Tell us about your game today...

McLaren wrote:Ben

I am not doubting jas and believe him that the guy handed in a score for 51 points. I am just astonished by 51 points, as I said this is a score that I have never seen before. This is more about acknowledging the rarity of this event.

We are talking rarer than a hole in one, this guy has shot a nett score that only a handful people will ever have shot.

It just seems like others on here are not as blown away by a 20 handicapper shooting +5 as I am.

As a junior in the early 80s, I shot a nett 56 (a +4 or 5 round I think) and a 58 in the same Summer. I didn't cheat, but I did get cut a lot that year.

Super

I agree, the lowest gross is the one I aim to win.  Handicap wins are a bit of a lottery, most of my handicap wins came as my handicap was falling as a youth.


Ben

Call it snobbery if you want but having a 20 handicap shows you lack a lot of the basic skills needed to play golf properly.

navy

As I said above somewhere seeing 50 points in the junior section is not uncommon, the combination of rapid improvement, lack of chances to get handicap down and being a good player can produce crazy nett results in junior comps.  For example as a junior I got to the club champs QF's playing off low to mid teens handicap, and finished that summer playing off about 6.

I instinctively think I should win those sort of comps.

I'm Tiger Woods.

(No, I'm Tiger Woods.

I'm Tiger Woods - Nike advert circa 96/97)

Flippancy aside, whilst not a "low" handicap at 5, (I feel about 6 round our place and I think of 3 or better as truly "low") mine is lower than most golfers (not intended as anything like a boast in case it comes across that way) but I absolutely go into every competition (99% are predominantly "net" comps) thinking I could (note "could" not "should") win it, otherwise - why bother? I totally accept I'm unlikely to win it on the balance of probability and I fully expect that most weeks someone else will win and many of them will be 15+ handicappers having "their day" but I'm not in it to intentionally fund other people's winnings and I'm not paying solely to see what I can do on any given day.

It's why you have a handicap, so you can all compete with each other with a somewhat realistic chance of winning. But like moods, your play on the day will vary for a whole host of reasons. I do still win net comps occasionally, which reaffirms my attitude is a decent one, for me. Won't fit everyone but I honestly don't know of any low handicapper that doesn't think that they could win net before they go out. Or one that doesn't care a jot about winning net.

Gross prizes are similar. I could win them on a good day if others were sh1t or playing somewhere else, but again I totally accept I'm unlikely to win it on the balance of probability and I fully expect that most weeks someone else will beat me simply because they're better than I am. I still go in to them thinking I could win the prize.

But then, folks are different.

McLaren wrote:

Ben

Call it snobbery if you want but having a 20 handicap shows you lack a lot of the basic skills needed to play golf properly.

Maybe not snobbery, just a bit childish.

Anyway, that opinion doesn't stand up with this precise thread. A 20hc gets 51points. Shows he can play golf. Maybe change your superiority complex opinion.

beninho wrote:Why is anyone doubting the story, told by someone who knows the guy and was involved in the competition when he shot 51pts. It happened, well done to him, he will never do it again though!

That thought had crossed my mind Ben...Like why am I having to explain myself to some self appointed CONGU cop who has no idea whatsoever of the course, the person, the conditions on the day and any other factors that may have been involved. Half expecting to turn up at the club tonight just in time to see Colin (the guys name) being taken away in handcuffs by Macs private police force!!

Actually another thing I never checked was how close he came to shooting his age, I know he’s over 70, just not quite sure if he’s as old as 76

Jas

Read my response to that post of bens. 

Roller_Coaster wrote:I instinctively think I should win those sort of comps.

I'm Tiger Woods.

(No, I'm Tiger Woods.

I'm Tiger Woods - Nike advert circa 96/97)

Flippancy aside, whilst not a "low" handicap at 5, (I feel about 6 round our place and I think of 3 or better as truly "low") mine is lower than most golfers (not intended as anything like a boast in case it comes across that way) but I absolutely go into every competition (99% are predominantly "net" comps) thinking I could (note "could" not "should") win it, otherwise - why bother? I totally accept I'm unlikely to win it on the balance of probability and I fully expect that most weeks someone else will win and many of them will be 15+ handicappers having "their day" but I'm not in it to intentionally fund other people's winnings and I'm not paying solely to see what I can do on any given day.

