Format: Stableford
Venue: [Home course]
Score: ?
Handicap mark: 15
Themes in reply: Paralysis by analysis.
Dear Colin,
Thanks for the putting tips. I wish I`d had them before today! Putting was very difficult for me today and I probably had another 40 odd putts. The rest of my game was a mixture of good and poor.
A golfer who I had not played with before was in our foursome and I was his partner. He plays off 2 and has been as low as plus 3. We started on the 4th and he hit his drive onto the bank just 70 yards short of the green. I was really intimidated and fluffed my drive about 40 yards, hit a good 5 iron, scuffed my next just over the ditch, played up to the side of the green, chipped on and 2 putted for a 7.
I did manage to calm down a bit .
I parred the 5th, bogied the 6th with 3 putts, bogied the 7th after a bunker shot and 2 putts.
I lost my tee shot on the 8th, had 5 on the 9th, 3 putted the 10th for 4, 5 on the 11th, 4 on the 12th, 5 on the 13th, 3 on the 14th ( missed a birdie putt ), 5 on the 15th (1 putt), 3 putts for a 5 on the 16th, 3 putts for 4 on the 17th and 3 putts for a 6 on the 18th.
I hit a 3 wood into rough on the 1st hacked forward twice to the green and 3 putted for 7.
On the 2nd I hit just onto the green and 3 putted.
My drive on the 3rd hit a tree and eventually I got to the green in 4 and 3 putted for 7.
Not a happy round.
I’ll be in touch .
Best wishes,
Matthew
Dear Matthew,
Oh dear!
First things first: many thanks for the report. It was brave of you to be honest about being intimidated by that monster first drive by your partner. I think just about anyone would have been similarly intimidated but not many would have admitted it.
And it shows what an incredibly psychological game golf is, because a moment’s reflection would make it is obvious to anyone that what any other golfer does with their ball has absolutely no effect on your ball, because playing golf is simply a matter of applying a force to your ball so that it moves from position A to desired position B.
I think it is worth re-stating that description of golf because it can be a transforming experience to view golf as a very simple exercise:
“… playing golf is simply a matter of applying a force to your ball so that it moves from position A to desired position B.”
One of the many things that are worth considering about this statement is that it places no emphasis whatsoever on how the ball got to position A in the first place. A lot of golfers fret so much about their last shot that it affects their next one, and the rest of the round can suffer after just one poor shot.
The impression I get from your description of the round as a whole is that your confidence is really suffering from your poor putting. You mention 17 greens of which you single putted once, two-putted 8 times and three-putted 8 times. This sort of putting will really take the wind out of your competitive sails and it will be very difficult to generate any sort of excitement and momentum.
For this reason, it is worth ignoring your play tee to green for now and simply concentrating on your putting. As you will remember, I was able to improve John’s putting quite spectacularly from just 20 minutes sat in the front of his car; and so, naturally, I am confident that I can effect a similar improvement in yours. In fact, I am willing to go further because it is obvious to my eye that you have a much more natural putting stroke than John. You have a natural rhythm: it is just that you are throttling it with analysis.
I’m at a bit of a loss as to how to arrange a putting lesson where you get to actually hit a ball with a putter. It seems to me that it would be impertinent to have a lesson right outside the pro shop. A solution might be to go to a par-3 pay-and-play course and just use the greens. What do you think?
Regards,
Colin
