Scoring Patterns

[Hey_Porter]

Today exemplified my frustrations with the game, and it was fairly typical. I shot an 87, with a 47 on the front and a 40 on the back. The difference between sides isn't what concerns me, it's the way I got to those scores. This was what the score card looked like:
Par-Quad-Triple-Par-Bogey-Triple-Par-Par-Par
Bogey-Par-Double-Par-Par-Par-Par-Double-Birdie

In sum:
Birdies = 1
Pars = 10
Bogeys = 2
Doubles = 2
Triples = 2
Quad = 1

As I mentioned, this tends to be what my scorecard looks like, minus the quad, and usually no triples: a good amount of pars, a few scattered bogeys, then I throw in few doubles for good measure. What the hell? Is this normal? I only vaguely remember when I last played to a 13 or so ten years ago (I improved to a 7 before I stopped playing), but I seem to recall that scoring high had a lot more to do with having trouble making par and knotching a lot of bogeys than it did the blow up holes I'm having now. I'm well aware that consistency is the problem, but this just seems like too much. I can't even go out and pin point one area of my game that especially needs work. I.e., it might be nicer if I shot an 87 and could say "yea, my iron play was horrible today," or "I suck at putting." Instead, my iron play will be great for a 10-11 holes, my short game will suck 5-6 holes, can't get off the tee, etc. The other thing that frustrates me is on for instance the course I played today, there are maybe two holes where I step up to the tee box and am pretty sure I can't make easy par (one is a par 4 long enough that I can't reach in two without hitting driver, but the tee shot is set up so you HAVE to hit dead straight or fade it (at best I have a slight draw), the other is long, has an extremely narrow landing area, and a long uphill second shot)). Otherwise, I feel confident enough that I step up to the box and expect par. This is all just frustration, and I know that consistency is obviously what's keeping me down, but I just think that one of the many times out this past summer I should have been able to put it all together and score low (relatively).

But with all of that ranting, I'm still curious, you mid-handicappers out there, what is your scoring pattern like?

[41eater]

I consider myself a mid-handicapper (about an 8).

It's pretty simple for me. When I score well I avoid the doubles, triples, and worse. When I don't score well those big numbers stack up. Birdies, pars, bogies -- they all kind of come out in the wash. So one of my goals for every round is to have nothing worse than bogey.

After every round I mentally replay the doubles-or-worse holes to try to figure out why they happened. If it's a bad shot I can live with that -- I'm not good enough to expect to hit every shot well. Sometimes, though, it's a bad shot followed by a poor choice followed by another poor choice. Getting rid of those follow-on mistakes, as I think of them, is one of my goals.

Example: Last weekend I hit a semi-poor drive on a dogleg left that was underneath some branches from the trees that protect the corner. I had to chip out to about 100 yards. A bit irritated by the drive, I didn't really commit to the chip out (a poor choice). I stubbed it into a bush, had to take an unplayable, then wedged onto the green and two-putted for a double. This kind of mistake is something that real low handicappers don't make. They play the chip out correctly and wedge onto the green to get a putt for par. Every time they do that.

[KingGordy]

Your scoring pattern is pretty similar to mine OP. For me it comes down to the driver. I hit it long but crooked, so when I'm keeping the ball in play I usually have like 125 or less into the green, so I typically make pars as long as I keep it on the course, but I have a few holes a round where I bomb it OB, lost ball, trees etc. so I make double or worse on those holes and end up in the 80's.

[black knight]

When you're inconsistent, you're going to have 'blow' up holes due to penalty strokes. OB and water. Why are you so surprised? My dad is between a 13 and 18 (depending on how he's played the last month :P), and his good rounds are like 6-8 over because he avoids doubles and is making a lot of pars, but days like today (shot 17 over, +5 in the last 3holes) he might snap a 2nd shot ob, or put himself into jail on a simple hole. These things happen when you're >14 cap.

Conversely, as a scratch, my good rounds are generally lots of birdies and maybe only one bogey...the good rounds have birdie putts nearly every hole, and my scrambling will be very good. However, bad days (like +6 or whatever), I'm struggling for par and missing my birdie putts. Sometimes they'll include a double from an OB or something, or sometimes I just hit one bad shot that puts me in jail.

If you don't play/practice a lot, and aren't really consistent, you have to expect bad shots to cost you a good score.