It's why you have a handicap, so you can all compete with each other with a somewhat realistic chance of winning. But like moods, your play on the day will vary for a whole host of reasons. I do still win net comps occasionally, which reaffirms my attitude is a decent one, for me. Won't fit everyone but I honestly don't know of any low handicapper that doesn't think that they could win net before they go out. Or one that doesn't care a jot about winning net.

Gross prizes are similar. I could win them on a good day if others were sh1t or playing somewhere else, but again I totally accept I'm unlikely to win it on the balance of probability and I fully expect that most weeks someone else will beat me simply because they're better than I am. I still go in to them thinking I could win the prize.

But then, folks are different.

Why enter? The only comps I care about doing well in are scratch comps and Club Championship. Of course I believe that I can win a net comp, but I don't care if I do and I don't care if I don't.

Outside of these I'm playing in order to get my handicap as low as I can. If I win a handicap comp on that basis, I don't really care. Everyone has their own reasons for playing golf.
For some it's to win handicap comps, for some it's getting as low as possible and for another its finding a bus route near the course and thrapping themselves off at the glorious architecture.

McLaren wrote:Ben

I am not doubting jas and believe him that the guy handed in a score for 51 points. I am just astonished by 51 points, as I said this is a score that I have never seen before. This is more about acknowledging the rarity of this event.

We are talking rarer than a hole in one, this guy has shot a nett score that only a handful people will ever have shot.

It just seems like others on here are not as blown away by a 20 handicapper shooting +5 as I am.

Some of us aren't blown away because we've done something similar.  I'm a 23 handicap last time I looked and on one memorable day last year I shot +3 over 9 holes.  I suspect for a lot of golfers of 20+ handicap consistency is a major issue.  We have some skills and can play "proper golf" (whatever that is) but can't seem to get everything working well on the same day.  The day of my 38 I hit a great drive on the first hole, hit my hybrid onto the green and made a lengthy putt for birdie on a hole I'd never birdied before (or since).   After hole 1 I knew I was hitting the ball well and that my putter was hot and that's all it took.   Haven't come close since  then, but I have very confidence it could happen again !

Plunky wrote:

McLaren wrote:Ben

I am not doubting jas and believe him that the guy handed in a score for 51 points. I am just astonished by 51 points, as I said this is a score that I have never seen before. This is more about acknowledging the rarity of this event.

We are talking rarer than a hole in one, this guy has shot a nett score that only a handful people will ever have shot.

It just seems like others on here are not as blown away by a 20 handicapper shooting +5 as I am.

Some of us aren't blown away because we've done something similar.  I'm a 23 handicap last time I looked and on one memorable day last year I shot +3 over 9 holes.  I suspect for a lot of golfers of 20+ handicap consistency is a major issue.  We have some skills and can play "proper golf" (whatever that is) but can't seem to get everything working well on the same day.  The day of my 38 I hit a great drive on the first hole, hit my hybrid onto the green and made a lengthy putt for birdie on a hole I'd never birdied before (or since).   After hole 1 I knew I was hitting the ball well and that my putter was hot and that's all it took.   Haven't come close since  then, but I have very confidence it could happen again !

If you know you can be better because you've proven to yourself you can be, wouldn't the game of golf be more enjoyable if you worked towards it happening more frequently and realising the ability you know is in there? i.e. practice a bit, maybe have a lesson or two, work on your course management (you can do this anywhere, at the breakfast table, sat at work, on the bus etc).

The game of golf can be enjoyable at any level, but wouldn't you rather be say a 16 handicapper instead of a 23? Doesn't sound that it would be too hard for you to do this.

I'll answer, as im not a proper golfer as I play off 18. At times I am pretry good, at others I am not. I would probably enjoy it if I was better. But I don't think of course management while eating, (who does?) And I dont have lessons or practice, because, well life. I have 2 young kids and ne and the wife work full time.

Golf is fun, I enjoy it, but I accept it for just that.

