Shooting Your Age
fatshot I have become a better golfer now than earlier in my life. I stopped blaming my clubs (as much). And got serious about fixing the holes in my game. I wish I would have worked on my short game years ago.
Being around all the other seniors for the past several years, I've realized that I had to have decent swing mechanics in place before it's too late. I've probably said this before, but the mad slasher swings that a lot of guys get away with into their 50s, do not survive very well in the 70s. Almost every good golfer I play with has a nice smooth swing on a good plane.
Most of my mistakes are still mental ones. Almost always they are from trying to get close, from jail, after a missed green. When I go home and think woulda coulda shoulda, those are the things that stand out. If I top a drive or slice a 6 iron into the bunker, no regrets. It didn't happen because of wrong thinking. I'm able to laugh those off and carry on. But the flop shot that I bladed over the green, that pisses me off.
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sdandrea1 Shooting your age on a "real" golf course is a different accomplishment.
'Real golf course'? As opposed to a fake one???
Any time someone plays ANY 18 hole course and shoots their age is outstanding, imo. As long as the yardage is there, for age and handicap(?). And that would be a point of discussions and probably asterisks 
.
I doubt anyone here will shoot much less than normal if they play a links style vs. 'normal' course...trees/shrubs/water holes/hills/etc., with same yardages. If anyone thinks otherwise, they are only fooling themselves.
Also jmo.....if you cannot putt, quit thinking about your age on the scorecard.
DonM A lot of TRUTH there Don.....Esp. the part about mental mistakes!! Almost every round
I play I can point to dumb decisions I made that cost me a shot here, a shot there. One thing that has helped
me a lot is looking at all 3 distances to the green (front, middle, and back), and chosing a club that should
get me to the BACK distance!! Unbelievable how often playing to the back distance results in me being Pin High!
A golfing buddy of mine said to me last year, "I tend to under-estimate my distance....you tend to OVER-estimate
yours!" Hit me like a ton of bricks.....
Par4QC I doubt anyone here will shoot much less than normal if they play a links style vs. 'normal...trees/shrubs/water holes/etc., with same yardages. If anyone thinks otherwise, they are only fooling themselves.
We have an Arthur Hills links style course called Maumee Bay State Park near here on Lake Erie.....it's one tough SOB !! We joke that Arthur must have been in a lousy mood when he designed it.....we only play it once a year, BTW...!!
It was built and opened when I was coaching the high school team, and I did everything in my power to move our team there for practices and matches. The kids hated it at first b/c they couldn't shoot the kind of scores there that they could on more "normal" courses. But I told them "Guys, if we can play here, we can play anywhere!" A whale of a home course advantage.....it worked out that we had our best teams once they got used to that course.
I appreciate that Rex and I don't mean to say that 72 I shot was easy. I was on fire in all aspects and had a few long putts go in. I had a tap in birdie on our #9 par 3, so I almost collected the Hole-in-one pot. I guess my point is that when I go back to VA and play my P.B. Dye-a-bolical home course, a 72 is much less likely.
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sdandrea1 The pro was a bit of a strange dude, he said he’d shot lower
. Nobody there ever saw the guy play, he always had an excuse.
It was just a weird round. I knew I played the front well and didn’t really think of it continuing on the back 9. I really didn’t think of the score, I was just thinking of birdies.
Then a couple years ago at the course I work at I was -8 after 9 holes and had to work on the pro shop so I didn’t bother with the back 9. You can’t imagine how many people came up to me amazed that I stopped after 9. I told them,” I had to work”
sdandrea1 Maybe you misunderstood....not taking anything away from that 72, no matter which course it was.
I was trying to shoot my age by going to this 1 course we play. It's a bit shorter than the others, but only a Par 70. I did shoot 70 there, but I was 69 at the time. Just not an easy thing to do, and I was even trying to give myself a better chance.
You still hit the ball the same distances, and putt the same. The only 'help' we will ever get is if we play shorter yardages, not just 'easier' courses.
Or if we buy new clubs.
I'm not a crappy golfer, I'm just not old enough at 74 to shoot my age.
One of my good friends here shot his age a few weeks ago, 71.
The closest I've come was a 73 when I was 65. I'm 69 now, and my average score is around 81-82, so I've got a few years before I get a good shot at shooting my age.
The oldest guy in our MWF money group will be 90 in 4 days. Today he shot 79!!!! From the red tees (4950 yards) but so what. He walks like half his joints don't work. His swing is functional but his drives only go about 140. I wish I could have seen how he did it. He's still a pretty good putter and he knows every break on our greens.
DonM I wish I could have seen how he did it.
Like I do it. Tee shot goes 150 to 175 down the middle. Approach shots is near the green (sometimes on), chip close, make par or bogey. Move on. No big mistakes. On the good days, I make more pars, hardly any birdies, no doubles. 79 or better quite often. Boring, nothing flashy or long.
