What's better golf, GIRs or Seve golf?

PIGDivot · 2016-02-14T23:16:02+00:00

A tale of two nines for me today: Front nine, I had 2 GIR, 12 putts, a birdie, a bogey, a double, a 9 on a par 5, and the rest scrambling pars. Total was +6...

PIGDivot

sdandrea1 The ladies tees on these courses are no more friendly. SWMBO is a 28 handicapper and she can only reach a few of the holes in reg. She uses her driver on 2 of the par 3s.

That's a poorly designed golf course, period.

sdandrea1

PIGDivot

It's old and needs redesign. One of the two courses will be closed this summer for a reconfigure/upgrade. I am hoping for a more well thought-out track because the terrain, grass and sand is excellent.

Speaking of golf course design in general. I play a lot of golf with my wife and she is what I would call an average female player. She drives the ball about 130 to 145 yards. On almost every golf course we play, she cannot reach MOST of the par 4s and 5s in regulation. These courses have senior/forward tees for men, but have you ever seen forward tees for women? Nope............ When I play with her, I do not move up, I'd be teeing off on the same box as her on many holes. It ain't fair for the girls on most courses.

jerrymb

Well, when I was in high school I was shooting sub par golf, It was a time of a lot of fond memories, you have to have a well rounded game, The older I get I like the Seve style of golf, Since I cant hit it as far, and still playing the back tees, To get pars and birdies, you have to be solid and you using your imagination to hang in and survive, That why I hate using the White tees.

FauxAmish

I have always enjoyed the scrambling game as I do more of that. Although every now and then I enjoy it when a long forgotten round of consistency appears, to remind and let one feel the feeling again.

Typhoon

GIR/ Good ball striking. If you're a good ballstriker you're going to have the ability to have an above average short game. To become a good ballstriker you are no stranger to practice and with that you are also putting time into your short game because u know your going to have an off day and need to get it up and down/ create the Seve type shots that get u the low score or keep a good round going.

sdandrea1

Typhoon

I am a MUCH better chipper and putter than I am at solid irons strikes on full swings. Up and downs from around the greens save my scores more often than not.

Release

sdandrea1

Yes, they do need to design more senior tee boxes in the snow bird State.
For both men and ladies.
Most the senior golfers don't have the game between 170-200 yards. I'm retracting to 4 iron to hybrids for those yardage now.

sdandrea1

Release Yes, they do need to design more senior tee boxes in the snow bird State.
For both men and ladies.
Most the senior golfers don't have the game between 170-200 yards. I'm retracting to 4 iron to hybrids for those yardage now.

Yep - I'm hitting a 5w for 170, 3w for 200 and it only goes about 190 if I smash it.

Release

sdandrea1 Yep - I'm hitting a 5w for 170, 3w for 200 and it only goes about 190 if I smash it.

Yup, but you have more roll out with the firm turf.
We have "mud" here from all the rain. Have you seen pitch mark in front of the golf ball from a drive in the fairway ?
Back spin from the driver. that will need forward + forward tee to play like normal.

MidwayJ

I rarely play either extreme for an entire round but I remember 8-9 years ago when I broke 80 for the first time. I hit 11 GIRs which is really good for me. A few months later the same year I broke 80 for the second time. In that round I only had 5 GIRs but chipping and putting were much better than usual. It was a toss up as to which was more satisfying because the short game success was a bigger surprise. 😀

Martee

What is the percentage most have for the up-n-down game?

Pro's only average between 50 to 60% from the stats I have seen. They practice a lot.

My observation be it at my home course or other course I have visited, most amateurs are
are playing from the wrong tee boxes. Their scores show it, their pace of play show it, the
number of times looking for balls and lost balls can usually be traced back to the golfer
lacking the ability and skills to play competitive golf against par from their chosen tee
boxes.

But it is their game, just as long as they don't slow the pace of play down because they
are having continuing issues related to their choice.