I'm not saying you should or have to think about course management whilst eating, I'm simply saying actually using some course management is a good way to reduce your handicap without actually having to practice. Bad decisions cost high handicappers far too many shots. I'd guarantee 4-6 shots on your handicap are due to a poor strategy on a hole rather than hopeless ball striking. For example, how many 18 handicappers actually know how far they hit a club rather than how fat they THINK they hit it? How many 18 handicappers chase pins instead of the fat part of the green? 18 Handicap is playing a round in level 5's. It's hard to imagine how a bit of common sense couldn't improve that overnight.

One of the most obvious things I see high handicappers do is reach for the driver on every single par 4 or par 5 without thinking whether it is the correct club to take. Usually it isn't. They take on ridiculous shots that are guaranteed to end up in cricket scores.

As for practice, it would hardly take much to improve you from 18. Get down the course 45 minutes earlier than usual, hit a few chips, spend 15 minutes on the putting green. Hit 50 balls once a week. Hardly going to stop you being dad of the year or employee of the month is it?

I barely make it to the course 4'5mins before I start. If I get to the range once every 3 months I'll be doing well. I'll accept my inconsistency and enjoy the highs when they come.

Super

At what handicap would you cease to find golf interesting? If you lost cat 1, 10 or would you still play at any level?

From a personal point of view, I love practice and I think that helps. I got a sort of “light bulb” moment when I went to watch the practice rounds at Turnberry in 2009. Every pro has their own way but the 2 golfers I followed most on the Tues/Weds and remember were Ernie and Tom Watson. Ernie’s focus on short game during his practice round was a real eye opener. As I watched I thought “I need to do practice like this”

I still have that and tonight I went out on the course with the new wedges, it was quiet so I got to do some good approach work with distances for the set wedge, the new 50 deg gap wedge and the 56 deg. Also got some good 30 to 50 yard approach work and some bunker practice. Ended up being out there for 3 hours before impending darkness curtailed it. I know everybody is different but for me, those are the kind of sessions that you have to do and ENJOY doing if you want to get better. Luckily I love sessions like tonight and I know that will help me push nearer my potential.

It’s not the kind of thing 18+ will typically do or even recognise the need for/value of. Will I shoot 15 under handicap anytime soon? Well no but I’m not looking for a one off freak cut, I’m looking to shoot consistently lower scores.

beninho wrote:I barely make it to the course 4'5mins before I start. If I get to the range once every 3 months I'll be doing well. I'll accept my inconsistency and enjoy the highs when they come.

Ditto for me.  I love playing golf and hanging out with my golfing buddies.  But it's  not the be all and end all.  I am fine with my 23 handicap and having a great round once in a while.  I've taken plenty of enjoyable lessons and learned a lot, but have always enjoyed playing a lot more than I enjoy practicing.

beninho wrote:I barely make it to the course 4'5mins before I start. If I get to the range once every 3 months I'll be doing well. I'll accept my inconsistency and enjoy the highs when they come.

Are you just poorly organised, one of these people who pretends they don't have time or just don't care enough to make a wee bit of effort to play?

McLaren wrote:Super

At what handicap would you cease to find golf interesting?  If you lost cat 1, 10 or would you still play at any level?

Not sure I'd play at any level. I would not be having fun playing golf off much more than 12. It would be like playing football and then taking a shot and hitting the corner flag. Why would I find that fun?
There's lots of guys who play off low cat one all the way into their 70's. No reason I can't do that.

Maintaining a life long interest in golf is probably a lot easier if you've maintained the same standard all through your life. I think that's why there is so many mid handicappers. They get enjoyment regardless of how they play. Can't say I'd enjoy going up 0.1 for ten years.

super_realist wrote:

beninho wrote:I barely make it to the course 4'5mins before I start. If I get to the range once every 3 months I'll be doing well. I'll accept my inconsistency and enjoy the highs when they come.

Are you just poorly organised, one of these people who pretends they don't have time or just don't care enough to make a wee bit of effort to play?

At this stage in my life, I play golf to socialise, and just have sone fun. I'm not overly bothered about practicing, and accept this impacts the chances of getting better. I can live with this. Maybe when I'm a bit older, and the kids are less time consuming, I will get more chances.

