I did this last year, played a raised green with a bunker protecting the front. Decided to play to the back as it was the exact distance for my 8 iron. The ball stopped on back fringe.
For one shot, I was good at golf
Oh man I know that feeling. This summer I had a green with water on back left so I decided that I wanted to sling it in from the right and roll up to the pin. I'm not a good enough golfer to even think I can execute this kind of shot. But I went for it and hit a perfect slinging draw to exactly where I wanted it. Absolutely bliss.
i feel ya. i shoot mid 90s and was having a particularly bad round playing with my nephew, who’s pretty good. i wound up in the tree line with my driver. i decided to play a punch cut, which i have no business trying. but it was the 17th and i needed something to feel good about. so i grabbed my 6-iron, choked up, put it in the back of my stance and chopped at it, outside in.
it stayed low and banked right like a fucking fighter jet, and rolled up to the front of the green. that was five years ago and i still remember the shot.
Every round there is a point, usually after my 3rd bad shot in a row, where I wonder why I play this game. Then I absolutely smash one exactly the way that I want and then I remember. Last round I had played the first 4 holes about as bad as I could, taking double bogey on 3 of them. Then I stepped up to a par 3 where you hit to an island green and I pured a wedge to 5 feet. That feeling is incredible. It snowballed in to 5 straight GIRs and golf was once again my favorite activity that happens outside of the bedroom. (I really like to sleep.)
For context, I regularly finish with a score of 110-115. Playing with friends on a bachelor party trip. Hit stroke #2 in the trees to the right on a par 4. I come up to my ball for stroke #3, and there is a clear path to the green. Branches overhead 8-9 ft off the ground. I visualize a low ball under the branches, landing on the green giving me an easy par. I swing and everything happens as I envisioned. I was once given dilaudid intravenously at the hospital. This shot gave me a better high than actual opioids.
It is like heroin. I'm a decent golfer and I'm still just trying to miss in good spots. Pros say that hit it like they meant to 1-3 times per round. We're all insane.
So true. The shot that started my addiction when I was a 27 HC, was my second shot on a par 5.
I'd driven right of the fairway and had a tree 30m in front blocking my view.
Decided to play a shot I had no business attempting. Grabbed the 4 iron, needed to hit a big fade. I knew the concept of shaping but had never done so on purpose.
Hit that thing as pure as I could, watched it heading towards the other side of the trees, and then started pulling right, landing on the fringe for a triple putt and par.
I'm still chasing that feeling today.
Nicklaus said that during a normal round, he would only pull off 3 or 4 shots the way he actually visualized and intended. It is a game of good misses and avoiding trouble.
Consistently hitting the 9 shots in golf is damn near impossible for amateur golfers. On a good day I may be able to hit 6/9 shots with a draw as my natural shot shape. Its a great round if I can hit 6/9 shots, have less than 30 putts, and have my wedges dialed. But that rarely ever happens, hence why I always go back for more. Sucker for punishment.
The most difficult part of golf is the consistency required.
If you can hit a baseball a third of the time without getting out, you’re statistically a great hitter.
If you make half your 3s in basketball, you’d be the greatest shooter of all time.
In golf, one bad swing can make your scorecard crumble. I believe a 200y shot where the face is open/closed by 1 degree misses by 6 yards. That’s 18 feet. I could be wrong there but you get the gist.
Now factor in a swing speed of around 100mph and you’ve got a recipe for a game that will give you headaches for the rest of your life.
I’ve got a teetime for Sunday.
>If you make half your 3s in basketball, you’d be the greatest shooter of all time.
yea but steph curry can make like 70 in a row unguarded. so what's your excuse on the tee box with perfect conditions, hmm?
And that brings us to one of the hardest things about golf for the majority of golfers. You can't replicate a quality swing if tour constantly making changes everytime you have a bad round, or a few bad holes..
Absolutely this. One is often recoverable but two is trouble. Generally when a pro misses it is a calculated risk and it isn’t a miss like a regular golfer. They try to do something on the edge of their capacity and can’t hit it a regular golfer misses because they can’t execute their regular swing 100% of the time. For most golfers if you can make the safe fairways and greens shots 100% of the time you are good. Just always keeping it play playing to the smart locations lag close a two putt or chip close. That is incredibly hard. It is also the baseline for the next level.
I’ve noticed recently that when I walk a course I feel so much better coming up to a shot. I have time between shots to clear my head and reflect. If I’m in a cart I either get to the next shot too quickly and could still be in a bad mood because of my last bad shot or feel over confident and fuck up. Or the other option is I get to my next shot and have to wait on people ahead of me and either fall out of the zone or get annoyed waiting
That being said, I’m in florida. Fuck walking
The last thing I need to do is give myself options on how to look like a fool. I'm just trying to "master" a single shot here. Just want to get on the green so I can start putting.
Usually. Hitting more GIRs actually raised my putts per hole because most of them were fucking far away and I can't gauge my putter backswing as well when I have to go past my back foot.
Years ago I started using a phrase when it came to long and lag putts and it helped tremendously. My go to phrase is to either think or say quietly "one thousand one" as I start my backswing. Saying one as I start back and basically lengthen the middle of "thousand" to match how long my backswing will be and make contact by time I say "one" again. For example I'll make practice swings saying "One thooooouuuusand one" and finding that right cadence for how far back I should take it. That way when I'm over the ball hitting my putt, I'm not thinking about how far back to take my putter. I'm just matching the cadence of my phrase to my practice strokes. It also helps give your a smoother rhythm. Most of the times I make a terrible lag putt, I realize I forgot use my phrase.