[ArcticKnight]

Scoring patterns for me are pretty predictable. I am average/below average length off the tee (240y driver, 140y 8 iron) and play to about a 10 handicap.

My card will tend to look like 1 birdie, one double, and the rest are pars and bogeys.

Almost always my score is reflective of how well I play from 60 yards in, including putting. If the short game is on then I get 77-79, if not, then 84-85. I hardly shoot less than 76 or more than 86, but that tight range really comes from keeping the ball in play off the tee. Also, I'm a good lag putter (few three putts), but not so hot at the 8-20 foot range. I'm not agressive enough with my putting weight.

[Butcho22]

A quad and two triples makes for a rough day, lolz.

Care to explain those shot-by-shot for the hell of it?

[Hey_Porter]

[ QUOTE ]
A quad and two triples makes for a rough day, lolz.

Care to explain those shot-by-shot for the hell of it?

[/ QUOTE ]

Very rough day. I've had one other quad this year, none last year, and triples are usually nonexistent. Anyway:

Quad:
Par 4, dog leg left. Duck hooked my tee shot into the trees of a tree lined fairway on the left, ball kicked back into a water hazard (good news for me is it was my only bad drive of the day), leaving myself about 250 in from the rough. I have a slight draw with my irons that I can turn into a big one, and while the fairway was tree lined the shot was set up pretty well so a typical 6 iron (about what I felt comfortable getting to the ball with given the rough I was in after my drop) would put me in a nice spot on the fairway with an easy approach. This is probably one of those reasons I score high. While that should is completely doable, and it would have been nice to be 100 yards in, the safe play would have been to punch it safely to even about 150 and still have a shot in. I hooked it a little too much, it smacked a tree and went straight down. Now I'm about 150 out, directly behind a tree. Actually hit a pretty good half punch shot, but it took a bad bounce into the heavy rough. Got out of it, but a long way from the hole, and I three-putted after being pissed and not concentrating on the final putt.

First triple: Long par 5, right after my quad. Hit a fantastic drive (I'm proud of my driving yesterday, I've really been working on my hook, and by simply adjusting my grip a little I've had three consecutive rounds where my driver has been great; hit 12 fairways yesterday, which is unheard of for me). Second shot I was about 20 yards short, and stupidly went for a sucker pin that stuck me in a bad bunker. Bunkers were really inconsistent due to water, and I had a real nasty sideways plug (somehow). Thought I could get to it, couldn't (I'm actually pretty decent from the sand), and remained in it. Second shot out of the bunker skulled across the green. Forced to chip, I made a pretty good one, but it went JUST enough passed the hole to catch a hill, and I two putted.

Gotta go to work. And rehashing that is exhausting. Given my description of these holes, and my past recollection, triples come up when my usually solid short game fails. Most of the time on that first par four I can scramble back to a double or even a bogey.

[TripleH68]

I am a 6 handicap, but I really don't have a great swing or anything. For years I played to a handicap in the teens. A large part of my improvement I attribute to learning golf course management and handling my expectations. Of all the articles I have read advice from Nicklaus sticks out in my head. It goes a little something like this:

When figuring out a strategy for each hole/each shot, start by thinking of the worst things that can happen. As you gradually work your way to the best choice for each shot it will help you mentally as well. The last thing you will be thinking before each shot is positive.

Two simple examples from my latest round:

1) Short par-4 and I hit an excellent drive, but it rolls into the bunker fronting the green. If I play directly at the flag I have to carry 30 feet of sand over the lip to a slightly downhill green that runs off into heavy rough. Or I could hit a very easy out that leaves me a downhill 40 foot putt for birdie. Sure a tap-in birdie after a spectacular sand shot would be cool, but this is the second hole of the round and a safe par is a better option.

2) Fourth hole. Beautiful par-5. Diagonal green from left front to right back set in behind a water hazard. I have 145-yards to the flag for my third shot. Right of the green is short-sided in heavy rough. If I play to the flag and hit it left a deep bunker comes into play. I decide to aim 20 feet left of the flag with a smooth 8-iron and try to hit the center of the green. I was a little annoyed when I hit it exactly where I wanted, but two putts later I had my par on one of the tougher holes on the course.


Think over your latest round again and see how this type of approach can help you.

