[lagunaEl]

I have been trying to shoot under 110 so basically play double bogey golf, and I have bee struggling between two different mindsets. Should I set realistic goals and play for double bogey every hole, or should I go for par and let my mistakes be what keeps me from getting it? So I am wondering how you mentaly play the game do you think that you will get par or do you play to get a different number maybe bogey or on in GIR+1 or something like that...

[jenilopaz]

My opinion is that the best thing is to stop trying to hit greens in regulation at that point. Try to hit greens in YOUR regulation which on a par 4 would be 4 shots, not 2. Then two putts which would give you double bogey golf. Then once you are doing that, try to hit par 4 greens in 3 half the time (1 over regulation). If you are like a lot of people I know, putting the driver away until you get better with it is probably the best thing to do to help you do this. Try to hit shots that keep you out of trouble but still get you some distance, not swing for the fences every time.

(I should probably take my own advice on the last sentence!)

[appabessy]

Personally I play Bogey golf. I don't play as well as some of the guys I play with so it took me a while to get out of the mindset that I had to compete with them, because of the short time I've been playing and my current skill level I can't.

[DrCeshing]

I play with a buddy and we do some friendly wagering, what we do is this: (we both want to break 90)

Every 3 holes is 1 unit. The unit is judged on strokes compared to bogey (two bogeys and a par is -1)
The reason we bet every three holes is to keep us focused and avoid that problem where you shoot an 11 on the first hole and the day is blown. This keeps you motivated. Something similar might work for you, even if you just challenge yourself.

[Gudronich]

I have been trying to shoo under 110 so basically play double bogey golf, and I have bee struggling between two different mindsets. Should I set realistic goals and play for double bogey every hole, or should I go for par and let my mistakes be what keeps me from getting it? So I am wondering how you mentaly play the game do you think that you will get par or do you play to get a different number maybe bogey or on in GIR+1 or something like that...

I think you have the right mindset of wanting to achieve a goal. You can start with breaking 110 and then just keep going down to 100 and etc. I always have the goal of trying to breaking 80. I've done it numerous times but I'm happy with that goal till next hear my goal will be to shoot par every round.

[Friend_Joe]

As Smallville said.....play to YOUR handicap.....treat a par 4 as a par 6 ....when you are consistently scoring par for you then work at reducing the score . Play the percentage shots on the course....and don't be bothered about taking the driver off the tee...find a club you can hit a reasonable distance...accurately and consistently and play that . Work on your short game...it will be the quickest way to reduce your score....and above all enjoy it

[Feelundseenna]

I would just stop worry about score in general until you build your swing and start making consistent contact. I think you will find that when you aren't aiming for a certain score, it will allow you to free up your mind to think about what you are doing with your golf swing. It will also help your score drop, as well as help you fine tune your swing.

Also the most important thing is to just continue having fun. The scoring will come as you continue to play and become more consistent.

[lagunaEl]

I guess the reason I may go for the green in less than my regulation is that realistically I know a round is not going to be 18 double bogeys, I will have some triples and probably a hole or two that is worse than that, so if I want to score less than 108, I have to make some bogeys along the way, and I have made some pars, so I feel like if I concede those lower scores all together then how am I going to beat my goal?

So I think my mindset is to get double bogey or better on a hole, but the tactic I use to get there is to go for it in par, but since I will not execute flawlessly I will likely do worse than that and that's ok. The caveat on the way I play is that since, I miss right, at this point in my game, if there is trouble right (water, deep rough, dense trees, dogleg left) I go for it in bogey by using a 5i off the tee. and play from there to a comfortable distance. I am curious how other people approach this kind of thing.

[GfBTWMmV]

I try to play the hole, not the scorecard.

What I mean by that is that since I'm not a scratch or even low handicap golfer, at no time do I expect pars to come easily. So while I do look at the scorecards/signposts and know what par should be, once the ball is off the tee it doesn't care whether you're on your second or fifth stroke. It doesn't know that it's supposed to be on the green in 2.

I try to focus instead on hitting shots that I'm comfortable with (high probability of success) instead of pushing low probability risky shots and getting myself in worse trouble. If that means hitting two 7 irons cleanly instead of topping my 3W and then hitting a hybrid, so be it.


ETA: I think the biggest change I've made recently is focusing on good contact and advancing the ball, versus "going for it" and ending up with 30 yard shots.

[lagunaEl]

I think it is a good idea to play to my handicap, maybe I should head that way... Like I said above though blow up holes really screw up my overall day when I just go for my handicap, as I can do a lot worse than my handicap but I don't give myself many chances to do better...

I can't help but keep score, my competitiveness won't let me do otherwise, I would be bored if I wasn't trying to achieve something I haven't done before, that is fun to me. Although I do have alot of grace on myself and I think I set realistic goals that are challenging and that is what makes this game so fun.

[TheDoctor]

For the longest time, I struggled to break 100. My biggest problems were "blow-up-holes". I'd have at least two per round. Usually it would go like this.... topped driver, then I'd think, "this is a par 4, I need to be on in two" and so I'd take out a 3 wood and try to kill it and of course 9/10 times i'd top the ball again, then I'd hit the 3 wood again and either top it or slice/hook it out of bounds take a penalty stroke and by the time the hole was over I'd have like a 10-11.
Then I started taking lessons. They did wonders for my swing, timing, etc. but the best advice I got was to minimize my bad holes. If I topped my drive on a par 4, don't go for the green in regulation. Take my second shot and try to put it in good wedge range. Most of the time a bogey would result and sometimes a double but even is double is better than a 10!
All that to say, play to your ability level. When I did this I saw my scores start to drop. Like others said, add one or two strokes to each hole and let that be par for you. With practice you will slowly start to see your scores come down.