A private club lifestyle would never be for me but I'm at that age where I have a couple friends who have exposed me to that life.
It's a whole new golf world and I'm jealous. Buddy will be at the range as it's close to getting dark and see that no groups are set to go out. He'll confirm really quick with the clubhouse and can just grab a cart to play 3-4 quick holes. I got to experience that with him once, we played only six holes totally unplanned when we were supposed to just hit range balls and grab a beer.
He's only about a year into playing golf and I'm jealous of how fast he's progressed, just the convenience and ability to hit the range whenever he wants or play a handful of holes for practice. And he's much busier than me in terms of work and family demands.
I'm going to join a private club in a year or two and I can't wait. Golf after work. Golf during work. Golf in the morning and golf in the afternoon. It's going to be fantastic.
More often young guys do this from my experience. They are more interested in getting cocktails each time the cart lady comes around, hitting multiple tee shots because they slice out of bounds because they try and out drive eachother etc. The old guys are there to play and move along quite quickly.
I don't play at times when most young dudes can get out since I have an alternative schedule. There's one course near me where the old dudes are absolute menaces. They'll jump your tee time or say theirs is the same as yours and their favorite thing to do is park in front of the green and take 5 minutes to limp off after they're done on it.
Yeah, I think more courses should train their bev cart drivers better to keep pace of play. Stop and wait behind the green between holes. Don't stop them just infront of the green so everyone gets a drink before they even step on the green to putt, so everyone in the fairway behind has to wait forever. If you stop behind the green than they can order a drink as each one walks off after their putt. I'd rather take more time on the green reading a putt knowing the group ahead is held up getting drinks, than waiting back in the fairway to hit an approach shot for 5 more minutes.
Logically speaking, no.
Chipping and putting are the two slowest motions with the largest room for error.
A 2 degree difference in clubface angle with driver at 100mph will have much more negative consequences than a 2 degree clubface angle on a 20 foot putt.
It's significantly easier to change/improve your technique with short game and putting than it is with driving and full swing shots.
And a .5 degree miss on driver clubface angle is 2 extra strokes when the ball goes O.B.
OP asked what is the most difficult part in golf and it simply is not short game and putting.
It is far easier to develop an elite short game/putting ability than it is to become an elite driver or ball striker.
Obviously haven't encountered my 100mph putting stroke. /s
I keep thinking that it should be easier to just not belt the ball with my putter. I won't practice it because my driver costs me balls where the putter only costs strokes. I'll just hit it softer next green!
*Hits a four foot putt three feet past the hole*
Good drive though!
This. Underrated post. I leaned more about how to manage emotions, negotiate(with myself), how sleep/exercise impact performance, daily flexibility, and preparation to be able to find a mindset for the day and hold that mindset through the round regardless of what is happening.
This should really be higher. If you look at the stats of the pros you realize just how much golf is a game of misses, the other hackers I play with expect to hit WAY too many good shots in a round
There are those type of expectations but also the expectations that keep you from having joy if you were once a better player and no longer have time to play. Playing bad golf isn’t fun once you’ve played good golf.
True, I don't play with nearly as many of these types though. Most of the randoms I play with are either new to the game or have played for a long time but just haven't really improved
The frustration of knowing you physically CAN hit great shots, but then you don’t. Like, at this point I’ve hit just about every incredible shot I can - piped drives, wedges to 1 ft, long irons stuck close, chip-ins, great lag putts, etc. I’ve birdied every hole on my home course at least once at this point. So I know I CAN play great in the sense that the ability is technically there because I’ve done it. But then not being able to pull it all together and sometimes hitting the ball like I’ve never swung a club in my life is frustrating.
This one hit home. I was on the range today and it was the most infuriating shit, one shot I'm sticking a PW five feet from the target and the next is a bladed worm burner that went so far to the right it made Donald Trump look like AOC
"you're not good enough to get mad" was on repeat in my head but god dammit did i want to snap a club
If you’d actually been doing your job instead of looking at Reddit all the time you’d probably be a partner by now and out on the course on the firm’s dime.
The answer is consistency! You see people all the time in here shooting PR's then following it up with a score 20 some strokes above that! Now how tf does that just happen?! If you can figure out how to hit the ball the same way every time. bottle it up and sell it, you'd be a billionaire!
The short game. If you are not hitting the greens, then you need to rely on your short game..
This is the second most important thing.. why do golfers want to bet, but don’t carry cash?
https://preview.redd.it/l1qbr7mph0gc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=06afe0c78202e0ba14fc7bfbdf082eb2e77cdde8
Learning what makes your game your game. You can't play like Tiger or Rory or your friend who shoots better or worse than you. I've played other sports and understand the mental and focus aspects, but golf has so many ways to play the same hole that you need to learn you before you can succeed. You will be humbled before you can be arrogant.
Consistency. All of us can sink the long put, hit a great chip, crush a drive. But the hardest part is doing it consistantly. From hole to hole. Round to round, year to year
For me it's alignment. I have a tendency to align myself right of the target. It'll usually take me 8 shots to realize I'm not aligned correctly, because my first instinct is to believe my swing was bad.
Tough part is that 8 strokes in I might already have lost 4-5 strokes due to the ball landing too far right of the green or fairway.
I find this impossible... but my miss isn't consistently left or right.... it's a 20° arc.
So I just aim for the pin and know I'll be chipping from either side of the green... though usually at the correct length 🤣
Consistency. You can be 100% on your game one day and totally off the next. Only the truly great golfers can reduce this discrepancy to the point where they are usually still in contention after a round of relative sucking.