[Hey_Porter]

[ QUOTE ]
I am a 6 handicap, but I really don't have a great swing or anything. For years I played to a handicap in the teens. A large part of my improvement I attribute to learning golf course management and handling my expectations. Of all the articles I have read advice from Nicklaus sticks out in my head. It goes a little something like this:

When figuring out a strategy for each hole/each shot, start by thinking of the worst things that can happen. As you gradually work your way to the best choice for each shot it will help you mentally as well. The last thing you will be thinking before each shot is positive.

Two simple examples from my latest round:

1) Short par-4 and I hit an excellent drive, but it rolls into the bunker fronting the green. If I play directly at the flag I have to carry 30 feet of sand over the lip to a slightly downhill green that runs off into heavy rough. Or I could hit a very easy out that leaves me a downhill 40 foot putt for birdie. Sure a tap-in birdie after a spectacular sand shot would be cool, but this is the second hole of the round and a safe par is a better option.

2) Fourth hole. Beautiful par-5. Diagonal green from left front to right back set in behind a water hazard. I have 145-yards to the flag for my third shot. Right of the green is short-sided in heavy rough. If I play to the flag and hit it left a deep bunker comes into play. I decide to aim 20 feet left of the flag with a smooth 8-iron and try to hit the center of the green. I was a little annoyed when I hit it exactly where I wanted, but two putts later I had my par on one of the tougher holes on the course.


Think over your latest round again and see how this type of approach can help you.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thinking on it I think your right, poor course management is definitely something that's keeping me down. In my quad example above, if I had safely punched out, I have a shot where I know (for the most part) I can hit green, although not close. Instead of taking that shot, I think "you know, I have this shot in my bag, and if I make it work I have a better chance of hitting it close." When the shot DOESN'T work, what should have been at worst a bogey can become a quad. I do this a lot, and know it, but haven't really considered how much it could improve my game to change that attitude. Maybe I just need to be o.k. aiming for bogey in certain circumstances.

[black knight]

Course management is one of the stronger parts of my game, IMO. And I always find it amazing the kind of shots that mid to high handicappers try to play...shots that I wouldn't even THINK of attempting because they're too difficult for even a touring pro...yet they go for it without a 2nd thought and wonder why they have blowup holes.

Here's an example from yesterday. One of the ladies we were playing with had hit her 2nd shot (her drive was in jail, and she failed to get out of jail...first mistake) to a spot where you could go for the <1% odds shot through a low-hanging oak tree (if you hit it and go right it's OB), over a cart path, through thick rough, and MAYBE past the other oak trees and have a 40yd shot to the green...or you could take an 8iron and hit a 40yd simple punch to the fairway but be 90-110 yds out...of course she goes for the impossible shot, hits the branch, and goes OB. I just don't get it...sure I guess I'd at least LOOK at the shot, but it'd take about a milisecond to know that it was a horrible idea...but mid to high handicappers never even balk at hitting shots that never cross my mind (cuz they're impossible).

Porter: your line of thinking is exactly the problem...it's incomplete. You play poker, weigh the odds!! Sure, going for the miracle shot will put you closer IF you pull it off.

But let's think about some math: Say it's your 2nd shot to a par 4...you're in jail, and if you punch it out to the fairway, you can make bogey 90% of the time, dble bogey 5% and par 5%. So, your average score will be 5 (.90) + 4 (0.05) + 6 (0.05) = 5, so you're giving up one shot by playing safe and playing for bogey.
But, what if you go for the miracle shot. Say, if you hit your miracle shot it only works 1% of the time, and even then you're maybe still only 20' from the pin at best, and only making THAT putt about 20% of the time. So, 20% of 1% of the time, you save 1 stroke...so you save 0.05 of a stroke each time you try that shot provided every time you miss, you don't get into more trouble. But when you have to hit a miracle shot, usually there's TONNES of more trouble...so 99% of the time, you're going to make dble bogey or worse...let's say that if you miss your shot, you make bogey 30% and dble 70%: so, 3 (0.20*0.01) + 4 (0.80*0.01) + 5 (0.30*0.99) + 6 (0.70*0.99) = 5.61. So you're costing yourself AT LEAST 0.61 strokes each time you hit that miracle shot. This doesn't take into account penalty strokes since the scenario I'm assuming is just as if you had more trees/deep rough or bunkers to contend with...had I included triple bogey and worse, obviously the result would be higher.

This is basically what I go through when thinking about shots...though it's obviously FAR more intuitive. I figure the salient outcomes, assign probabilities, then compute how that relates to my score...and I go with whatever I think will produce the best score.