If you can bogey every hole on a typical par 72 golf course, you'll shoot 90. If you manage to par just one of the holes, you'll break 90. Golfers who shoot in the nineties hear this repeatedly. It's a way of reminding them that they don't have to bomb away with every shot, take on every obstacle, or challenge every pin. Instead, just keep the ball in play. With a conservative approach, you may need an extra shot to reach the green, but that means no worse than bogey, so you're well on your way.
I find this approach helpful, but only to a certain extent. It's useful when you find yourself in a difficult situation – amongst a grove of trees, for example, after your tee shot. We've all seen the pros get near or on the green in this situation – sometimes by threading the ball through a small opening in the branches, or by playing a huge hook or slice. Most of us are not pros, however, so it would be unwise to attempt the same shots. For us regular folk, it's much better to chip or punch one back to safety and take our chances with the subsequent shot.
While the bogey mantra reminds us to take our medicine when necessary, I believe it can also impede our overall progress. For golfers who shoot in the nineties, such as yours truly, it is simply not easy to bogey 18 holes. That's because we make mistakes, not only from tough situations like the grove of trees, but also from prime positions, such as the middle of the fairway or even the teeing ground. Pull a tee shot out of bounds and you'll suddenly be hard pressed to make bogey. Make more than one mistake on a hole and the same holds true.
If you set the bar at 90, I believe you'll most often come up a few strokes short. That's why players like me typically shoot no better than 92, 93, 94, etc. To break 90 more consistently, I really think we have to move away from the bogey mantra – toward a par or birdie mentality. This doesn't mean that we expect to par or birdie every hole. It simply means that we approach each tee shot with the intent of making birdie. Further, we maintain that approach until one of our shots puts us in a situation that makes par a more realistic goal. We should only aim for bogey when the situation deteriorates further. In this fashion, we still play conservatively when called for. However, we also play aggressively when there is no reason to shy away from a particular hole.
I put this new mentality to the test at my most recent round at Victoria Park East. I made par on three of the first four holes, so it appeared to be helping. Hole #1, a par-5, was completed with driver, 5-iron, sand wedge and a 2-putt. Hole #2, a par-4, began with a perfect drive to the end of the fairway, just in front of a creek at 150 yards. My 8-iron found a bunker just right and after a poor sand shot and 3 putts, I took double-bogey. See what I mean about more than one mistake on a hole? All the more reason to make hay when the going is good. Hole #3, a par-4, resulted in par, thanks to driver, 6-iron, a chip from the left fringe and a single putt. Hole #4, a par-3 over water, yielded par after a 7-iron from the tee and 2 putts.
The rest of the front nine wasn't as good, as I tallied one more par, three bogeys and a disappointing triple. The triple was on hole #6, a short par-3 over water. My 9-iron got me safely over the water, but it was pulled and drawing left, careening off a mound and going out of bounds. The par was on hole #9, a par-4 with a dogleg right. I actually hit a poor drive, which never got more than a foot off the ground. From 215 yards in the left rough, I tried to hit 5-wood and failed badly. Luckily, my next shot was fabulous. The 8-iron from the right rough sailed high and landed soft, pin high. I faced a long breaking putt, about 20 feet, and drained it for a score of 44 at the turn.
I played the next six holes 5 over par. This included two pars, three bogeys and one double. The pars both came on par-3 holes. Hole #13 was playing 150 yards over water – a common feature on the par-3 holes at Vic Park. I hit an easy 8-iron just above the hole. I barely tapped the ball to cozy it down 10 feet to the hole for a tap-in. Hole #15 was playing longer at 170 yards. I hit a pure 6-iron about 180 to the back of the green. With the flag at the front, I had a really tough 2-putt, but made a decent lag and a better finisher to snag par.
So into the home stretch we go. I was 13 over par through 15 holes – the par mentality had me a couple strokes better than bogey pace! Hole #16 was a 506-yard par-5. My drive found a fairway bunker on the right side. With a flat lie and not much of a lip to worry about, I hit a nice 6-iron to the left fairway, 130 yards from the green. A large tree was protecting the back left of the green, where the pin was located. I tried to play PW to the fat of the green, but came up slightly right, in a bunker. Now, the sand at Vic Park is actually very nice and fluffy, but despite that, I hit a bad shot. I thinned the ball into the lip of the bunker. It ricocheted back at me, hitting me in the chest area. That's a one stroke penalty. I got out of the bunker on my next shot and 2-putt for triple-bogey. Darn!
Hole #17 is a short, quirky par-4. After a great drive, I should have done better than bogey, but my pitch from 65 yards was too short, leaving a long putt. My lag was mediocre and I burned the edge on the par attempt – bogey was the result. Still, I was 17 over through 17 holes going into the last, a par-4. My drive drifted just right of the fairway, near a grove of trees. I took my medicine and punched back to the centre of the fairway, 120 yards from the flag. I had taken 86 strokes to that point. All I needed to do was hit the green and 2-putt for an 89.
The green is on an elevated plateau, so I decided to hit my 130-yard club (PW). It was a slight pull, but still headed to the centre of the green. Next thing I know, the ball lands on the steep slope fronting the green, and rolls back into a deep bunker. Game over. I had already hit two poor shots from greenside bunkers and this ended up no different. I inadvertently picked the ball clean, sailing well past the green. Now pitching from the top of the hill to a green falling away from me, I fluffed one with the 60 degree wedge, sliding right under the ball. I wasn't being cute either – my next attempt was less of a flop attempt and the ball landed short of the pin, rolled past, almost stopped, but kept going and going until it was off the green entirely. Three putts from there gave me a 9 on the hole.
Give me a break! My typical score once again. What an incredible game!
Score: 93
Putts: 38
Fairways: 4
Greens: 6
Penalties: 2
Omg. What a disaster on hole 18. Cruel game.
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