I just enjoy it for what it is, and have weekends like weekend in rainy ayrshire to look forward to!

beninho wrote:

super_realist wrote:

beninho wrote:I barely make it to the course 4'5mins before I start. If I get to the range once every 3 months I'll be doing well. I'll accept my inconsistency and enjoy the highs when they come.

Are you just poorly organised, one of these people who pretends they don't have time or just don't care enough to make a wee bit of effort to play?

At this stage in my life, I play golf to socialise, and just have sone fun. I'm not overly bothered about practicing, and accept this impacts the chances of getting better. I can live with this.  Maybe when I'm a bit older, and the kids are less time consuming, I will get more chances.

I just enjoy it for what it is, and have weekends like weekend in rainy ayrshire to look forward to!

Mac, are you aware of this new course?

https://dumbarnielinks.com/golf-course/

Just put in a date in August 2020 to book a round. £235 per person.

On that, whats the most you've paid for a round? Not a deal with room etc, purely a round of golf. I think 60/70 for Brocket Hall. Not necessarily worth it though.

I think I paid around £60/70 for Carnoustie Championship. But that was before it returned to the Open rota so earlier than 1999. (Current price is £210)

Been a fair bit of snobbery about handicaps and what I would class as unmerited use of the word hacker.  

I hardly play at all these days but when I did, I generally played off 8 or 9  (although have been as low as 6).  I very rarely practiced and usually only played once a week.  On the basis of some of the comments I think I'd be classified by some on here as a hacker.    

I tended to play with people with handicaps ranging between 10 and 15 and I didn't see them as hackers either.  They (and I) could have bad rounds but they definitely had some ability for what is a difficult game to be consistently good at.  

Could we have had lower handicaps with better course management and more practice?  Probably.  Did we care?  No.  We played for fun and didn't take the game or ourselves too seriously.

Hacker should probably be reserved for handicaps of 18 and over where it can probably be used more as a term of endearment.

super_realist wrote:Mac, are you aware of this new course?

https://dumbarnielinks.com/golf-course/

Yes, and a new option for Ladyputt.


Hard to tell how much of it is on actual links land and how much of it is on castle course style farmland.

This is the site before construction started.



What is the business model? Are they just going to offer visitor tee offs or is there a membership package as well?


It looks like some of the holes might play ok but it has that pointy dunes thing that I think looks pretty tasteless.



Looks like one of the made up courses on an early 00's Tiger Woods game when there were not enough pixels to round the top of humps.

It just doesn't look like an old school links course.

Paid 185 for Turnberry (pre Trump and re-work) not sure if that counts as it was "only" 185 because mate had wedding at the hotel - but I wasn't staying there.

Worth it.

beninho wrote:On that, whats the most you've paid for a round? Not a deal with room etc, purely a round of golf. I think 60/70 for Brocket Hall. Not necessarily worth it though.

$500 for Pebble Beach.

Staying at the Lodge means the buggy fee is thrown in (bargain!!). Seriously though, the only other courses that I have experienced that challenge the gravity of the Jaw bone in terms of scenic beauty are Kapalua & the Prince at Princeville, in sheer awesomeness Diamante (DL dunes course) and Cabo del Sol (Ocean) whilst keeping an eye on uk based awesomeness, Dornoch, Carnoustie & Trumps.

Come to think of it, no idea what im paying for the second turnberry course tomorrow! Troon was just a walk on with my mate whos a member, so thats a £200 round for nothing. He got a deal on Dundonald through his Troon link last tine, I think thats another expensive course for nothing!

Weather looking less monsoon like tomorrow and sunday in south ayrshire. Which is nice!

[quote="JAS"]

beninho wrote:On that, whats the most you've paid for a round? Not a deal with room etc, purely a round of golf. I think 60/70 for Brocket Hall. Not necessarily worth it though.

£80 for Dornoch, been lucky to get a lot of freebies on courses like Carnoustie and Muirfield.

superflyweight wrote:Been a fair bit of snobbery about handicaps and what I would class as unmerited use of the word hacker.  