Release

Martee

I agree with your observation.
Only if a golfer has room for improvements ; like not reaching his potential for distance, more room to improve on the short game.... meaningful potential , not like me with injury and aging I had probably reached my lifetime potential with this game .
So I would stay to the white tees and under 6,700 yards even when the fairways are giving roll-outs in the Summer; and gradually move to forward tee when time comes. I would not benefit from teeing up from the back tees, it'll only bring punishment.

But a youngster whom has the potential for improvement in leaps and bounds, I would encourage them to take up the challenge instead of staying at the junior tee or the white tee.

Keeping the pace of play is not just playing from the appropriate set pf tee.

letthebigdogshunt

Both are great. Hitting a lot of gir's means you are hitting the ball pretty pure and that is really fun. Getting up and down for par half a dozen times in a round makes you feel like you can make a mistake and still come out on top. When you are hitting a lot of greens your confidence is extremely high and that is fine for a couple of rounds but it does get somewhat boring when it happens for 2-3 rounds in a row.

Supp

Most of my rounds are pretty scrambly. A typical round for me is to shoot around 80 and have 30 putts. If I hit more greens, but the number of putts also rises. If I break 80 I'm happy regardless of how it's done.

So for me it's all about the score.

DC300

PA-PLAYA I shot 89 that day. One of the par3's measured 165 yards, wind against... I hit driver and just barely made the front fringe. Approximately 30 minutes later - another par3 measuring 190 yards. I hit 9-iron through the green and into the back bunker. Links golf, nothing like it.

Fun day

I used to play a course that had one of those holes, every darn time we played, I pulled driver on a 194 yard hole and often came up short. I average ~295 off the tee. I actually figured it out when I hit a ball low on the face and burned it through the green for the first time ever.. I started hitting my version of a 3 iron stinger into the hole, I'd usually get "near" the green with it and then have a shot at par. The crazy part is, there is another par 4 with water that you have to carry 287 to clear ( slightly up hill) in the same direction and j would almost always feel comfortable going for that one off the tee. Wind is a miserable sob.

Ps, I try for GIR, play Seve-ish. If my driver is in the fairway, I'm usually able to score.

Martee

A side note when valuing GIRs. For me I see GIRS as
Good GIRS and as Bad GIRs. For me a GIR that has
me in a position that there is a significant percentage
That i will 3 putt, then that is a BAD GIR.

A Bad GIRS may be related to the length of the first
putt; the difficulty of first being able to come to a
rest within tap in distance (think above the hole,
fast greens, unlikely ball can finish within a foot or
so, etc.).
I view Bad GIRs similar to missing the green in the
wrong spot. Missing a GIR in a position where
there is a high likelihood of chipping in or basically
guaranteed of the up-n-down is my equivalent of
how define a Good GIR, at worst I expect a two
putt.
I track 3 putts and GIRs, because IMO GIRS alone
don't give a complete picture. I also annotate
my up-n-downs to better understand my approach
game and what is truly an up-n-down.

I do most post round on scorecard, takes about
5 to 10 minutes.

LBlack14

I'd love to play boring golf, but I don't hit a lot of gir so that's out. I am satisfied when during the round I'm thinking "you suck" then I add up my score and there's an 8 or 4 as the 1st number depending on number of holes played. I don't fret much I try to enjoy the company and other things from the round. That keeps me playing.

atomicgolf

Sounds like a classic case of "what could have been!" The front nine must have felt like a grind, but making those scrambling pars is always satisfying. Meanwhile, the back nine showed some elite ball striking, but the putter just didn’t cooperate.

For me, I’d rather have the steady, “boring” golf—hitting fairways and greens usually leads to lower scores in the long run. But there’s definitely something fun (and nerve-wracking) about scrambling and pulling off crazy recoveries.

I get why the back nine was more frustrating for you. Nothing stings like striping the ball all day and walking off with a handful of missed opportunities. If the putts had dropped, you’d probably be calling it one of your best rounds.

Which nine do you enjoy more when you’re in the moment? Grinding or going pin hunting?

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