[Yb4bulVR]

Reading about how some players struggle to recover their composure after a bad hole or series of holes, I just wondered what your best comeback was?

I've had a couple. The most memorable was last year. I started with a double bogey on the first hole, par on the second, then a quad bogey 8 (2 tee balls lost in the native rough - finally made par with the 3rd ball, but was lying 5 off the tee ) on the third. 6 over through 3 holes and fading fast.

I ended up with an 8 over par 80... was only 2 over par for the remaining 15 holes. I think that the recovery actually started with the third ball on number 3... I hit a great drive (finally) with my second provisional, then a solid approach to just 12 feet and barely lipped out the putt that would have made a 7. Those swings just felt good and I built the rest of the round on that.

Now some players might cry about what might have been if not for the bad start, but I just posted the 79 (had to adjust the snowman on the 3rd hole for ESC) with a smile on my face, and felt really good about the round.

So, what's your rags to riches story?

[LeslieMoran]

This year I was demo'ing a set of irons for review and my first 9 out I had a 44. Was not the irons fault, but it was 8 bogeys and a par. The next 9 was 8 pars and a birdie for a 35. 44 and 35 for the under 80 the hard way. I also had a 47 on the front 38 on the back this year.

[standaman]

In 1999 I played in the WI State Amateur Qualifying. Started double, par, triple. Played the last 15 holes in one under for 76, and qualified by one shot. That was in bad weather, hence the 76 was good enough.

Kevin

[Audi_z]

I can't swear on the bible about this, but I think a lot of golfers do what I do. They don't warm up properly when they get to the course. I am bad for this. I get out of the car, hurry to the first tee, and get that first (usually poor) drive down towards the hole some where. "Oh well, off to bad start again." Second hole is usually not that much better, with the third hole maybe showing some improvement. By the 5th, or 6th hole, as long as I have not let the previous holes ruin the round for me, I am warmed up, and my swing, and putting start falling into place. By the time I get to the back nine, I am on cruise control.

I did a little averaging a few years ago. At that time I was averaging 40 something on the front 9, and 30 something on the back side. But, if I warmed up properly, my front nine score were more in tune with my back 9 scores.

Something else I do that is nothing new to golf, is I play the entire 18 holes in groups of 3 holes. If something goes wrong during my round, I have 6 different starting over points to regroup, and pull my game together. So I shot a 16 for the previous 3 holes. Let's try for 12 on the next three. I know some folks who play the same way in 3 groups of 6 holes. Just gives a golfer a chance to forget a lousy stretch of holes, while also extending a great stretch of play.

My best come back was a +9 (9 bogies) on the front, and 4 under on the back 9. Several times I have had 9 bogies on the front, and 9 pars on the back.

[55Beaphable]

My best would be playing in Portugal with my parents on holiday. We played the South Course at Quinta do Lago, which held the Portuguese Open a couple of times. 7,100 yards from the back tees and I was four over after 11. Not too bad, but then I eagled 12, birdied 13, parred 14 (missed a 10' birdie putt), chipped in on 15 for a birdie, hit a 4-iron to 5 feet at 16 for another birdie, failed to get up and down on 17, so only made par and parred the last for 71 (-1). That was quite good fun.

I spent a long time thinking about Greg Norman's 1993 Open Championship. He started that off with a double bogey and ended up shooting 66 and went on to win the tournament. The thought that you could start off with double and still make a great score is quite an uplifting one when you start with a double (believe me on this one, I've put it to the test a LOT).

[medifastwoman]

I can't swear on the bible about this, but I think a lot of golfers do what I do. They don't warm up properly when they get to the course. I am bad for this. I get out of the car, hurry to the first tee, and get that first (usually poor) drive down towards the hole some where. "Oh well, off to bad start again." Second hole is usually not that much better, with the third hole maybe showing some improvement. By the 5th, or 6th hole, as long as I have not let the previous holes ruin the round for me, I am warmed up, and my swing, and putting start falling into place. By the time I get to the back nine, I am on cruise control.

I could have written that post, except for the fact that I haven't found my cruise-control buttons yet!

I start OK and stay OK, or I have a bad start and finish OK. I have learned to not let up after a poor start. In my past 20 rounds I have only ruined one finish, when circumstances rushed me into joining another group for the last four holes, which threw me off.

I bet I have you all beat for my improvement "heroics". Earlier this year I went out on a beautiful early April Sunday, on the spur of the moment, for a season-opener. I may not even have been to the range prior to that round, and I shot my worst nine ever. I was in a fun-loving group, and managed to sprinkle in some good shots between the embarassing blowups, so I wasn't exactly hurting! I managed to "improve" my score by 25 strokes for my second nine. Perhaps some of you might call a round like that a 'practice round', but I like to count them all.....

[*Playergirl*]

My best comeback was this past winter in Hawaii. I was playing Elleair Golf Club on Maui, par 71 (36-35). I shot a 40 on the front, +4 heading into 10. Hit the turn and said I'm going low, I was determined to say the least. 10 was a long Par 4, the tee shot was down hill, but then you went straight back up to the green. Hit my first tee ball OB right. Then I piped the second ball, deep and down the middle, I'm lying 3. Hit my second shot from about 135 uphill to like 6 feet. The putt was straight uphil, and I put it right in the center, made bogey. From there I went 4 under to shoot a +1 72.