I hardly play at all these days but when I did, I generally played off 8 or 9  (although have been as low as 6).  I very rarely practiced and usually only played once a week.  On the basis of some of the comments I think I'd be classified by some on here as a hacker.    

I tended to play with people with handicaps ranging between 10 and 15 and I didn't see them as hackers either.  They (and I) could have bad rounds but they definitely had some ability for what is a difficult game to be consistently good at.  

Could we have had lower handicaps with better course management and more practice?  Probably.  Did we care?  No.  We played for fun and didn't take the game or ourselves too seriously.

Hacker should probably be reserved for handicaps of 18 and over where it can probably be used more as a term of endearment.

An 18 isn't much better than a 15.
You could got from 18 to 15 in one round, but you couldn't go from 4-1 in one round.

Scotland was eventful!

Saturday at Turnberry, weather was lovely, shorts, t shirt and suncream weather. Robert the bruce course, was really good. But easy to throw in a big number with my left left shots. Not used to gorse and rough like that! So some bad golf interspersed with 2 birdies, one a bunker chip in, one of the best shots I've ever played and a few pars. Course easily good enough to be a standout at most places.

Troon on Sunday. Very wet, very windy. Only us 4 lunatics on the course. Playing the back 9 into the wind and rain was golf I had never really played before. We gave up scoring after about 4 holes, as s scorecards not being kept dry. But played a team matchplay. Love that course though, just wish the weather was at least half decent. Had haggis at both courses and a can if irn bru. The scots lads had a gunners, never heard of it!

Hopefully do it again in a years time!

beninho wrote:Scotland was eventful!

Saturday at Turnberry, weather was lovely, shorts, t shirt and suncream weather. Robert the bruce course, was really good. But easy to throw in a big number with my left left shots. Not used to gorse and rough like that! So some bad golf interspersed with 2 birdies, one a bunker chip in, one of the best shots I've ever played and a few pars. Course easily good enough to be a standout at most places.

Troon on Sunday. Very wet, very windy. Only us 4 lunatics on the course. Playing the back 9 into the wind and rain was golf I had never really played before. We gave up scoring after about 4 holes, as s scorecards not being kept dry. But played a team matchplay. Love that course though, just wish the weather was at least half decent. Had haggis at both courses and a can if irn bru. The scots lads had a gunners, never heard of it!

Hopefully do it again in a years time!

Ouch, Troon in that would be a tough day at the office Ben :-/
Did you only play the Bruce course at Turnberry? Is is pretty much what was the Kintyre course with a few changed holes or have they completely changed it? A few of those gorse lined fairways were parking at the 2009 open.

Speaking of the rain that lashed Scotland yesterday, just saw a pic of the 17th & 18th at Carnoustie and the Barry Burn...well actually the Barry Burn. So many options for JVdV to take his socks off!!

Only played the one course at trumps place. I gather the course is mainly the same with sone tweaks and 4 new holes.

The main course though, must be making tons of money! 4 balls everywhere, at one point you could see 24 on a hole, 4 players all wuth caddies. £250 a rpund!

beninho wrote:Scotland was eventful!

Saturday at Turnberry, weather was lovely, shorts, t shirt and suncream weather. Robert the bruce course, was really good. But easy to throw in a big number with my left left shots. Not used to gorse and rough like that! So some bad golf interspersed with 2 birdies, one a bunker chip in, one of the best shots I've ever played and a few pars. Course easily good enough to be a standout at most places.

Troon on Sunday. Very wet, very windy. Only us 4 lunatics on the course. Playing the back 9 into the wind and rain was golf I had never really played before. We gave up scoring after about 4 holes, as s scorecards not being kept dry. But played a team matchplay. Love that course though, just wish the weather was at least half decent. Had haggis at both courses and a can if irn bru. The scots lads had a gunners, never heard of it!

Hopefully do it again in a years time!

Ginger beer, Angostura bitters, lime cordial all topped up with lemonade (but might be soda). Very refreshing. Some guys I know call it a rock shandy and some a gunners.

On thread topic, played a medal this morning. Utter scheiss and another +0.1. Swing feels awful at the moment...

0.3 reduction at the weekend. Scratch just one good round away.

super_realist wrote:0.3 reduction at the weekend. Scratch just one good round away.