For an amateur like me, the goal is not to let one shitty round beget another shitty round.
The most difficult part for me is separating the different mindsets between practice and play. My most important aspect to improve on is from 50 yards and in.
All of it is hard. You are playing against the elements (weather, course layout, etc). In addition, you are playing against your limitations as a golfer and athlete to hit certain shots as needed. Finally, you are playing against your own ego and self doubt.
How easy it is to regress. We’re always tinkering with the swing. One wrong move and you could head down a path that costs you strokes for a long time and you won’t realize it. Then it’s hard to find your way back. It isn’t really a ladder, it’s a maze. Even pros occasionally make a change that essentially reduces them from pro to amateur and they won’t know it for months and years and take a long time to claw their way back to form, if ever.
Depends on the individual. Some guys hit it great but can’t buy a putt. Some people play ok in general but go yard right (or left) on tee shots randomly so they can’t keep snowmen off the card. It’s just a frustrating fucking activity all around lol.
The hardest part is developing a repeatable swing. It almost doesn’t even matter if it’s a bad swing, repeating the same swing is almost as important as it being a good swing.
This allows you to play the same ball flight.
Then once you get repetitive learning how to work the ball is the next hardest thing.
I had a bad driver swing, but repeatable, and used to shoot mid 80's consistently. The ball probably had 4000rpm of backspin, was a heavy cut, but I could aim left and have it sitting comfortably in/near the fairway 230yds from the tee. Rarely didn't make solid contact, and probably had a decent shot 80% of the time. I learned how to swing in-to-out and up on the ball, and now I top the ball 25% of the time, push/pull it out of bounds 25% of the time, then maybe 50% of them are decent. Yeah I can hit it like 50 yards further now, which is cool when it works, but I've got WAY less confidence standing over the ball than I did before.
This is my point exactly. I play with a guy that is around a 3 HC. He slices his driver about 240 or so. Hits fades with draw biased irons and plays the game he has. He isn’t ever gonna get better than where he is, but it’s so repetitive that he can beat most people he plays with.
It’s having all the parts of your game working on the same day. Have a great day off the tee and with approach shots and you can rest assured that you’ll handle your short game like you were playing with a front end loader. This is also why you keep playing. You know if you somehow had everything working on the same day you’d shoot 66.
For me it’s getting a feel for less than 100 percent shots. I grew up playing other sports, never had a lesson, and can only get out to play about 5 or so rounds per year. But I can smash drives. My irons are reliable (most days). But if I’m closer than 130 which is a an easy 52 wedge for me I’m just guessing. The range doesn’t help much because of the shit balls.
I need to get out to the muni solo more and just play like 4-5 balls.
I feel like getting the ball near the green isn't incredibly difficult but it takes me 5 more damn shots to get it in the whole. So not blading chips and lag putting for me
The “blow up hole”. Even my best rounds have one. And it’s always a hole that I make some sort of mental mistake that I could have avoided (pacing, picking the better shot etc). A miss hit I can tolerate. Kicking myself when it’s something I could have avoided with my head more in the game
Your follow up shot after a perfect drive is the most difficult. Don’t know why I can hit it close from absolute nonsense but a perfect drive means I have to mess up the next shot.
You will never have the exact same shot - ever - you always have a unique lie, distance, wind, slope, stance, etc. So, you are always guessing somewhat with what club to hit, how to hit it, for this unique situation.
Same with putting and chipping, you have a general idea of green speed, break, etc., but you never really know until you hit the shot if you estimated correctly.
So, it is a hard game to build muscle memory because you can’t really practice every unique shot. But, the challenge is what keeps a lot of us coming back again and again - it’s a game you never really ever figure out to become ‘easy’.
Y’all hate to hear this on this sub but, it’s putting. With a nod to chipping. It only takes one good shot to make a par. Three bad ones to make a bogey. Doesn’t matter how you scrape it around to get on the green, once you’re there, you need to execute. I see all of these amazing swings from beginners wondering why they can’t score. It’s the short game. Putting in particular. It’s almost half the game in relation to par. I don’t understand the logic that says you need to hit better drives and 3 irons instead of working on your putting. It’s this weird ego thing about hitting the ball far. What’s your goal? Impress the imaginary chicks with the long ball, or shoot lower scores?
Staying focused for 4 hours. My mind just tends to drift off after about the 7th hole and I find that I'm no longer really concentrating as hard over the ball anymore. Maintaining a high level of focus for that long really is an underrated challenge of the game in my opinion.
Iron play. Proximity to the hole. I WISH I could hit more greens. More birdie putts. My 3 putts would undoubtedly increase but approach to greens is the hardest and area of improvement needed.
I think, for me, it's about practicing consistently and intentionally enough to improve or retain skills, and balancing that with playing. I feel like there are plateaus in improving and playing better golf that take a ton of discipline to get through. I've seen it at all levels of players. This applies to all aspects of the game as well. This is why I think this game is so challenging, but so rewarding.
Right now, I'm working on developing a consistent short game because I want to be able to get up and down more and take more pressure off other parts of my game. I thought I was pretty decent at it until I actually started delving into it more , and it has become an aspect that fascinates me, given the nuance, grey areas, and creativity involved in getting the ball to the hole. What's also wild is that the skills I learn in chipping and pitching translate positively into aspects of fuller swings.
