play to the course Par.


Good Luck I hope this helps.


Ian.

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Once you learn the swing, your next step is mastering golf psychology................

Hi Ian,

Yes, it's a real boost when playing to par is not an option, to play to beat your handicap.

On another forum, we play in a virtual league (20 weeks, give or take a couple weeks; usually commencing with springtime in Canada).

Each round is calculated by taking your score, subtracting the rating, dividing that by the slope, multiplying by the average slope, then subtracting your handicap.

I've played a few rounds at sub-handicap, the best being about 5 under. It's neat, because in that league, you can often win the week.

I play like this every week and it is working for me.


Liam

Knows this is an oldish thread, but the title of it jumped out at me because I was just sitting here looking at my last 8 scorecards and wondering why I'm not getting any lower......???

For the record, my gross scores for my last 8 rounds have been (in order from oldest to current) 92, 88, 92, 91, 89, 90, 90 and (yes, you guessed it) yet another 90 last saturday......

My long standing habit is to just write each number on the card after each hole and do not even consider the total until after I've walked off 18, (I will add them up after 9 if my marker asks me too) because as is mentioned in other threads, scorecard pressure has effected me over the final few holes in the past. You know, the old "wow!!! two more bogeys and I'll have had 66 nett!!!" then you promptly have 2 triples, hitting the next tee shot out of bounds and 4 putting the last...

All I try to think about each week is to simply try to enjoy myself and not let anything that might occur bother me too much... That said, last Saturday, I did have a scratch (a triple bogey for no stableford points) on the hole immediately after the "didn't you count the airy" incident...

Clearly I am not as mentally wired as I might like to think I am...

I am wondering if I was to try to play bogey golf, given my 18 h/cap, might I shoot a lower number....

I guess we are all looking for some secret or other to lower numbers, I just haven't found mine as yet...

Cheers

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Every time a golfer makes a birdie, he must subsequently make two triple bogeys to restore the fundamental equilibrium of the universe....

Scragger, I'm afraid that this is very much "do as I say not do as I do".

I'd suggest that - apart from somehow becoming Tiger - the best way to lower your score is not to play for par, play for bogey, play for "fives" or play for whatever occurs to you.

Instead high handicappers like us should, and I know it's a cliche, play each shot one at a time a) within our capabilities b) away from trouble c) to set up the next.

An example, and insert your own figures, on a good day I can hit my rescue club accurately 200+ yards.

Which means with 210 to the pin, out of 10 tries:

2 should give me a putt (I'm being generous)
3 will be in the woods
2 will be 20 short of the green leaving an awkward short one
2 will be duffed 50 yards
1 will be topped because thats what happens when I REALLY GO FOR it.

On the other hand even I can go 210 yards pretty reliably in two shots.

Two questions:

Which option will give me more birdie / par / bogey opportunitiues
and fewer triples?

Which option do I normally take?

Damn it! I've convinced myself, late NY resolution, I'm going to reform.

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I firmly believe that we should try to experience all that life affords, except, perhaps, bestiality and of course Morris Dancing.

I guess it really is a question of perspective isn't it, I know lots of guys who play more often than I do, who also practice far more than I do and would give their eye teeth to shoot 90...

Me, I never (ok, make that VERY rarely) practice and I only play once a fortnight at the most and I'm consistently shooting 90 and I am wanting to go lower...

Take last week for example, 90 off the bat. So, 18 over the card for 18 holes, though this included one double and three triple bogeys, ok, so 11 over the card for 4 holes, which means 7 over the card for the other 14, which for the record was 8 bogeys, 5 pars and a birdie.....

And this is the source of my frustration (if you can call it that)...

I'm looking for some magical solution to remove those blowout holes which I always seem to manage to have 3 or 4 of every round.

This is why I started my journal, so I can see where (and hopefully WHY) the blowouts happen. I didn't 3 putt at all in this round, which for me is a massive plus. The 4 poor holes I had this week were all due to poor tee shots. So next time out, I'm hopefully going to get away on every hole and we'll see what happens. That said, if I get 14 good tee shots away, maybe I'll putt really tragically so the universe balances out...

Wait and see I guess...

Cheers

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Every time a golfer makes a birdie, he must subsequently make two triple bogeys to restore the fundamental equilibrium of the universe....

One of the best bits of advice I ever heard was - think of the tee shot as the easiest shot in golf, you get to tee it up and there's a big target, the only way you can mess it up is by hitting it too hard. Stroke it in the fairway and play from there.

hi mariner
think you have that spot on, stroke it in the fairway, the key to good driving.
bill