Good golf; weather wasn't that great was it?

Ironically, it must have been tougher at our place than I though - CSS was 73 (up from SSS 71) so I didn't get that 0.1 back . Still, the weather doesn't explain the half-a-dozen to a dozen or so absolutely awful ball strikes during the round....

Another qualifying stableford for me today. 35 points. Very steady - didn't blob a hole - or lose a ball!! Didn't win the tournament, (I was 9th) as 39 points won it. But it puts me at the top of the league table for best 6 results of the season.

Another decent, “what might have been” round for me last weekend, could not drain a birdie putt for love nor money, (13 greens in reg) got so frustrated in the end I 3putted 2 of the last 3 holes, however another small 0.2 cut and back to 6 again having yoyo’d between 6&7 the past month.
It’s actually turning out to be a decent season now with 7 cuts, 2 of them away from home. A bit of a turnaround from early June where I was one round away from taking an indefinite break as I was scoring so rubbish and frustrating the hell out of myself. Now I’m feeling like there’s a really low one about to pop out and a return to Cat 1 is more probable than not.

The annual Carnoustie trip is now just 2 weeks away, I’d say this is as good as I’ve felt going into it for 5 years. But we shall see, that place is a very treacherous place to take a big barrel of confidence to :-/

Captain's Prize today, strokes. Started great par, par, birdie... For some reason I then had images of myself holding a claret jug and making a speech. Wheels came off and ended up with a nett 72. Nett 69 leading in the clubhouse with a lot of golf still to be played...

So nett 69 won it in the end. I was just 3 shots off, but 14 places. Must practice short game more.

On that note, does anyone watch any short game tips/lessons on YouTube? I find Dan Wittaker good in this area, talking about various shots from different lies around the greens etc.

When you say short game do you mean just chipping & pitching or are you including putting as well? For putting I watch Oli Leet who I went to see last Xmas Hols for a lesson and it’s totally changed my putting performance.

In terms of chipping I’ve always felt naturally comfortable and have high confidence levels in getting up & down from varieties of situations around the greens, just changed wedges tho and still getting to grips with exactly how the perform. For me chipping is all about feel and as long as the fundamentals don’t need work then practice itself is always better than vids. Of course whats much harder to practice is practice under real pressure.

Had another decent one at the weekend, strangely no comp at ours this weekend (unusual for our place). So it was just my big playing groups order of merit stableford and off the yellows. I’ve crept into contention over the past few weeks after a dismal start to the season so was looking for another good one.
Our first is a fairly short Par 5 but there’s a ditch & high Hedge that pinches the fairway at 230-235 off the whites, which as first shot of the day, the smart play is to lay up, Off yellows however the ditch & hedge is only about 205 so a good drive sets up the opportunity to get there in 2. Soo...took the gamble and snapped it toward the left hedge, reload and a double bogey result, Great start!!! Actually I used it as a lesson learned and played contained golf from there, not taking any of the risks on the risk reward holes, result? Standing on 17th tee still 2 over (on 35points) of course by now I knew I was playing well and the competitive juices were flowing, so flowing infact that as I flushed my tee shot off the 17th I was thinking only of 40 points plus, as my first playing partner went to follow me he hesitated, stood back and said...”hang on a minute, what tees did you tee off from there?” Bummer, Id gone off the whites so had to go again from yellows playing 3. Scraped a point as it was a stroke hole and par up the last for 38 points, didn’t win the playing group stableford as there was a 41 points but a good 2nd. Really pleased to be taking that kind of form to Carnoustie next week. Definitely the best shape my games been in for 5 years.

Jas

Surely in what is effectively a bit more of a competitive bounce game that error off the wrong tees could have been overlooked?

McLaren wrote:Jas

Surely in what is effectively a bit more of a competitive bounce game that error off the wrong tees could have been overlooked?