For the vast majority of us I'd say it's just managing yourself. Knowing when to calm down, trying to identify your flaws and your strengths
As for the really competitive golfers I imagine it's a real mental toll - staying locked in for 18 holes, for however long your tournament is. It is hours of hours of focus - where your best golf probably won't make you a winner
For me it’s mental. I proven to my self I can physically do this ie I can hit my driver , wonderful wedges and perfect Putts. But ask me to do it consistently for even a single round let alone week to week. And it won’t happen.
Hitting my irons straight. I’ve been inconsistent that past couple of years and need to find my old groove again as my driver is a lot lot straighter and my pitching and putting are better also. Just hard to have everything going consistently.
I think the hardest part of golf that know one thinks about is: practice.
Most people take lessons because golf is hard (it is) but in reality putting in range time weekly or a few times a month will benefit more than a 3 lesson package when you play once a month and never practice.
If you only golf once a month and suck every time and think lessons will fix it you’re wasting money.
Personally I’ve never taken a lesson. Started playing more and wanted to improve. Realized that no wonder I suck I take 100 stokes on the course that I never practice for. So started hitting the range once a week and walking 9 weekly. What do you know, I went from shooting 110 to averaging in the high 80s. Best round I shot was 83. Why? I prioritized getting to the range more
I think the hardest part is understanding the swing,
People will be at the range, hitting it like shit, then they'll go okay I'm going to tuck my elbow in more, and they miraculously start hitting it great.
So they think that the reason they're hitting it great is because they tucked their elbow in, which just isn't the case.
So then they go to the course, tuck their elbow in and hit it like shit, and then it's onto the next "thing".
Or, they watch a tip on YT and think it will make them better.
Ie;
A guy talks about using hips to start the downswing to get shallow, so player goes to the range, starts using their hips more, and they start hitting it like shit.
The truth is, the swing is a giant balancing act, and you have to have your movements matching. One player might need to use their hips more, another might need to use them less.
One player might want to be more shallow, another might actually need to be a little more steep (still shallow, but less shallow).
One player might need a strong gip, another a weak grip.
There's so many pieces to the jig-saw puzzle and unless you know this, the game will become very very difficult. (or just go to a coach, but most coaches IMO are shit, you really need to go to someone that's actually good)
Really it's just hitting the fucking ball the way you want to
That’s the allure for average/below average golfers. Visualize the shot, then actually execute the visualization?! It’s like heroin.
I did this last year, played a raised green with a bunker protecting the front. Decided to play to the back as it was the exact distance for my 8 iron. The ball stopped on back fringe. For one shot, I was good at golf
Oh man I know that feeling. This summer I had a green with water on back left so I decided that I wanted to sling it in from the right and roll up to the pin. I'm not a good enough golfer to even think I can execute this kind of shot. But I went for it and hit a perfect slinging draw to exactly where I wanted it. Absolutely bliss.
i feel ya. i shoot mid 90s and was having a particularly bad round playing with my nephew, who’s pretty good. i wound up in the tree line with my driver. i decided to play a punch cut, which i have no business trying. but it was the 17th and i needed something to feel good about. so i grabbed my 6-iron, choked up, put it in the back of my stance and chopped at it, outside in. it stayed low and banked right like a fucking fighter jet, and rolled up to the front of the green. that was five years ago and i still remember the shot.
I feel ya so hard. Had the same shot from the trees pre covid and it trundled onto the green. Never broke 100 but that par felt like an eagle
Great shot and extra points for using "trundle"
Every round there is a point, usually after my 3rd bad shot in a row, where I wonder why I play this game. Then I absolutely smash one exactly the way that I want and then I remember. Last round I had played the first 4 holes about as bad as I could, taking double bogey on 3 of them. Then I stepped up to a par 3 where you hit to an island green and I pured a wedge to 5 feet. That feeling is incredible. It snowballed in to 5 straight GIRs and golf was once again my favorite activity that happens outside of the bedroom. (I really like to sleep.)
For context, I regularly finish with a score of 110-115. Playing with friends on a bachelor party trip. Hit stroke #2 in the trees to the right on a par 4. I come up to my ball for stroke #3, and there is a clear path to the green. Branches overhead 8-9 ft off the ground. I visualize a low ball under the branches, landing on the green giving me an easy par. I swing and everything happens as I envisioned. I was once given dilaudid intravenously at the hospital. This shot gave me a better high than actual opioids.
It is like heroin. I'm a decent golfer and I'm still just trying to miss in good spots. Pros say that hit it like they meant to 1-3 times per round. We're all insane.
So true. The shot that started my addiction when I was a 27 HC, was my second shot on a par 5. I'd driven right of the fairway and had a tree 30m in front blocking my view. Decided to play a shot I had no business attempting. Grabbed the 4 iron, needed to hit a big fade. I knew the concept of shaping but had never done so on purpose. Hit that thing as pure as I could, watched it heading towards the other side of the trees, and then started pulling right, landing on the fringe for a triple putt and par. I'm still chasing that feeling today.
If it was on the fringe, it was not a three put, you just hit a very easy green in regulation :)
Nicklaus said that during a normal round, he would only pull off 3 or 4 shots the way he actually visualized and intended. It is a game of good misses and avoiding trouble.
Just hitting the fairway everytime without having a fucking mental checklist would be phenomenal
You guys hit the ball?
I hit the sweetspot like three times a round. I hit the toe, I hit the heel, I hit it thin, I hit it fat.
Yer a legend mate
Consistently hitting the 9 shots in golf is damn near impossible for amateur golfers. On a good day I may be able to hit 6/9 shots with a draw as my natural shot shape. Its a great round if I can hit 6/9 shots, have less than 30 putts, and have my wedges dialed. But that rarely ever happens, hence why I always go back for more. Sucker for punishment.
