Card in Hand - Bottle - The missing link

First topic message reminder :

Coming out of my comments on another thread and another disappointing weekend performance in a big comp. I'm trying to get to the bottom of why I score so poorly in big comps these days. I can quite happily weave it round in bounce games and indeed matchplay matches on average several shots lower than handicap.

I prepare thoroughly for big comps but I'm increasingly finding myself in a tailspin half a dozen holes in. There's clearly something destructive going on between the ears as I know (and have proven) that I can play the game to a decent standard and shoot a good score. I basically have all the shots in my armoury and can tonk the ball a decent distance and can plot and think my way around a course.

Macs assertion is that it's bottle and that I crack under pressure (hideously negative phrases which I don't subscribe to). The root of these phrases centres around nerves and the ability or otherwise to control them. That is something that I feel I can do and do well although I'm prepared to accept the possibility that it may be a factor (but in exactly what way is it manifesting itself) . I think it's more a lack of concentration leading to a poor shot, which is then compounded by reacting to the poor shot

What I really want to know is how to eliminate the head-farts and the instances of lack of concentration.

Who has been in such a situation with their game (bounce rounds and matchplay regularly under handicap - Medal Comps, the bigger the comp the worse the score, waaay over handicap?

More importantly who has managed to identify something which helped them break through a particular scoring ceiling in medals?

Not sure what you are trying to say there Super? Are you saying that golf in 30 mph winds isn't golf anymore? That's a very American attitude

NOt at all Davie, I'm saying that the wind, more often than not, has the same detrimental effect as if my bottle had crashed when it is at those sort of speeds i.e bad score.

I played very well, and still got my arse kicked. 30+ winds simply isn't fun to play in, whether you consider it to be golf or not.

You missed out "in my opinion".

I enjoy playing in strong winds. If you played very well and still got your arse kicked then your opponents must have played extremely well. Or did the wind only pick up when you were hitting?

Davie, the wind today was absurd. I flushed a 3 iron about 130 yards today in one direction and then a 3 wood 360 in the other, ergo a six or seven club wind, the ball wouldn't settle on the green, the wind took the ball off line on the putting surface, nothing was remotely enjoyable about it especially when you add in the frequent rain showers, plus I didn't have opponents, it was strokeplay.
I got my arse figuratively kicked by the atrocious weather regardless of the fact I was hitting it delightfully, satisfaction in that at least.

What's with the patronising tone tonight?

If you enjoy that, good for you, but most would see it as masochism.

You even have opponents in strokeplay - yes you are playing against the course (and conditions) but so is everyone else

Was it a medal? How many over SSS was the CSS? What was your score?

Davie with all due respect, leafy Berkshire, Surrey and Wiltshire Courses don't really get subjected to the kind of battering we (Super in Fife or Aberdeenshire and me in Angus) got subjected to today. You can be striking the ball great, then you get a couple of shots where you have to make a certain carry downwind then stop within a certain distance and with the best will in the world you cant do it. Holes and holes worth of great work can be completely and utterly undone. I had wedges going upwards of 160 yards today (125 yard carry then rolling out 40-50 yards) but going the other way I couldn't hit a 4 iron that distance.

It was just a practice round for me today but I'd be absolutely gobsmacked if any medals in the vicinity were not R/O today.

Don't get me wrong JAS I understand what you're talking about, but you guys seem to be talking in absolutes, not relative to the conditions. If a medal was won with a high score like 10 over (nett) it's still a win - it just means that person played the conditions better than anyone else

I once played a round in "leafy Berkshire" in near on hurricane conditions (no exaggeration). To be honest we were a little stupid being out on the course in conditions like that as there were large lumps of tree being blown around, but safety considerations apart, I really enjoyed it in a bizzare way. Taking 3 woods to short par 3s and only getting half way there ... it was only a bonce game but I think whoever won the money that day would have been particularly proud of playing the conditions better than the others - even if it was 10 shots or more worse than we would usually be shooting

Davie,
I don't really care about winning medals or my position in them.
All I care about after playing well is a score which may possibly reduce my handicap.
If the weather is 30+mph with sideways rain, it is like trying to set a WR in the 100m in quicksand or compete in the high jump in a pair of diving boots.

Weather is of course part of the game, but it does on occasion become virtually impossible.

Super

Would CSS not reflect the weather. All you had to do was perform well relative to the other participants.

Mac, No surprise you piped up here.

The weather was atrocious, irrelevant of CSS it sucked all the joy out of the day.
As it happened I NR'd due to losing a provisional after flushing a perfectly played 3 iron and not clearing 4 feet deep rough having fought back from 6 over to 4 over after 11.