For the purposes of my own view of my form, yes i myself discounted it (with a little note to myself about concentration and self awareness). For our playing group o.o.m. however, No, absolutely not because...
1. most weeks it is a medal or a drawn event
2. There’s money involved
3. Rules are rules

Just for pitching/chipping JAS, totally agree re feel. But was looking at Wittaker for different types of pitches etc. Just had a look at a few vids of Oli's and looks good. Some good advice there, I like the pre game routine stuff. I'll try that out thanks. Good to hear your game is back in shape, I remember you were struggling for form a bit earlier in the season.

We have the President's Prize this coming Saturday, hoping to get short game practice in all this week pitching chipping and putting. But as you say under the gun is a different kettle of fish so we'll see..

Be_the_ball wrote:Just for pitching/chipping JAS, totally agree re feel. But was looking at Wittaker for different types of pitches etc. Just had a look at a few vids of Oli's and looks good. Some good advice there, I like the pre game routine stuff. I'll try that out thanks. Good to hear your game is back in shape, I remember you were struggling for form a bit earlier in the season.

Must admit I don’t like getting too technical on pitching & chipping as most of the time it’s just “there”. However if I chunk or blade a couple a round i’ll Have a wee session afterwards checking some basics e.g. 1. sometimes I can start dipping & lifting. So a bit of practice with the sun behind and making sure the head shadow stays still. 2. Too much shaft lean can also creep in especially when trying to execute low fizzers. So neutral or near neutral shaft and focus on keeping club low after impact. 3. The dreaded old “no check” which is almost certainly hands breaking and rolling over through impact, again keep clubhead low through impact and making sure it stays held off.
Oli is excellent to be fair, he’s based at Ross on wye which unfortunately is a bit of a trek for me but he does tour around as well. I think he has an excellent teaching style and understands very well the importance of the mental side.
You’re right I was really struggling up to about mid June, July and August have been great (given the “give this Poopie up” demons that had gathering up to mid June) I wish I could put a finger on what’s changed because I reckon I could wrap it up and sell it for a princely sum!!

It’s the finale tonight of our little 13 hole running weekly stable ford tournament (best 10 scores to count over 20 weeks) currently sitting 2nd on 289, 2 points behind the leader who’s not playing tonight. My 10th best score is 27 so effectively I need to shoot 30 points tonight to clinch it.

I very much treat chips like a putt. Line is crucial. I'm not really concerned with the hole, more where I want to land the ball and how it's going to run out.
What I notice in poor chippers is people snatching at it, not thinking about where to land, a closed stance and worst of all using far too much loft. The shortest route is the straightest, so why do so many double the length by needlessly trying to flop straightforward chips 20 feet in the air?
Chipping is also probably the most fun to practice. I only ever use 10 balls at a time so it's easy to work out what % I am getting up and down, then move onto a new position.

super_realist wrote:I very much treat chips like a putt. Line is crucial. I'm not really concerned with the hole, more where I want to land the ball and how it's going to run out.
What I notice in poor chippers is people snatching at it, not thinking about where to land, a closed stance and worst of all using far too much loft. The shortest route is the straightest, so why do so many double the length by needlessly trying to flop straightforward chips 20 feet in the air?
Chipping is also probably the most fun to practice. I only ever use 10 balls at a time so it's easy to work out what % I am getting up and down, then move onto a new position.

Agree with this, particularly about visualising where I want a chip to land and its roll out. I also stopped fannying around with using a load of different clubs to chip with a year or so back; generally I now stick with just the one (52°) and have more or less learnt its playing characteristics properly.

Now this will upset the purists and people lick Super who only play to get their handicap down. (Or whatever). Every Monday my Club organises a competition for the senior section. Not everyone wants to play qualifiers so a different format has to be chosen each week. On Monday just gone it was an “Age related Shambolic Bowmaker”. A Bowmaker is when the best two Stableford scores for the group of four count. A “shambles “ is when all the four drive off and the best drive is taken. You then play your own ball from then on. No restriction on the number of drives that can be chosen. So a team could take one persons drive on all 18 holes if they are good enough. Then the age related thing. -1 shot for those aged 55-60. No extra shots for those aged 60-65. 1 shot extra for each 5 years. So an 86 year old gets an extra 5 shots.
Winning score? 115 points. So that would equate to just under 6 1/2 points a hole.
It was more difficult explaining the rules to the seniors than anything else.