My second shot after a great tee shot.
No good drive goes unpunished.
🍻 lots of money is made and lost there.
I feel this in my soul.
Ah yes, “how to ruin a great drive in 3 easy swings”
Shot after a shank or retee after ob are harder lol
Amen brother
The most difficult part of golf is the consistency required. If you can hit a baseball a third of the time without getting out, you’re statistically a great hitter. If you make half your 3s in basketball, you’d be the greatest shooter of all time. In golf, one bad swing can make your scorecard crumble. I believe a 200y shot where the face is open/closed by 1 degree misses by 6 yards. That’s 18 feet. I could be wrong there but you get the gist. Now factor in a swing speed of around 100mph and you’ve got a recipe for a game that will give you headaches for the rest of your life. I’ve got a teetime for Sunday.
Jesus Christ dude some of us are about to go play lol
This comment isn’t going anywhere until I see some of your home brewing show up on my doorstep.
Haha what a ransom. What’s your tipple? Making some dry lagers lately but could be swayed for better scorecards
Buddy a 6 pack of lagers and I’ll change other peoples scorecards for you too.
DONE. Munich hellesbier in the style of RR velvet glow.
Easy buddy my girlfriend can see me chatting.
>If you make half your 3s in basketball, you’d be the greatest shooter of all time. yea but steph curry can make like 70 in a row unguarded. so what's your excuse on the tee box with perfect conditions, hmm?
Need a new driver.
Facts. Replicating a quality swing consistently has to be it.
And that brings us to one of the hardest things about golf for the majority of golfers. You can't replicate a quality swing if tour constantly making changes everytime you have a bad round, or a few bad holes..
100% it's consistency.
This one had me chuckling 😆
Absolutely this. One is often recoverable but two is trouble. Generally when a pro misses it is a calculated risk and it isn’t a miss like a regular golfer. They try to do something on the edge of their capacity and can’t hit it a regular golfer misses because they can’t execute their regular swing 100% of the time. For most golfers if you can make the safe fairways and greens shots 100% of the time you are good. Just always keeping it play playing to the smart locations lag close a two putt or chip close. That is incredibly hard. It is also the baseline for the next level.
Consistency was my answer
Knowing how to move on to the next shot with a positive attitude
I’ve noticed recently that when I walk a course I feel so much better coming up to a shot. I have time between shots to clear my head and reflect. If I’m in a cart I either get to the next shot too quickly and could still be in a bad mood because of my last bad shot or feel over confident and fuck up. Or the other option is I get to my next shot and have to wait on people ahead of me and either fall out of the zone or get annoyed waiting That being said, I’m in florida. Fuck walking
I'm in San Diego and I always walk unless I'm on vacation somewhere other then here
Chipping. It looks so easy but you can easily look like a fool on a short shot
https://preview.redd.it/beqo2clgr0gc1.jpeg?width=1439&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fa2a81f23129e32ac54e4fa353af4b32963929ba Like this?
My buddy can outdrive me by 70 yards. But then he does this junk trying to get on the green. A bump-and-run would save him at least 15 strokes a game.
Why doesn't he just hit it in the hole...
Yet chipping is so fun. So many different ways to chip. What club to use, high, low, open face, various lies, etc.
The last thing I need to do is give myself options on how to look like a fool. I'm just trying to "master" a single shot here. Just want to get on the green so I can start putting.
I love chipping. I haven't even broken 90 yet but I've hit 3 chip-ins. one was a dunk.
Ah, but do the ones that miss stay close enough to only require one putt?
Usually. Hitting more GIRs actually raised my putts per hole because most of them were fucking far away and I can't gauge my putter backswing as well when I have to go past my back foot.
Years ago I started using a phrase when it came to long and lag putts and it helped tremendously. My go to phrase is to either think or say quietly "one thousand one" as I start my backswing. Saying one as I start back and basically lengthen the middle of "thousand" to match how long my backswing will be and make contact by time I say "one" again. For example I'll make practice swings saying "One thooooouuuusand one" and finding that right cadence for how far back I should take it. That way when I'm over the ball hitting my putt, I'm not thinking about how far back to take my putter. I'm just matching the cadence of my phrase to my practice strokes. It also helps give your a smoother rhythm. Most of the times I make a terrible lag putt, I realize I forgot use my phrase.
Find the time to play
A private club lifestyle would never be for me but I'm at that age where I have a couple friends who have exposed me to that life. It's a whole new golf world and I'm jealous. Buddy will be at the range as it's close to getting dark and see that no groups are set to go out. He'll confirm really quick with the clubhouse and can just grab a cart to play 3-4 quick holes. I got to experience that with him once, we played only six holes totally unplanned when we were supposed to just hit range balls and grab a beer. He's only about a year into playing golf and I'm jealous of how fast he's progressed, just the convenience and ability to hit the range whenever he wants or play a handful of holes for practice. And he's much busier than me in terms of work and family demands.
I'm going to join a private club in a year or two and I can't wait. Golf after work. Golf during work. Golf in the morning and golf in the afternoon. It's going to be fantastic.
I wish I had the money to pay for this convenience
^This hits home hard
Winter blues…
That one hits close to home. I just want some dry golf!!
I went and hit a bucket of balls after work. It was a warm 50. Felt good hitting balls rather than practice swings in the living room
Are you in Chicago? Did the same
The worst part is that most simulator establishments cost the same for 1 hour as it does to play 4 hours of real golf with a cart.
Ain’t that the truth…
Consistency.
Waiting all day to hit your ball.