[mitiaycatq]

I don't think you should avoid trying to hit greens. I think hitting the club that gets you in the fairway most often will help, but there will always be holes that you are able to reach in regulation. My suggestion is finding a tee box that allows you to hit a comfortable club off the tee and still be able to reach most of the greens.

Rather than set a goal of all double bogeys, why not set a goal that you want to make nothing higher than 6 on all holes and then think about how you can achieve that before you tee off.

[Feelundseenna]

I guess the reason I may go for the green in less than my regulation is that realistically I know a round is not going to be 18 double bogeys, I will have some triples and probably a hole or two that is worse than that, so if I want to score less than 108, I have to make some bogeys along the way, and I have made some pars, so I feel like if I concede those lower scores all together then how am I going to beat my goal?

So I think my mindset is to get double bogey or better on a hole, but the tactic I use to get there is to go for it in par, but since I will not execute flawlessly I will likely do worse than that and that's ok. The caveat on the way I play is that since, I miss right, at this point in my game, if there is trouble right (water, deep rough, dense trees, dogleg left) I go for it in bogey by using a 5i off the tee. and play from there to a comfortable distance. I am curious how other people approach this kind of thing.

If there is trouble on the right, try teeing off on the very right side of the tee box and then try to play for the left side of the fairway. This should make it a lot harder to go that far right to get in trouble. Golf is a sport where you can use the angles to your advantage.

[gIWnXYkw]

I have different ones on different holes. Short par 4/5's I try to get in regulation because my wedge game is usually pretty good, long 4's/5's I go for in one over regulation. Par 3's I'm just hoping for a bogey, and move on, knowing that it's gonna be luck for me to par it!

[Feelundseenna]

I think it is a good idea to play to my handicap, maybe I should head that way... Like I said above though blow up holes really screw up my overall day when I just go for my handicap, as I can do a lot worse than my handicap but I don't give myself many chances to do better...

I can't help but keep score, my competitiveness won't let me do otherwise, I would be bored if I wasn't trying to achieve something I haven't done before, that is fun to me. Although I do have alot of grace on myself and I think I set realistic goals that are challenging and that is what makes this game so fun.

I don't think you should completely ignore your score. I just think that if you continue to pressure yourself into hitting a certain score on a hole it brings in more mental games than if you just focused on your swing. But you know your own game a lot better than me, I was just trying to give you suggestions based on what worked for me.

[sapedotru]

Well I am very close to you level (I did shoot a 92 last Saturday, but that is only my second time breaking 100). All I think about when I am playing is hitting the ball solid and at least 90% of the distance I have assigned for the club(except for driver I just want to hit the fairway). For instance, if I have 150 to the pin I will pull my 150 club and aim straight at the pin. From there I do not think about any hazards or obstacles around the green, all I think about is hitting the front of the ball, that way I do not hit it fat. Whether it goes right or left as long as I get 90% distance I call that a good shot. This leads me to take many positives away from each round. I might shoot a 106 but if I go back and realize that I had 30-50 good shots I am really happy with my round.

[theonsushv]

you can be too conservative, just as you can be too aggressive

on a par 3, you should be aiming for the green (likely the center instead of the pin, aim to avoid bunkers)

if you can reach a green with a reasonable club you should try and put it on, no use trying to hit 3w to get on a green... but if you've got a 6i, you should be trying to put it on.

setting a goal of double bogey seems soft to me, the goal should be getting around in the least number of strokes and not worrying about individual hole scores. For just about all of us, par is just a reference and not something we actually shoot anyways.

I basically play bogey golf, but I'm going out trying to get a birdie when I can, a par when I can't get a birdie, and a bogey when I can't get a par... I get doubles and triples too... but that's part of the game.

[finasteride]

My opinion is that the best thing is to stop trying to hit greens in regulation at that point. Try to hit greens in YOUR regulation which on a par 4 would be 4 shots, not 2. Then two putts which would give you double bogey golf. Then once you are doing that, try to hit par 4 greens in 3 half the time (1 over regulation). If you are like a lot of people I know, putting the driver away until you get better with it is probably the best thing to do to help you do this. Try to hit shots that keep you out of trouble but still get you some distance, not swing for the fences every time.

(I should probably take my own advice on the last sentence!)

An awesome piece of advise smalls!

You have to play within your own game, that means, your own tees and your own par. For me it's a Bogey, if I make Par on a hole I feel like I made birdie and a natural birdie feels even better. That way at my worst I'm shooting an 18 over par.

The other large item for me to reduce my scores was not to compound a problem. Trees are usually my problem and now I just take a higher lofted club, chip or hit over about 100 yards and keep going. I used to take a 5 iron or something similar and try and play a low shot, then I'd hit a tree and keep making larger and higher scores than I should have.

It's been said before, but just take your medicine and move on. 1 shot isn't bad, turning that 1 shot into 2 or 3 is what kills a score!

[ZZtop]

My current goal is to putt for par every hole. One thing at a time my friend.

[Buincchotourbss]

When I was in your shoes (not too long ago), I stopped trying to shoot birdies. I stopped trying to hit the miracle shot. If you take your medicine on your misses and just have the goal to leave yourself a par putt, regardless of the putt's length, your scores should drop.