Personal Best Score

71

That was the score I shot a few weeks ago in a school match. It was out of nowhere, completely unexpected, and even came after a period of terrible golf. I couldn’t even break 80 in the few rounds I had played prior, and then this 71 (even par) came. I do have to preface that this wasn’t your ordinary 71; it consisted of two double bogeys, two bogeys, four birdies, and an eagle. Even wilder, I chipped in twice on this magical day. To top it off, I was +4 thru 15 holes and finished -4 in my final 3. So to say this wasn’t your ordinary, even par round is fair. Nonetheless, it happened. Naturally, I was ecstatic coming off of such an incredible round, but then I was just confused. How could I have gone from playing some of my worst rounds in a time when I was so busy that I was barely practicing to scoring a personal best? I’ve been left even more confused seeing my scores plummeting. The last couple of rounds have all been in the mid 70s, and it doesn’t even feel like I’m playing that well. 

So how could this seemingly inverse relationship between practicing and scoring low work? 

The short answer is that I’m playing golf, not golf swing. If you haven’t heard this expression it means that I don’t care about how pretty my swing is or how on plane I am at impact, but just that I am generally hitting the ball where I want. I haven’t been trying to make any fixes with my golf swing in the last month or so and have just been working with what I’ve got. Now, if you are new to golf, this won’t magically lower your scores because, for this to work, you need to have a swing that is somewhat repeatable. But sometimes, the best medicine for your golf game is forgetting the fundamentals. Let your body figure out how to hit it solid and straight, and you’ll be pleasantly surprised with how smart your subconscious is in making tiny fixes. 

There are a few other things I have implemented to make this even more successful. The first is making use of knockdown or ¾ shots almost as often as I hit stock iron shots. The key to hitting these is to take the club a little less far back while keeping the same tempo as you would on your full swing. I find that doing this lowers my dispersion and allows me to feel like I am more in control of where the ball goes. The second strategy I have been using religiously is not going directly at the flag. Pretty much no matter where the pin is, I have been giving myself at least a few yards of margin of safety closer to the middle of the green. Interestingly, I find that I am making more birdies doing this than when I was aiming at every flagstick. This is because I am hitting way more greens in regulation and giving myself more putts for birdies.

If you are in a golf rut, I encourage you to focus less on your delivery of the club and more on reducing the number of shots it takes you to get it to the hole. This seems like rudimentary advice, and while it may be, it has certainly helped lower my scores. Let me know how this goes for you!