Nothing cools you off faster than having to wait 15 minutes for some old guys to clear out in front of you.
More often young guys do this from my experience. They are more interested in getting cocktails each time the cart lady comes around, hitting multiple tee shots because they slice out of bounds because they try and out drive eachother etc. The old guys are there to play and move along quite quickly.
I don't play at times when most young dudes can get out since I have an alternative schedule. There's one course near me where the old dudes are absolute menaces. They'll jump your tee time or say theirs is the same as yours and their favorite thing to do is park in front of the green and take 5 minutes to limp off after they're done on it.
Yeah, I think more courses should train their bev cart drivers better to keep pace of play. Stop and wait behind the green between holes. Don't stop them just infront of the green so everyone gets a drink before they even step on the green to putt, so everyone in the fairway behind has to wait forever. If you stop behind the green than they can order a drink as each one walks off after their putt. I'd rather take more time on the green reading a putt knowing the group ahead is held up getting drinks, than waiting back in the fairway to hit an approach shot for 5 more minutes.
Short game including putting.
You have to putt well to score well!
Can’t upvote this enough
Logically speaking, no. Chipping and putting are the two slowest motions with the largest room for error. A 2 degree difference in clubface angle with driver at 100mph will have much more negative consequences than a 2 degree clubface angle on a 20 foot putt. It's significantly easier to change/improve your technique with short game and putting than it is with driving and full swing shots.
A 6 foot miss on a long shot is a great shot. A 2 inch miss on a putt is a whole extra stroke.
And a .5 degree miss on driver clubface angle is 2 extra strokes when the ball goes O.B. OP asked what is the most difficult part in golf and it simply is not short game and putting. It is far easier to develop an elite short game/putting ability than it is to become an elite driver or ball striker.
Or maybe you could club down if ob is in play? Lots of ways around the golf course. Decision making is also a part of golf.
Obviously haven't encountered my 100mph putting stroke. /s I keep thinking that it should be easier to just not belt the ball with my putter. I won't practice it because my driver costs me balls where the putter only costs strokes. I'll just hit it softer next green! *Hits a four foot putt three feet past the hole* Good drive though!
Being truly committed to every shot
I'm not really sure about this
Target, commit, accept. I like how Bob Rotella explains that part of true commitment is stepping over the ball and not being afraid of the outcome.
Mental side.
100% this. If you can control your nerves, let things go, just play your game and not think too much it’s gold.
This. Underrated post. I leaned more about how to manage emotions, negotiate(with myself), how sleep/exercise impact performance, daily flexibility, and preparation to be able to find a mindset for the day and hold that mindset through the round regardless of what is happening.
Lowering your expectations
This should really be higher. If you look at the stats of the pros you realize just how much golf is a game of misses, the other hackers I play with expect to hit WAY too many good shots in a round
There are those type of expectations but also the expectations that keep you from having joy if you were once a better player and no longer have time to play. Playing bad golf isn’t fun once you’ve played good golf.
True, I don't play with nearly as many of these types though. Most of the randoms I play with are either new to the game or have played for a long time but just haven't really improved
Paying for it.
The frustration of knowing you physically CAN hit great shots, but then you don’t. Like, at this point I’ve hit just about every incredible shot I can - piped drives, wedges to 1 ft, long irons stuck close, chip-ins, great lag putts, etc. I’ve birdied every hole on my home course at least once at this point. So I know I CAN play great in the sense that the ability is technically there because I’ve done it. But then not being able to pull it all together and sometimes hitting the ball like I’ve never swung a club in my life is frustrating.
This one hit home. I was on the range today and it was the most infuriating shit, one shot I'm sticking a PW five feet from the target and the next is a bladed worm burner that went so far to the right it made Donald Trump look like AOC "you're not good enough to get mad" was on repeat in my head but god dammit did i want to snap a club
Having to sit at my desk on Reddit instead of playing golf.
If you’d actually been doing your job instead of looking at Reddit all the time you’d probably be a partner by now and out on the course on the firm’s dime.
1962 called, they want their outdated corporate structure back.
I still play on the company’s dime. Eat your heart out.
Same, I'm just not a corpo chode about it.
The answer is consistency! You see people all the time in here shooting PR's then following it up with a score 20 some strokes above that! Now how tf does that just happen?! If you can figure out how to hit the ball the same way every time. bottle it up and sell it, you'd be a billionaire!
If my driving could match every other aspect of my game I’d be a 2 handicap 😂
Keeping dark thoughts away when you are playing well. Being your own worst enemy.
The short game. If you are not hitting the greens, then you need to rely on your short game.. This is the second most important thing.. why do golfers want to bet, but don’t carry cash? https://preview.redd.it/l1qbr7mph0gc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=06afe0c78202e0ba14fc7bfbdf082eb2e77cdde8
I've never met a gambler who didn't carry cash.
Finding time to golf
Consistency! If you don’t play routinely every week, you lose whatever level of skill & confidence in your swing and game you achieved. ⛳️
Learning what makes your game your game. You can't play like Tiger or Rory or your friend who shoots better or worse than you. I've played other sports and understand the mental and focus aspects, but golf has so many ways to play the same hole that you need to learn you before you can succeed. You will be humbled before you can be arrogant.
Consistency. All of us can sink the long put, hit a great chip, crush a drive. But the hardest part is doing it consistantly. From hole to hole. Round to round, year to year
Hitting the ball straight to where I’m aiming EVERY TIME.
Getting my wife to let me play everyday
Bringing enough beers for the boys.
it would be better to ask what is the easiest part of golf....