My lament is not that it was "unplayable" but that any enjoyment one can garner from a game is denuded by such savage wind and rain.
To boot, this morning is warm, humid, calm and glorious.
Obviously no one change the weather, I am just asserting that even when you are playing well, golf is not always fun.

MustPuttBetter wrote:Thanks Lairdy, that's interesting. I might try and pinch your idea if you don't mind! What specifically are the sorts of things you tend to reflect on the good shots? Line and length or more feel things (turn, swing speed etc)?

Haha! I googled post shot routine and from there made my own so feel free! I tend to reflect on feel things like slow relaxed backswing, hips cleared well or that my concentration was good during set up. Stuff like that. Another good thought I've had recently is putting less importance on the tee shot, reminding myself that it is only 1 shot of 3 or 4 or 5, depending on the hole of course. (kinda forgot about that on saturday...) I can be wayward from the tee and whilst I know my swing isnt perfect I would put it mostly down to trying too hard. Not exclusively talking about distance just trying to be too perfect.

Anyway thats all my mental tips for us bottlers!!

Anyone try a post shot routine at the weekend?

Super

My mantra has always been that golf is all about respecting the land and elements no matter what facet of the game is being discussed. This does not mean I am unrealistic enough to think that no matter weather conditions the game is still enjoyable.

With wind for example it ceases to be much fun when shot choice is irrelevant. At 4-5 club winds I am unconvinced it matters what shot you attempt to play and how you try to traverse the land. So I can see that you would say it was unenjoyable but I don't see how this connects to this;

super_dunce wrote:Well, as predicted, playing well both saturday and today and the winds of 30mph + ruined both rounds

When you say this on the a thread about bottle and scoring it makes it sound like you are blaming the wind for a poor round and that you were alone in having these problems.

Mac, I'm all for embracing the conditions, but at times, it can be unplayable as it was at the weekend (for everyone) hence reductions only.

I gain no fun from playing in cold, wet, stupidly windy conditions regardless of whether I still strike it well and have at no time suggested or asserted I was the only one affected.

So if you don't enjoy it, and it ruined the round on Saturday, why on earth did you bother turning up on Sunday?

Two different competitions, two very distant courses, pre-paid entry fees, plus there is always a hope, justifiably that forecasts will be wrong.

Posted account of yesterdays round in "Tell us about your game today" thread. Suffice to say some will consider it a bottle job. For the record I don't. Shot 87 round the Championship Course in a practice round Sunday. Actually ended up making a drunken bet on Monday evening. A guy I know, that I see up here every year bet me that I wouldn't beat my practice round score with a card in hand yesterday, I was convinced I would and had the bottle to take it on at a £5 a shot (either side of 87). So a tidy little £25

Jas

Far from a bottle job, in fact it sounds like you have played to the maximum of your abilities. You are comfortably into the handicap knock out so you must have played as well as you can.

It would be odd to think that you could suddenly play well beyond your handicap, especially in tough conditions on an unfamiliar course.

Well played, hope you continue the good form.

McLaren wrote:Jas

Far from a bottle job, in fact it sounds like you have played to the maximum of your abilities.  You are comfortably into the handicap knock out so you must have played as well as you can.

It would be odd to think that you could suddenly play well beyond your handicap, especially in tough conditions on an unfamiliar course.

Well played, hope you continue the good form.

To be honest, didn't really play my best at all in the medal Qualifier Monday although I did have a decent finish. Playing the Burnside in Matchplay however is a completely different kettle of fish, also the wind (what is left of it) is now different. In both matchplay rounds now I've notionally beaten my handicap, yesterday by a decent margin. Dunno whether that's just swinging more freely or taking bolder options off the tee and approach and they're coming off. Certainly got my work cut out tomorrow, having to give away 11 shots.

Wrong mindset JAS. If you are giving 11 shots, that means you are 11 shots better than him

Forget the perceived injustices of the handicap system. If I were playing someone 11 shots better than me I'd think I had a good chance of taking him with that many shots; if I were giving 11 shots, I'd tell myself I was that much better than him and think I could beat him anyway. Keep it simple - and think positive

What's wrong with the mindset? How do you know what my mindset is, of course I'll have my work cut out, it's down to the last 16, everyone that's got this far has had to play good golf. You are right of course that I'm better, also a lower handicapper should play more consistently to or near their handicap, so sooner or later an 18 will have a stinker...it maybe tomorrow it may not, I'm not banking on it though

JAS - I just meant it was a negative attitude. Be positive and good luck!