I'm positive its a mental thing. My best round, I walked up to the 1st tee cold. No range time, warm up swing, no practice putts, and put one in the fairway. Heck I didn't even have any coffee beforehand. I'm thinking about trying the cold bore thing again on Sunday.

    Mattyv I was the same way but now that you mention it, I think it has gone away. I was being too tentative on the first couple of holes. Once I realized it, I decided to be more confident and reasonably aggressive right from the start.

      A warmup can provide mental support as well.......unless you're hitting hosel rockets.....then it was a bad idea

      azgreg I shot a 78 last year after starting by bogeying the short par five first hole and missing a three-foot putt for double on the second hole. So I was four over after two.

          rsvman2
          Mine was in a tournament in Prescott at Prescott Country Club, a course I've never played before. After 5 holes at 5 over I thought I was out of it so I just started playing and having fun.

            If I start out with a double or a couple of bogeys, I tell myself that I'd rather do them FIRST and get them out of the way, rather than ruin a good round with a couple of bad holes at the end of the round....!!

            When I'm on the range before a round I'll mentally play the first hole. I'll picture the first hole then hit my drive. Then, depending on how I think my ball would have ended up, I'll make the appropriate club selection and play my second shot. I'll do this a few times until I feel like I'm in a bit of a groove. When I get to the first tee, I feel like I'm ready to go.

              Supp When I'm on the range before a round I'll mentally play the first hole. I'll picture the first hole then hit my drive. Then, depending on how I think my ball would have ended up, I'll make the appropriate club selection and play my second shot. I'll do this a few times until I feel like I'm in a bit of a groove. When I get to the first tee, I SHANK ONE INTO THE STARTER SHACK.

              Modified to pertain to me.......

                  My best rounds of 78, and a few 79's started with doubles.....the 78 actually started and ended with doubles and one of the 79's finished with a triple 😡 And some of my worst rounds have started with birdies. A few holes doesn't really dictate the whole round at my level.

                  I do recall being sort of distracted from the score on my best rounds. The 78 I just had a goal of not embarrassing myself playing with 3 really good single digit players. After starting with an unlucky double I was just trying to make no worse than a bogey.....which led to a lot of pars and me beating 2 of the 3 players. Not sure about the other rounds except that I didn't know the score until it was over.

                    KCee Not sure about the other rounds except that I didn't know the score until it was over.

                    Key, IMO....!!!