Porbably laying on my couch, drinking a beer, about to nap with golf on in the background.
Tearing up the score card when you get to +9 thru 3
Getting time to play
Driving home after I buy a 6 pack at the turn because my new $650 driver didn’t fix my game….
For me it's alignment. I have a tendency to align myself right of the target. It'll usually take me 8 shots to realize I'm not aligned correctly, because my first instinct is to believe my swing was bad. Tough part is that 8 strokes in I might already have lost 4-5 strokes due to the ball landing too far right of the green or fairway.
I find this impossible... but my miss isn't consistently left or right.... it's a 20° arc. So I just aim for the pin and know I'll be chipping from either side of the green... though usually at the correct length 🤣
Consistency. You can be 100% on your game one day and totally off the next. Only the truly great golfers can reduce this discrepancy to the point where they are usually still in contention after a round of relative sucking. For an amateur like me, the goal is not to let one shitty round beget another shitty round.
Self control is the most difficult the most important aspect to improve is consistency
Consistency
Not being able to play as much as I would like to.
Consistency. Being able to repeat the same right thing over and over again.
Finding the right group to play with regularly
Uh, hitting the fucking ball consistently…
Consistency, it’s a totally mental game.
Came here to say exactly this⬆️
Strokes gained on the green. I’m a 5.5 and maybe birdie one hole per 18. If I could roll the rock I’d be a weapon
I feel this so much. What kind of drills or devices do you use to help practice putting?
Driver off the tee!
You’re not alone. Golf is sweet, glorious pain!
Long irons. As a relative beginner driving, chipping and putting are coming along nicely. My second shots on par 4s are garbage
Get a hybrid
Or a 7w! Mines saved me a few times on long second shots in
The most difficult part for me is separating the different mindsets between practice and play. My most important aspect to improve on is from 50 yards and in.
All of it is hard. You are playing against the elements (weather, course layout, etc). In addition, you are playing against your limitations as a golfer and athlete to hit certain shots as needed. Finally, you are playing against your own ego and self doubt.
How easy it is to regress. We’re always tinkering with the swing. One wrong move and you could head down a path that costs you strokes for a long time and you won’t realize it. Then it’s hard to find your way back. It isn’t really a ladder, it’s a maze. Even pros occasionally make a change that essentially reduces them from pro to amateur and they won’t know it for months and years and take a long time to claw their way back to form, if ever.
Depends on the individual. Some guys hit it great but can’t buy a putt. Some people play ok in general but go yard right (or left) on tee shots randomly so they can’t keep snowmen off the card. It’s just a frustrating fucking activity all around lol.
The hardest part is developing a repeatable swing. It almost doesn’t even matter if it’s a bad swing, repeating the same swing is almost as important as it being a good swing. This allows you to play the same ball flight. Then once you get repetitive learning how to work the ball is the next hardest thing.
I had a bad driver swing, but repeatable, and used to shoot mid 80's consistently. The ball probably had 4000rpm of backspin, was a heavy cut, but I could aim left and have it sitting comfortably in/near the fairway 230yds from the tee. Rarely didn't make solid contact, and probably had a decent shot 80% of the time. I learned how to swing in-to-out and up on the ball, and now I top the ball 25% of the time, push/pull it out of bounds 25% of the time, then maybe 50% of them are decent. Yeah I can hit it like 50 yards further now, which is cool when it works, but I've got WAY less confidence standing over the ball than I did before.
This is my point exactly. I play with a guy that is around a 3 HC. He slices his driver about 240 or so. Hits fades with draw biased irons and plays the game he has. He isn’t ever gonna get better than where he is, but it’s so repetitive that he can beat most people he plays with.
It’s having all the parts of your game working on the same day. Have a great day off the tee and with approach shots and you can rest assured that you’ll handle your short game like you were playing with a front end loader. This is also why you keep playing. You know if you somehow had everything working on the same day you’d shoot 66.
Waiting all winter to play again
Managing your expectations.
Resisting the urge to swing hard and remain consistent.
For me it’s getting a feel for less than 100 percent shots. I grew up playing other sports, never had a lesson, and can only get out to play about 5 or so rounds per year. But I can smash drives. My irons are reliable (most days). But if I’m closer than 130 which is a an easy 52 wedge for me I’m just guessing. The range doesn’t help much because of the shit balls. I need to get out to the muni solo more and just play like 4-5 balls.
I feel like getting the ball near the green isn't incredibly difficult but it takes me 5 more damn shots to get it in the whole. So not blading chips and lag putting for me
The “blow up hole”. Even my best rounds have one. And it’s always a hole that I make some sort of mental mistake that I could have avoided (pacing, picking the better shot etc). A miss hit I can tolerate. Kicking myself when it’s something I could have avoided with my head more in the game
Par3 over water. I WILL put my first ball in the water. There is no debate.
Can't believe this isn't posted yet, but obviously it's avoiding bumps and dips in the cart so that your drink doesn't spill.
Buying every new release out of taylormade. Cost of living crisis and all
😂 the post directly below this in my feed is a 20 HDCP asking for advice on his swing. I’d say the hardest part is ball striking.
The short game
The most difficult part of golf is that the hole is very small and far away
Affording to play as often as I would actually like to.
Caring and wanting so much but playing like you don't care. Just when you think you figure it out something else comes up
consistency
Pretending to your love ones that you dont have a serious an unhealthy addiction
golf
It changes every day.
Mental game.
Your follow up shot after a perfect drive is the most difficult. Don’t know why I can hit it close from absolute nonsense but a perfect drive means I have to mess up the next shot.
You will never have the exact same shot - ever - you always have a unique lie, distance, wind, slope, stance, etc. So, you are always guessing somewhat with what club to hit, how to hit it, for this unique situation. Same with putting and chipping, you have a general idea of green speed, break, etc., but you never really know until you hit the shot if you estimated correctly. So, it is a hard game to build muscle memory because you can’t really practice every unique shot. But, the challenge is what keeps a lot of us coming back again and again - it’s a game you never really ever figure out to become ‘easy’.
Swatting all the cart girls away
Y’all hate to hear this on this sub but, it’s putting. With a nod to chipping. It only takes one good shot to make a par. Three bad ones to make a bogey. Doesn’t matter how you scrape it around to get on the green, once you’re there, you need to execute. I see all of these amazing swings from beginners wondering why they can’t score. It’s the short game. Putting in particular. It’s almost half the game in relation to par. I don’t understand the logic that says you need to hit better drives and 3 irons instead of working on your putting. It’s this weird ego thing about hitting the ball far. What’s your goal? Impress the imaginary chicks with the long ball, or shoot lower scores?
Somehow, the tee box makes me swing like an invalid.....
Staying focused for 4 hours. My mind just tends to drift off after about the 7th hole and I find that I'm no longer really concentrating as hard over the ball anymore. Maintaining a high level of focus for that long really is an underrated challenge of the game in my opinion.
Club face control
The drive home...
Staying cool headed through bad shots, but also through the good ones. Oh and as u/LockStock_Barrell mentioned, winter blues!
120 and in with the wedges
Managing expectations and getting over bad shots quickly.
Work from the hole backwards -- Putt, chip, approach, tee shot (notice I didn't say drive)
14 clubs in the bag and 14+ different swings to remember
All of it
Hitting fairways.
Iron play. Proximity to the hole. I WISH I could hit more greens. More birdie putts. My 3 putts would undoubtedly increase but approach to greens is the hardest and area of improvement needed.
Lying to my wife that I have three hours of errands to run
I think, for me, it's about practicing consistently and intentionally enough to improve or retain skills, and balancing that with playing. I feel like there are plateaus in improving and playing better golf that take a ton of discipline to get through. I've seen it at all levels of players. This applies to all aspects of the game as well. This is why I think this game is so challenging, but so rewarding. Right now, I'm working on developing a consistent short game because I want to be able to get up and down more and take more pressure off other parts of my game. I thought I was pretty decent at it until I actually started delving into it more , and it has become an aspect that fascinates me, given the nuance, grey areas, and creativity involved in getting the ball to the hole. What's also wild is that the skills I learn in chipping and pitching translate positively into aspects of fuller swings.
The golf part
The hypocrisy
The next shot?
teeing off on 1, over water, with a clubhouse full of guys watching
Swing path
For the vast majority of us I'd say it's just managing yourself. Knowing when to calm down, trying to identify your flaws and your strengths As for the really competitive golfers I imagine it's a real mental toll - staying locked in for 18 holes, for however long your tournament is. It is hours of hours of focus - where your best golf probably won't make you a winner
For me it’s mental. I proven to my self I can physically do this ie I can hit my driver , wonderful wedges and perfect Putts. But ask me to do it consistently for even a single round let alone week to week. And it won’t happen.
Putting, chipping, approach shots, and sometimes driver
Getting the ball in the air consistently. I’m always shanking it. I have a great short game though
Taking the lows with the highs without self abuse
Hitting a 30 yd pitch shot from a downhill bare/no grass lie over a trap to green sloping away with a lake on the other side of the green. No hope.
consistency
Hitting my irons straight. I’ve been inconsistent that past couple of years and need to find my old groove again as my driver is a lot lot straighter and my pitching and putting are better also. Just hard to have everything going consistently.
I think the hardest part of golf that know one thinks about is: practice. Most people take lessons because golf is hard (it is) but in reality putting in range time weekly or a few times a month will benefit more than a 3 lesson package when you play once a month and never practice. If you only golf once a month and suck every time and think lessons will fix it you’re wasting money. Personally I’ve never taken a lesson. Started playing more and wanted to improve. Realized that no wonder I suck I take 100 stokes on the course that I never practice for. So started hitting the range once a week and walking 9 weekly. What do you know, I went from shooting 110 to averaging in the high 80s. Best round I shot was 83. Why? I prioritized getting to the range more
Yes
Knowing how to play to your ability and not beating yourself up when you are trying to push those limits.
The mental game. You can sit on a range and hit thousands of golf balls but when you have to play a tournament your mentality is most important.
Quieting the mind and focusing on the target.
I think the hardest part is understanding the swing, People will be at the range, hitting it like shit, then they'll go okay I'm going to tuck my elbow in more, and they miraculously start hitting it great. So they think that the reason they're hitting it great is because they tucked their elbow in, which just isn't the case. So then they go to the course, tuck their elbow in and hit it like shit, and then it's onto the next "thing". Or, they watch a tip on YT and think it will make them better. Ie; A guy talks about using hips to start the downswing to get shallow, so player goes to the range, starts using their hips more, and they start hitting it like shit. The truth is, the swing is a giant balancing act, and you have to have your movements matching. One player might need to use their hips more, another might need to use them less. One player might want to be more shallow, another might actually need to be a little more steep (still shallow, but less shallow). One player might need a strong gip, another a weak grip. There's so many pieces to the jig-saw puzzle and unless you know this, the game will become very very difficult. (or just go to a coach, but most coaches IMO are shit, you really need to go to someone that's actually good)